47 brilliant movies that didn’t receive a single Oscar nomination

It might sound obvious, but a film getting nominated for an Oscar doesn’t automatically make it good.

In fact, there have been many deserving films over the years that were somehow overlooked by the Academy.

Sure, it’s easy to assume that certain films don’t get nominated because they’re not what Oscar voters would usually go for, but there have been some surprises in the past.

For example, pretty much every new superhero film earns a nomination thanks to the technical or makeup categories, while random animated films are acknowledged most likely because of the low number on offer in a certain year.

This means films like DC’s Suicide Squad may have been mauled by the critics, but still get recognised by the Academy (it went on to win), which is ridiculous when you consider classics such as Don’t Look Now or The King of Comedy didn’t even get recognised.

They aren’t alone − we’ve run through the 47 most surprising films that didn’t receive a nomination in any category.

1. American Honey (2016)

From appearing as a backing dancer on Top of the Pops to winning an Oscar for Best Director: it would have been a brilliant trajectory for Andrea Arnold following the release of American Honey, a drama following a teenage girl (Sasha Lane) who gets caught up in the wrong crowd. Arnold’s day may – and should – still come.

2. American Psycho (2000)

Starring future Oscar winner Christian Bale, Mary Harron’s adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel – in which the actor plays the psychopathic Patrick Bateman – didn’t receive a single nomination.

3. Babyteeth (2019)

Babyteeth, which was shot in 2019 but released in the US in 2020, was one of the best films of its year. The film’s leads – Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Essie Davis and Ben Mendelsohn – all deserved acting nominations, but apparentlys voters never watched it.

4. Before Sunrise (1995)

While the final two chapters of Richard Linklater’s Before… trilogy earned screenplay nominations, the film that introduced the world to future married couple Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) was criminally overlooked.

5. The Big Heat (1953)

Fritz Lang had a number of films overlooked by the Academy (see: M, 1931; You Only Live Once, 193. While this noir, starring Glenn Ford, Lee Marvin and and Gloria Grahame, is a film you’d expect to have been nominated, it became yet another film to receive no recognition from the awards body.

6. The Big Lebowski (1998)

The Academy’s generosity to the Coen brothers peaked when No Country for Old Men beat There Will Be Blood in one of the ceremony’s closest Best Picture races of all time. It remains surprising that one of their few films to evade any nominations is this endlessly-quotable comedy starring Jeff Bridges as The Dude.

7. Blow Out (1981)

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