For years now I’ve watched the Academy Awards and after they announce their nomination picks, I try to see as many nominated films as I can. I used to think the Oscars were good indicators for meritable movies, with it being the most prestigious award in Hollywood. After this year however I’m not even sure if I’ll tune in after seeing the nominations for Best Picture of the year. While there are some on the list that seem like solid choices such as The Substance and Anora, some I felt were very questionable and one was outright ridiculous (I’m looking at you, Emilia Perez). With this in mind, here is my list of 2024 films that I think were robbed of this honor. 

Challengers:

Out of all the movies I’ve seen this year, Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers was by far my favorite. I watched it in the theater and it was one of the films where it begs to be seen that way. The story follows two best friends and tennis partners, Art and Patrick, as they vie for the attention of the same girl Tashi, an up and coming tennis prodigy. The film’s cast completely star studded with Zendaya (Euphoria, Spiderman Franchise)  playing the titular role of Tashi as well as Mike Faist (West Side Story, Panic) and Josh O’Conner (The Crown, God’s Old Country) playing Art and Patrick respectively. The story flashes back and forth between present day and past, adding the perfect amount of drama and suspense as we watch each character’s relationship with one another deteriorate over time. I think Challengers was the most original, and interesting story told on the silver screen in a long time. Yet despite mine and many others’ glowing reviews it did not receive a single academy award nomination. This film easily could’ve been put in a multitude of categories such as Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and I think it could’ve easily been Zendaya’s first Oscar for Actress in a leading role (no other actress could’ve given us that much angst and passion for tennis). I could go on and on about Challengers, but ultimately I think the reason it didn’t get nominated is because of the film’s erotic scenes and overall sensual undertones. 

Civil War: 

Unlike Challengers, which did very well in the box office and became a global sensation, Alex Garland’s Civil War was much less talked about. The film follows a group of journalists as they travel through a futuristic version of the US that is having their second Civil War, between the ‘loyalists’ and the rebel factions. This is one of my favorite roles of Kirsten Dunst (The Virgin Suicides, Bring it On), who plays the protagonist Lee, a jaded war photographer who we see experience PTSD from her work. It also stars an up and coming actress Cailee Spainey  (Priscilla, Alien: Romulus) who was also very solid and I could definitely see gaining more attention in a few years. This movie isn’t by any means perfect, I think it gets a bit slow in the middle and the ending could’ve been better executed (pun intended). I do like that the movie doesn’t have overly dramatized ed action bits, there are a few violent scenes but they feel much more realistic than your run of the mill action movie fight scenes. Overall Civil War was a thought provoking piece that tied in perfectly with the general political climate of modern America, it certainly deserved a nomination.

Smile 2 

I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this film. Horror films are probably my least favorite genre and I hadn’t even seen the first installment of the franchise. But shockingly I found myself glued to my couch cushions when watching this movie and I ended up recommending it to a lot of people. Parker Finn’s Smile 2 picks up where its predecessor left off, but this time the focus is on washed up pop star Skye Riley who begins to see horrifying visions after witnessing a suicide. If you haven’t watched this I’ll issue a fair warning to anyone who is as squeamish as I am, it’s very gory and there were many scenes that I had to watch with my eyes half closed. But I think even if you aren’t a ‘scary movie person’ you can still enjoy this film. The depiction of substance abuse, withdraw, and the reality of celebrity superstars made Smile 2 more high stakes due to the revelation of Skye’s traumatic past. Also spoiler alert, it has a pretty crazy plot twist at the end and even for a horror movie I was pretty surprised they went that dark. If I’m being honest I don’t think Smile 2 would’ve won Best Picture even if it had been nominated. The Oscars typically does not choose horror movies for this category, but I still think it deserves its roses with its incredible music, pacing and storyline. 

These were all the movies that I believe were total snubs for the Oscars and I’m sad that I won’t be seeing any of these movies as a contender for Best Picture.  I am however  still interested to see who will take home the award and earn the much coveted title. I’m also ready for another year of enjoying great cinema coming to the theaters, and maybe next year I’ll be pleased with the choices for Best Picture.