The Oscars are meant to celebrate the best of the year, but they are just as infamous for the movies they ignore. Every year the Academy releases a list of films that can be nominated in most categories (this year’s list features 323 films) and a shorter list for best picture (207 in 2024).
Not all films make the lists. Movies that didn’t open in certain US cities and didn’t show in theaters for long enough, premiered on streaming, screened outside of the year, or didn’t pay the fees aren’t eligible. Then there’s also a slew of genre and low-budget movies from all over the world that just don’t win awards. Some of these omissions are surprising. They have big stars, got some of the best reviews of the year, made money at the box office, or set the streaming world afire. But, in the end, they just weren’t awards-friendly, couldn’t cut through the attention economy, or didn’t have the budget or star power to get attention.
Below are 10 films that, in a better world, would at least have a shot at awards glory. But first a few honorable mentions:
- “Terrifier 3” – While far from Oscar bait, this movie did lead the US box office and was a huge hit. Its previous installment competed for best makeup, but maybe that snub put the producers off.
- “The First Omen” – Receiving surprisingly good reviews, the consensus was that this legacy prequel was better than it needed to be. Still, it didn’t qualify for the Oscars even as the very similar nunsploitation “Immaculate” did.
- “How to Have Sex” – After a strong showing at the 2023 European Film Awards, this timely movie about consent and sexuality seemed primed for an impactful US release, but it came and went without much traction.
10. Rebel Ridge
The Netflix action thriller was well-received by critics, with many citing its “acronyms scene” as one of the year’s most memorable cinematic moments. The story of a former marine who seeks retribution after being wronged by corrupt local police, “Rebel Ridge” featured a star turn by lead Aaron Pierre (who ended the year on a high note as the lead voice in “Mufasa: The Lion King”), a memorable villain in TV actor Don Johnson, and a relevant plot that explored real-world social issues. With propulsive action, well-honed tension, and something meaningful to say about society, “Rebel Ridge” offers more than the usual Netflix action dump.
Some Netflix films play in festivals, then theaters, and campaign for Oscars with expensive ad campaigns (this year “Emilia Perez,” “Maria,” and “The Piano Lesson”). “Rebel Ridge” wasn’t one of them, most likely because its award prospects were too slim. It’s a genre film from an indie filmmaker, Jeremy Saulnier, whose work is often too gritty for the Academy. “Rebel Ridge” wasn’t the only Netflix film to miss the list. Winter action hit “Carry On” and horror/sci-fi festival favorite “It’s What’s Inside” also didn’t qualify.
9. Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point
A sprawling ensemble piece that played at Cannes, “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” is the kind of naturalist indie that might’ve squeaked in with a screenplay nomination or a few critics’ awards a decade ago. Featuring, in bit parts, the progeny of not one but two legendary, Oscar-winning directors, “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” depicts an Italian American family celebrating the holidays in a small Rhode Island town. Kids obsess about presents, teens scheme to get out, and adults fret about the future while reminiscing about the past.
Multiple generations come together, and the film spends time with each of them, from the kids obsessed with presents to the older members reckoning with life’s disappointments. Sparse in actual plot but dripping with character and a strong sense of place, Tyler Taormina’s film often feels like an actual family gathering as it unfolds over one night and lets the drama, tensions, and motivations of the clan unfurl with documentary-lite naturalism. It’s a gentle film more concerned with recreating the mood and coziness of an actual New England Christmas than it is with forcing a clear narrative arc or epiphanies, which might be why it wasn’t even on the list for Oscar consideration.
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8. Universal Theory
Movies about the multiverse have conquered the box office (“Spiderman: No Way Home”) and the Oscars (“Everything Everywhere At Once”), but German throwback “The Universal Theory” didn’t find its way to US audiences or awards bodies. Timm Kroger’s film is gorgeous with old Hollywood style: everything from the music to the cinematography and credits are made up like a film from the 1940s while the plot is like a mashup of “The Third Man” and “Inception.” Set in 1962, a physicist uncovers strange happenings and unforeseen consequences while at a conference in the Swiss Alps.
Film noir, quantum mechanics, and melancholic longing are on full display. “The Universal Theory” uses tremendous craft and clever storytelling to bridge cinema’s past and future, but its twists and sometimes dour tone perhaps made it too windy to be an outright hit. After premiering at the Venice Film Festival in 2023, it was released in Germany months later and hit the US in 2024 without making much of a dent. Like many European films that play at festivals, “The Universal Theory” didn’t have a straightforward theatrical release in the US, meaning it likely didn’t play in enough cities or for long enough.
7. Mother, Couch
You’d think a film featuring two Oscar winners and a Jedi master would get more attention, but this wasn’t the case with “Mother, Couch.” An adaptation of the Swedish novel, “Mother, Couch” premiered at the 2023 Sundance Festival before playing in cinemas in July 2024. At Sundance, it garnered attention for its premise: while furniture shopping, a family matriarch sits on a couch and refuses to get up. Ever. Her stubbornness begets an absurd family drama and opens the door to difficult conversations, harsh truths, and honest reckonings.
On paper, there seems like enough to get some momentum. A charming ensemble led by Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn plays well off of each other, and there’s a strangeness to the proceedings that balances some of its more whimsical elements. Ultimately a reflection on love, family, and aging, Mother, Couch’s strength is its weirdness and its refusal to ever play anything so clear. It also raises some uncomfortable emotions about parenting and unconditional love. All of which might explain why it didn’t make its way onto the remainder list. Indies like these increasingly have same-day theatrical and streaming premiers, meaning “Mother, Couch” had to sit this awards race out.
6. Magpie
Nowhere to be found on the reminder list, “Magpie” is the filmic equivalent of a little bird singing into your ear. “Magpie” was billed as a neo-noir, but it’s the family drama at the center that gives the movie its twists and turns. The film shows a marriage teetering on the rocks. Couple Anette and Ben have just welcomed their second child into the world when their older daughter gets the chance to act in a film. While Anette mostly stays at home minding their newborn, Ben chaperones their daughter on set and finds himself falling for one of the actresses in the movie.
As Ben tries to pursue a new relationship and Anette becomes more suspicious, “Magpie” becomes an exploration of toxic relationships and gaslighting. Like other films from last year like “Nightbitch” and “Mother, Couch,” this movie has things to say about women’s roles in society and the unrealistic, unfair expectations placed on mothers, but it takes a windy, sometimes crafty approach, subverting audience expectations and leaning more into the thriller genre as it speeds to its ending. Like other mid-budget indies based around a famous actor (in this case “Star Wars” alum Daisy Ridley), “Magpie” came and went without Oscar buzz.
5. The Coffee Table
This one was always going to be too dark for the Oscars, but this tense Spanish flick found lots of love and attention among horror heads in 2024 despite being released in Spain more than a year ago. “The Coffee Table” is a tight film – two locations, a small cast, and a run time that barely clocks at 90 minutes – that is full of tension and dread. A couple who’ve just had a child decide to purchase a coffee table. The father’s choice of a gaudy option raises already-high tensions that skyrocket once the movie moves to the couple’s apartment for lunch.
It’s no surprise that a film like “The Coffee Table” didn’t make it to awards season. It’s dark, genre-tinged, was released independently, played in the US years after its first screening, and found a home on streaming, especially after horror author Stephen King sang its praises on social media. None of that was ever going to make it a contender for festival favorite Oscar fares like “Anora” and “The Brutalist,” but in a year where “The Substance” garnered key noms, it’s a shame that more horror films couldn’t make the list. “The Coffee Table” joins some of the year’s other strongest efforts like “Oddity” and “Humane” in being left out entirely.
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4. El Paraiso
More films are being made today than ever, and the vast majority fly under the radar seen by few if any in their home countries. A lucky few movies play at film festivals and fewer are luckier still to find an audience in the real world. “El Paraiso,” a Colombian-Italian co-production that played in Venice’s 2023 Orrizonti competition is one such film that fell by the wayside in the US market but deserved much better.
Billed as a neo-noir and doubling as a deeply felt family drama, “El Paraiso” is about a mother-son pair of Colombian immigrants living in Italy. Working as low-level criminals, they have a volatile, codependent relationship that ricochets from doting to abusive and back again in a moment. The arrival of a temporary houseguest causes son Julio to think about the future. Featuring an explosive performance by Margarita Rosa de Francisco and heartfelt work all around, “El Paraiso” sounds familiar but feels new and unique. While Italy tends to do well when it comes to the Oscars, “El Paraiso” simply didn’t have the traction. It wasn’t the submitted film, for either Italy or Colombia, and it didn’t have a wide enough US release to be eligible.
3. Red Rooms
Icy thrillers that ruminate on obsession not directed by David Fincher have a hard time when it comes to awards, so Quebecois psychological thriller “Red Rooms” was always going to be a tough sell. Still, Pascal Plante’s festival favorite is a rare beast so immaculately made and psychologically probing that it sticks with you long after the credits have rolled.
Set in Montreal, “Red Rooms” tells the story of an aloof fashion model played by Juliette Gariépy who is obsessed with the trial of an alleged serial killer who streamed his murders in a so-called “Red Room” on the dark web. Plante’s film invites discussions about commerce, societal fascination with true crime, parasocial relationships, and the reaches of the internet while saying and showing very little. Relying on crisp cinematography and sound design, “Red Rooms” manages to be exceedingly disturbing without resorting to torture porn.
This opacity is likely part of why “Red Rooms” didn’t get any awards traction. Genre films that play on the festival circuit are a far cry from Oscar, but Red Rooms’ central performance, direction, craft, and especially sound design work in sync to make one of the best films – horror or not – of the last year.
2. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
The best film of 2024 according to Metacritic isn’t eligible for the top US film award. Romanian film “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World” holds the highest rating on the review aggregator site for any film released in the US last year, but the Oscars’ complicated approach to non-US films makes this an iffy case.
Radu Jude’s film was Romania’s entry for the International Film category in 2023, but it wasn’t shortlisted or nominated. As with Brazil’s “City of God” in 2003, a film that’s ignored for the Best Foreign Film award in one year but released in the next year can be considered for the Oscars. This is why films like “Io Capitano,” “La Chimera,” and “Robot Dreams” – all released to great reviews in the US in 2024 but made eligible for the 2023 Oscars – aren’t in the mix this year. But “Do Not Expect… “ still could’ve technically made it on the list. The truth is that it’s likely too weird and too experimental. Ignored twice now by the Academy (for Best International Film in 2023 and everything else in 2024), Jude’s slow-burn absurdist comedy following a production assistant across a series of modern indignities will have to only settle for critical acclaim.
1. Hundreds of Beavers
Few films from last year were as relentlessly bonkers as “Hundreds of Beavers,” a dialogue-free live-action cartoon about a trapper in the icy wilderness who clashes with the titular animals. Even in a year where dialogue-free movies were more abundant (see “Flow,” “Sasquatch Sunset,” and “Azazel”), “Hundreds of Beavers” stands out for its sheer inventiveness, mash-up of silent films and Looney Tunes sensibilities, and unorthodox release. Shot for $150,000 over 12 weeks, the slapstick tale is independent to its bones with filmmaker Mike Cheslik and co-writer/lead actor Ryland Tews handling the bulk of duties.
That last part is what likely excluded “Hundreds of Beavers.” Cheslik and Tews have been rolling out their film in independent cinemas across the US in interactive, meme-worthy screenings. Audience members dress up, alcohol is sometimes flowing, and the beavers from the films sometimes roam the aisles. The whole approach has made the film a cult favorite with a dedicated following for those who know. However, since it first premiered in 2022 and was self-distributed in cinemas and on video on demand in 2024, it didn’t meet the Oscar’s eligibility criteria. This is the Oscar’s loss. They say they don’t make movies like they used to. “Hundreds of Beavers” is proof that they do.
