2023 Oscars

The best movies of the year that didn’t receive Oscars recognition

Rounding up the major films that were left out of the Oscar nomination lineup this year.

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Despite there being countless incredible films released over the last year, there just aren’t enough slots for all of them to receive Oscar nominations. Every year cinema fans round up lengthy lists of films that they believe deserved some Academy Award recognition.

Oscar snubs happen and this year was no expectation, occurring across all the major categories. Here is our roundup of films that should have been nominated for at least one category.

‘Nope’

Jordan Peele has been recognized at the Academy Awards before, winning Best Picture and Best Director, along with a handful of other nominations for his work on ‘Get Out.’ Since then he hasn’t been able to snag another Academy Award for his following films.

However, ‘Nope’ received a lack of nominations at this year’s Oscars despite its commercial success and positive critical reviews. The film scored 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and 77 out of 100 on Metacritic.

‘Nope’, with a budget of $68 million, went on to gross $171.2 million at the box office. Unfortunately, it lacked any Oscar acknowledgment but has been frequently compared to the works of well-decorated movie director Steven Spielberg by numerous film critics.

‘X’ and ‘Pearl’

Both ‘Pearl’ and “X’ were released within the 2023 Oscar eligibility period, however, neither of the two films received nominations. The slasher film series stars actress Mia Goth and ‘Wednesday’ actress Jenna Ortega in the first film in the series.

The two horror films received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with The Atlantic describing ‘X’ as a modern classic and comparing it to the cult classic ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre.’ The second film, ‘Pearl’, caught the attention of filmmaker Martin Scorsese, calling it “mesmerizing” and described it as “powered by a pure, undiluted love for cinema.”

Despite the critical success and a total of $24.5 million gross earnings at the box office with a one million dollar budget for each film, neither of the movies went on to be nominated at the upcoming Academy Awards.

‘Barbarian’

Another horror movie that was seemingly left out of the Oscars nomination lineup this year. ‘Barbarian’ was a major box office hit with a budget of $4.5 million and ended up grossing $45.4 million.

‘Barbarian’ was released on streaming services soon after its theatrical release leading to major success and record-breaking streaming numbers. In the second week of its streaming release, ‘Barbarian’ was the most streamed film across all platforms in the US.

The thriller horror movie also went on to achieve a strong 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 78 out of 100 on Metacritic. Unfortunately, the streaming success and overwhelmingly positive reviews were not enough to secure this film any Oscar nominations.

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