The Best Movies Never Nominated for a Single Oscar

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – February 4, 2020

Last updated: January 24, 2023

Judging from the complaints that pour in each year, the Academy gets many things wrong—including, with surprising regularity, completely ignoring some of each year's most acclaimed films. In the gallery above, you can find the 30 highest-scoring films since 2000 that did not receive any Oscar nominations (in any category). They are ranked by Metascore, but all of these films scored 89 or higher—suggesting massive critical acclaim.

Note that documentaries are excluded (since there are fewer opportunities for those films to receive nominations). Also excluded are movies that qualified for Emmys rather than Oscars (such as the Small Axe films).

Additional content by Keith Kimbell

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91 #16 (tie): A Bread Factory Part One: For the Sake of Gold

Divided into two separately released films (both Part One and Part Two scored 91) but available as a combined DVD set, these under-the-radar 2018 releases from economist-turned-director Patrick Wang (In the Family) captivated those critics who saw them. Spanning four hours in all, the two episodic and often comedic films follow a large cast of characters (with an ensemble led by a terrific Tyne Daly) involved with a small-town community arts center. Variety's Owen Gleiberman called the result "as if Eric Rohmer had made a Christopher Guest film."

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