The Best Movies Never Nominated for a Single Oscar
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 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
Like father, like son. While he still has quite a ways to go to match the continued excellence of father Jafar Panahi, first-time Iranian director Panah Panahi appears to have a similar talent for achieving sky-high Metascores: In fact, both Panahis had a film score in the 90s in 2022—and both failed to receive a single Oscar nomination. (Blame their government: Iran opted to boycott the Oscars and failed to submit either film to the international feature competition.) The younger Panahi's triumphant, genre-blending debut follows the road journey of an Iranian family of four as they attempt to reach the border with Turkey and smuggle their elder son out of the country. Critics praised Road's humor and warmth and the director's fresh approach.
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