Oscars 2024: the 10 best companion movies to the ‘Best Picture’ nominees
Back in the 1930s, the concept of the double feature was born to try and counter the understandable box office slump that came after the Great Depression of 1929. Becoming standard for the next 15 years, every highly-anticipated movie would be paired with a B-movie, a low-budget picture that essentially meant that people would stay longer at the cinema and spend more money.
Once television became popular in the 1950s, the concept of the double feature was phased out, yet many still miss the days when a whole afternoon was spent at the cinema watching back-to-back movies. Indeed, the closest you could get to watching a double feature in the contemporary world of movies is a short film screening before the feature event or a one-off event where two franchise sequels are shown consecutively.
But, with the Covid-19 pandemic having dented box office results once again, some establishments have brought the practice back. Whether it’s classic movies being paired with other, similarly themed flicks or two films that speak to opposite sides of the same subject, the revival of the double feature could promote the world of independent cinema and get audience members back through the cinema doors.
Explore the movies we’d pair with the 2024 ‘Best Picture’ Oscar nominees below, including films from the likes of the Coen brothers, Hal Ashby and Terrence Malick.
10 companion movies to the ‘Best Picture’ nominees:
American Fiction – Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, 1974)
It would be easy to pick Spike Lee’s underrated satire Bamboozled to pair with Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, but the two films are so similar that they may as well be one and the same. Instead, the Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles would go perfectly with American Fiction, with the two films singing from the same hymn sheet despite being from different genres entirely.
Helmed by the great spoof filmmaker, Blazing Saddles stars Gene Wilder and tells the story of a corrupt politician who appoints a black Sheriff in a western town. Examining racism in the context of the western genre, Blazing Saddles remains a comedy classic as well as one of the decade’s most beloved films.
Anatomy of a Fall – We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
Justine Triet’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall sees Sandra Hüller play a woman whose husband dies after falling from a window – the only witness being their blind son. Despite being desperate to prove that she was not responsible, evidence suggesting otherwise begins to mount against her. The film is a tense watch that is as much about family dynamics as it is about the truth of the incident, and its tight screenplay has already won a Bafta.
Lynne Ramsay’s We Need To Talk About Kevin makes for a good companion piece to Anatomy of a Fall due to its similar exploration of complicated family relationships. The intense film sees Tilda Swinton play the mother of Ezra Miller’s Kevin, her incredibly troubled son, who conducts a school massacre with a bow and arrow. While the movies are quite different in content, both are analytical in their exploration of morality and crisis.
Barbie – The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998)
Greta Gerwig’s candy-coloured blockbuster Barbie, featuring Margot Robbie as the titular Mattel doll, broke records when it became one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. Arguably, the most interesting aspect of the film is its contrast between a magical, perfect world – Barbie Land – and the real world, where humans (and oppression, suffering and pain) can be found. It’s only when Ken visits the real world that he brings back the idea of the patriarchy, tainting the glorious paradise of Barbie Land.
Another film that features an artificial world that differs from reality is The Truman Show, which features Jim Carrey as a man who is unknowingly the subject of a reality show that tracks his every move. Both Truman and Barbie begin to question their surroundings, embarking on a journey into the real world. It is no surprise that Gerwig cited Peter Weir’s film as inspiration, and the two movies undoubtedly work well as companion pieces regarding themes of self-discovery and a division between two contrasting worlds.
The Holdovers – Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971)
Set in the early 1970s, The Holdovers feels like a movie picked straight from the period, emanating a distinctive nostalgic warmth that feels like the real deal rather than a poor imitation of a bygone era. Directed by Alexander Payne, the movie features Paul Giamatti as a teacher who must look after students without anywhere to stay for Christmas, including Dominic Sessa’s Angus Tully. Heartwarming and emotive, the film we believe could make a perfect companion watch is Harold and Maude.
Directed by Hal Ashby, the dark comedy follows the relationship between a young man obsessed with death and an old woman who loves life. Equally, eye-brow raising, laugh-inducing and tear-jerking, Harold and Maude and The Holdovers give off a similar energy that encourages us to appreciate our lives and celebrates unlikely connections.
Killers of the Flower Moon – The Heiress (William Wyler, 1949)
Martin Scorsese’s great American epic Killers of the Flower Moon is one the director’s greatest modern movies, telling the story of the murder of the Osage tribe in 1930s Oklahoma. While there are plenty of films that we could pair with the movie, who are we to disagree with the director himself? A new user of Letterboxd, Scorsese recently listed a collection of features that inspired some of his many classics, including his latest historical tragedy.
Taking to his account, he chose the 1949 William Wylder film The Heiress “For the relationship between Olivia de Havilland and Montgomery Clift, which was a reference point for Leo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and myself.” Winning four Academy Awards at the time while also earning a ‘Best Picture’ nomination, the film tells the story of a woman who is emotionally abused by a handsome young man.
Maestro – Inside Llewyn Davis (the Coen brothers, 2013)
The second directorial feature from Bradley Cooper, Maestro, charts the complex relationship between composer Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre, which is affected by his affairs with men and substance abuse. The movie has been labelled as ‘Oscar bait’ by some (it has earned seven nominations), while others found it to be an emotionally stirring biopic that digs deep into the complicated life of one of America’s most renowned composers.
In keeping with the music theme, Inside Llewyn Davis would make for a great double feature, especially as the film also stars Carey Mulligan. Directed by the Coen brothers, the film is essentially a fictional biopic set during the folk revival era in 1960s New York. Oscar Isaac gives a fantastic performance as the titular character, with both movies exploring the power of art and personal sacrifice in pursuit of passion. Where Bernstein succeeds in his efforts, Llewyn Davis does not, making for a fascinating double-bill.
Oppenheimer – Barefoot Gen (Mori Masaki, 1983)
Christopher Nolan’s biopic about the creator of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, might be his greatest film of all time, detailing the life of the troubled scientist with agonising attention to detail, largely thanks to the terrific lead performance of Cillian Murphy. The film details Oppenheimer’s efforts to create the bomb in order for the American military to prematurely bring an end to WWII, with the atomic bomb eventually being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
Few films better portray the devastation of Oppenheimer’s efforts than Mori Masaki’s 1983 anime Barefoot Gen. A visceral and violent animation, Masaki’s film delves into the devastating effects the dropping of the nuclear bomb had on the Japanese people. It would indeed make for a fascinating parallel to Nolan’s epic.
Past Lives – Asako I & II (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2018)
Celine Song mesmerised audiences with her debut feature film, Past Lives, starring Greta Lee and Teo Yoo, and explored the heart-breaking nature of our previous romantic connections in a narrative spanning 24 years. It’s our past romances that inevitably inform our present ones, after all, and the Oscar hopeful undoubtedly finds resonance with Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Asako I & II in its treatment of missed connections.
Hamaguchi’s 2018 romantic drama details a young Japanese woman and her experience of love at first sight with a man named Baku, but she is left heartbroken when he suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako meets a physically identical man, Ryohei, who displays a far kinder and caring attitude to Baku. However, despite Asako and Ryohei’s blossoming love for one another, she is haunted by the possibilities of the past, as is the case in Past Lives, with both films providing a tender exploration of romantic love.
Poor Things – Belle de Jour (Luis Buñuel, 1967)
Yorgos Lanthimos’ visual spectacle Poor Things, his most lavish production to date, has already won a slew of awards this season, particularly several ‘Best Actress’ wins for Emma Stone. The film is a Frankenstein-esque tale of a Victorian-era woman who comes back to life after a strange surgeon places her unborn baby’s brain into her head. She discovers life through fresh, innocent eyes, including sex, attempting to make her way in a world where women’s rights were considerably less advanced compared to today.
Poor Things sees the protagonist, Bella, engage in sex work as she attempts to free herself from the men who want to control her. This mirrors the story of Severine in Belle De Jour, who, sick of her domineering, boring husband and longing to feel free from the expectations placed on her as a well-to-do housewife, begins working at a brothel. Belle De Jour, directed by Luis Buñuel, features some bizarre sexual fantasies imagined by Severine, whose sexuality, like Bella, is at the centre of her quest for self-discovery.
The Zone of Interest – A Hidden Life (Terrence Malick, 2019)
The latest film from Jonathan Glazer, the fascinating The Zone of Interest, is so unique that you’d think it would be difficult to pair it with another. However, the breadth of its subject matter allows for comparison to many other types of films. In its approach to violence, Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing could have been a fine choice, but we’ve opted for Terrence Malick’s underrated 2019 war movie, A Hidden Life.
Where Glazer’s film explores the banality of evil in the systematic murder of the Nazi party, Malick’s Palme d’Or nominee picks apart the life of a conscientious objector in Austria who refused to fight for the Germans. A beautiful, lyrical and disturbing piece of cinema, Malick’s film is as soft and mundane as Glazer’s but no less powerful, exploring the strength of human willpower.
