The Oscar race is heating up! Hollywood’s biggest night is only days away, where a myriad of awards will be handed out. Most notably, ten films will go head-to-head for the big trophy: the coveted Best Picture award, the final and most significant award of the night. But which film deserves the statue the most? Let’s take a look at every 2024 Best Picture nominee and rank them from worst to best!
10. Maestro
Bradley Cooper’s directorial follow up to his much-celebrated retelling of A Star is Born is Maestro, a portrait of the life of music composer extraordinaire, Leonard Bernstein. The film takes an unusual approach, acting more as an intimate exploration of his struggle with his sexuality and his marriage to actress Felicia Montealgre, with his career highlights taking less of a prominent role.
The film has faced some criticism, with some deeming it as a vanity project for Cooper, and many writing it off as nothing but hollow Oscar bait.
I must say that I was impressed by many aspects of Maestro and was satisfied coming out of it. However, it has not stuck with me the way that many of the other films in contention for the trophy have. Cooper and Carey Mulligan deliver excellent performances, and Cooper makes some interesting choices in the director’s chair. That said, Maestro simply doesn’t perform on the same level as the other films nominated.
9. Killers of the Flower Moon
The newest from acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon is a behemoth of a film. Telling the tragic tale of the Osage tribe murders in 1920s Oklahoma and the FBI investigation that followed, the film clocks in at nearly 3 hours and 30 minutes. Scorsese is no stranger to extensive runtimes or complex crime dramas, both of which are employed here, arguably his most culturally important film in some time.
Despite Scorsese’s direction, and the return of his frequent collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in lead roles, the film truly belongs to Lily Gladstone. Her performance and all of the emotional range and subtlety that goes with it is the film’s biggest strength. The overall film is a well-crafted and truly maddening story to witness. I do think the runtime hurts it a bit though. I had to break my viewing up into two sittings, and I think it could afford to lose about 30 minutes for a tighter and more engaging final product.
8. Barbie
Greta Gerwig’s box office smash and ode to women everywhere was a far better film than it had any right to be. What could have simply been a cash grab advertisement to sell more of the namesake dolls instead took the opportunity to address gender roles in society and do so in glorious pink fashion.
Despite its low ranking on the list, I am very happy this is here with the batch of nominees. I’ve been loving the recent trend of well-made crowd pleasers being recognized by the Academy (Top Gun: Maverick, Dune, Everything Everywhere All at Once), and I think Barbie is significant enough both in its financial success and its craft to earn its nomination. With its witty script and spectacular production design, Gerwig’s film is truly Kenough.
7. Anatomy of a Fall
Winner of the Palm d’Or (the top prize) at the esteemed Cannes Film Festival, Anatomy of a Fall is a gripping legal drama that centers on a woman on trial for the supposed murder of her husband, with their partially-blind son acting as the only witness to the crime. It is a quiet and reflective experience, absent of the flashiness of Hollywood courtroom dramas.
Sandra Huller delivers a riveting lead performance, and the film does a fantastic job of keeping the viewer in the dark in regards to the details of the case. This keeps the suspense high as the evidence is slowly revealed throughout the film. Patiently and brilliantly directed by Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall is a wonderful examination of the nature of truth. Oh, and can we get Messi the dog an Oscar please?!
6. The Zone of Interest
You’d be hard pressed to find a more haunting cinematic experience in 2023 than Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest. Set in a house directly outside the fences of the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943, we witness Nazi commandant Rudolf Hoss and his family go about their lives and build up their garden, ignoring the horrific acts that are happening right outside their home.
Purposefully monotonous and respectfully restrained, the film communicates so much with so little. Never do we go within the camp or see any of the horrific violence on screen. The sound design and visual clues imply much of the horror that we know is happening just on the other side of the fence. Aided by an incredibly eerie score and a sad state of modern relevancy, The Zone of Interest is a harrowing experience that will stick with you, and is not for the faint of heart.
5. Past Lives
Perhaps the biggest underdog in this batch of nominees, Past Lives is the directorial debut of Celine Song. It tells the heartbreaking tale of Nora and Hae Sung, two long separated childhood friends who reconnect years later, only to discover the lingering feelings of love, loss, and what could have been.
The subtlety of Song’s direction and the tenderness of the story make Past Lives an immensely moving experience. The lead performances of Greta Lee and Teo Yoo are so naturalistic and devastating, and the final moments of the film are beautifully bittersweet. One of the most emotionally moving films of 2023.
4. American Fiction
In another wildly impressive directorial debut, Cord Jefferson comes to play in his biting satire on the literary world. American Fiction tells the tale of African American author Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison, who grows tired of seeing real black art being discarded in favor of stereotypical gangster stories. As a form of protest, he writes one of these books under a pen name, only for it to become a runaway success.
Well informed by Spike Lee’s Bamboozled (albeit with a less brash attitude), American Fiction is a wickedly funny and intelligent satire. Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown deliver two of the year’s best performances, and like all great satires, the film (as outlandish as it is) hits harder due to the layer of truth beneath the humor.
3. The Holdovers
Perhaps the most easily lovable of this year’s nominees, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers takes place in a prep school over the 1970 Christmas holiday and follows the unlikely budding friendship between a stuffy teacher, a rebellious student, and the school’s head cook, all of whom are stuck there for the whole break.
With a winning trio of lead performances, cozy Christmas soundtrack, and heartfelt narrative, The Holdovers cements itself as the feel-good experience of the year. Payne is always a reliable talent behind the camera, and this is one of his very best outings.
2. Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan’s much discussed biopic Oppenheimer is among the finest films in contention this year. The film is a decade sprawling profile of J. Robert Oppenheimer and his efforts to develop the atomic bomb that would bring a swift end to World War II, and the ensuing court cases that would follow.
The film itself is a triumph, but not just Nolan’s. He shares the credit with the impeccable screen presence of Cillian Murphy, who’s portrayal of Oppenheimer was a mighty task, and one that Murphy never falters under. The film rests so heavily on his shoulders, and he navigates the material perfectly. A film this dialogue heavy and with this many hearings, trials, and science jargon has no business being as riveting as it is.
1. Poor Things
Yorgos Lanthimos delivers yet another truly bizarre and absurdly hilarious film, arguably his best work yet, in Poor Things. The film covers the odyssey of Bella Baxter, a reanimated woman with the brain of her unborn child implanted into her head. As Bella evolves, she learns a great deal about the world around her, explores her sexual freedom, and becomes a force to be reckoned with for everyone that she comes across.
Poor Things will certainly not be for everyone. It’s weird, incredibly sexually explicit, unconventional in many regards, and wildly its own thing. But all the things that may turn others away are what kept me engrossed. Lanthimos’ vision is beautifully creative and wonderfully imaginative. It plays by its own rules, each and every performer brings their A-game, the cinematography and production design are astounding, and the score is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. Poor Things stands above the rest of the nominees for being the most unashamedly original and oddly perplexing film of the bunch.
And the Winner Is…
Despite this being a fairly stacked year, there can be only one victor for the trophy. While my heart has Poor Things taking the top prize, all signs point to an Oppenheimer victory. Being my runner up choice, I would be perfectly happy with this outcome, as Nolan is far overdue for an Oscar.
An argument could be made for nearly every film in here, and I would have a tough time disputing it. The only film that feels a bit out of place is Maestro. For my money, Dream Scenario, May December, All of Us Strangers, or even Godzilla Minus One would have been much more welcome sights in that tenth slot. That said, each film has its own merits, and I’m excited to see which one comes out on top this Sunday!
The 96th Academy Awards premiere live on Sunday, March 10, 2024.
