2026 Oscar Nominees for Best Picture Ranked

Let’s hope it’s interesting this year

With the award show formerly known as the SAG in our rearview mirror and Oscar voting underway, it is time for me to weigh in on this award season. Spoilers, I’ve got One Battle After Another fatigue. As usual, my personal favorites list has very little overlap with the best picture list. However, this year’s batch of nominees has no outright stinkers, which is not a given every year. So let’s get to ranking!

10. F1

Letterboxd Review

A movie that meets expectations exactly.

F1 is by far the most accessible film in this lineup. It tells the story of what the Top Gun: Maverick director would do with fast cars and Brad Pitt instead of fast planes and Tom Cruise. As technically top-notch as the film is, it is equally formulaic. There is really nothing wrong with good actors clocking in to work. Shout out to Kerry Condon in particular, who affirms what I’ve always said: the land of Ire is where great potatoes and actors are grown.

I appreciate a blockbuster being in the mix of the year’s best films, especially when that blockbuster is not part of a franchise that is the poster child for diminishing returns *cough *cough Avatar 3. I did not know a lick about Formula 1 racing before this movie, and it felt educational in some ways. Although I have heard through the car guy grapevine, it may not have been 100% accurate, which is fine by me. There were many films I liked more than F1 this year. Regardless, it feels like a worthy addition to the year’s best as a good way to balance out some of the heavy fare later on this list.

9. Bugonia

Letterboxd Review

Is this alien business really going to move the needle? I just don’t know if our team has the bandwidth for this, let’s circle back and get our ducks in a row before we give 110%.

Tyler, The Creator and I probably do not have much in common, but one thing I know for sure is we both are always down for a new Yorgos Lanthimos movie. Bugona is a remake of a South Korean film called Save the Green Planet. I watched the original in anticipation of seeing Yorgo’s version. I far and away prefer Bugonia over the OG, but neither one blew my socks off. Jesse Plemons plays a mentally ill character named Teddy wrapped up in alien conspiracy theories to such a severe degree that it makes my stomach churn to think about. The performances are convincing, but Plemons in particular stood out because I could see people like this existing in our world. The production design of the house is top-notch and puts that basement in the hall of fame of creepy movie basements. I think the Original Score nomination for this movie was well earned. The classic orchestral music was so loud in your face, it felt like this must be what Teddy is hearing in his head, supporting his delusions of grandeur.

Similar to F1 in a way, I found Bugonia to be technically excellent the story and the material might just not have captivated me as much as some of Yourgo’s other work. That being said, this may be one of his most accessible films if you can believe it. So if you are a little adventurous in your movie tastes but want to test the waters a bit first, this might not be a bad place to start.

8. The Secret Agent

Letterboxd Review

I think I bit off more then I could chew here, I’ve got cinematic indigestion for sure.

The Secret Agent is a beast of a film. It tells the story of a former researcher in 70’s era Brazil trying to escape problems from his past amidst a military dictatorship. This is the second year in a row that a Brazilian film has been in the best picture line-up that takes place during this time period. After watching this film, I felt like I both needed to take a course in Brazilian history, and that I just got one.

This film really takes you on a ride through many genres and themes. Including family, death, distractions in the media, history, politics, crime, film, evil, class, archive efforts, shark attacks, scientific research, and so much more. I think the reason it’s not higher on this list is that it was too much to handle in one go. I could see this film being even better on a re-watch. Congratulations Brazilian film fans. I know you all are very passionate, and I am really sorry about what happened in your country.

7. Sentimental Value

Letterboxd Review

Stellan Skarsgård: *does anything

Me: *leans in

There were two films in this batch that were about family drama and the healing power of art. I think this one is slightly weaker of the two, but it’s still a decent watch. The story focuses on a famous fictional movie director trying to make his most personal movie, wanting his daughters to be a part of it, but realizing that being an absent father has made that dream difficult. The acting is all superb. I find that when actors play actors in movies, the performances are always more interesting because of the necessary layers of their performance.

I am glad the academy agrees with me that the acting was great by nominating all 4 central performances; there is not a weak one of the bunch. Stellan Skarsgård’s range displayed in both this and Andor in the same year is nothing short of amazing. I watched this movie with my Dad and was grateful he parented me much better than those poor girls. It did seem to make him reflect a bit anyway, and I think that says something about the saying power this film could have. It’s European in pace and taste, that is one thing to keep in mind if you are not a fan of slow-paced family dramas in Norwegian.

6. Frankenstein

Letterboxd Review

Lets just call this the definitive Frankenstein film and just move on with our lives.

I read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in high school and remember enjoying it much more than I expected. The only other Frankenstein adaptation I have seen is Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, and maybe Frankenweenie if you count that. So I was delighted watching this when my favorite part of the book, where the monster is hiding in the house and learning about humanity by watching through the hole in the walls, was depicted. Some of the dead body stuff was a big gross, and Oscar Isaac drinking milk a lot was never explained. Regardless of some quirks and hit-or-miss CGI, I thought it was a solid adaptation, from my very limited view. Jacob Elordi as the monster was the best performance I have seen him give. If you are a fan of the book and can handle a bit of gore, this is a surprisingly good time.

5. One Battle After Another

Letterboxd Review

I was in dire need of subtitles.

I wrote a whole article about my thoughts about OBAA, which you can read here. I still agree with my past self and prefer not to talk about this movie anymore, because it makes me feel dumb and left out. If I were in control of the Oscars I would give this film Best Director and nothing else and move on with my life.

4. Marty Supreme

Letterboxd Review

Timmy deserves the Oscar from the marketing alone.

“Marty Supreme is a Christmas movie about ping-pong with Willy Wonka” is what you would say if you are a crafty, chronically online child who wants to try to trick your parents into letting you see a movie you probably shouldn’t. Ironically if you were able to pull that off, that’s a real Marty Mauser move. I am not going to lie, I am a fan of Timothée Chalamet. There may be a major Dunehead bias, but I think he is great in everything he does and has already had an impressive career. I can’t wait to see what he does for the rest of it.

Unfortunately, I think I enjoyed the fake marketing call they did to promote the movie better than Marty Supreme itself. Not to say the movie is bad, but the more I have sat with it, the more I feel a little disappointed, and I am not totally sure why. It is not because I am turning on Timmy like some of the internet wants to. I think it’s because my expectations when watching the movie were in the wrong place. I do not mind watching deplorable characters do deplorable things (Succession is one of my favorite shows). However, I think the way the movie was marketed made me want something that the movie did not deliver. The music was fantastic, the editing and pace were great. I am sure if I were to revisit, knowing how the movie ends will be a much better time. As good a time as a Josh Safdie movie can be, of course.

3. Sinners

Letterboxd Review

Perfect title for an Easter Sunday morning watch.

Sinners was the first movie that I was able to see from this batch of nominees, and it has had great staying power. There is not one person I have talked to about this film who did not enjoy it. For such a unique story that is impressive. The first half was amazing; the world-building, music, and performances were all fun and fresh. The only thing that kept me from ranking it higher was the second half. I appreciated the big swing of changing tone and genre more than I enjoyed it. I would much prefer this win over One Battle After Another; it would make this year more exciting, and for some reason, I care about that. It was exciting to see an original movie make a bunch of money at the box office. I want Sinners to do well because the more movies we can get like Sinners, the better off the film landscape will be.

I am keeping my commentary as vague as possible about this film because if by some miracle, you do not know what Sinners is about, I highly recommend you watch it without knowing the plot. This was the case with my mom; she went in blind, how lucky was she! If I can help anyone else have that same experience I want to because I wish I could have had it myself.

2. Train Dreams

Letterboxd Review

This year’s Iron Claw found me. 💔

As is often the case, my favorite movies often hit me on an emotional level, and these last two films on the list struck an emotional chord. Train Dreams is the story of a man’s life, which was defined mostly by having to go to work and not getting to spend enough time with his wife and daughter. I am about to have my first child in a few weeks. I want nothing more than to never work and just be able to spend time with my family, but just as it was not realistic in the early 1900s it’s still not realistic now. I am very lucky I have not had to really deal with loss or grief to the extent of the main character in this film, but Joel Edgerton played that emotion so well that my tears and empathy just flowed.

The movie was beautiful and would be my pick for best cinematography of the year. William H Macy could have been a best supporting actor nominee if that category were not so tough this year. Also, a word to filmmakers who like to make poetic, sad movies like this: take a lesson from Train Dreams. Movies like this are great, but in small doses, so let’s not make them over 2 hours. This movie’s runtime was perfect.

1. Hamnet

Letterboxd Review

Train Dreams, Rental Family, Jay Kelly, and now this.

What is this Award Season trying to do to me? I’m a tender little guy these days.

If Train Dreams broke me, Hamnet utterly destroyed me. Hament tells the story of Agnes, a free spirit and loving mother who just happened to marry William Shakespeare. I saw this with a small group of strangers at my local Cinemark, and as the credits rolled, we all just sat there quietly sniffling. I had no idea what this movie was about, and you could sense the tragedy coming from a mile away; I just didn’t know the specifics. Depending on what has happened in your life, this movie may need to be avoided at all costs. I could see if you have gone though similar loss, this could be too much. Jessie Buckley is astounding in this film. Everyone agrees that the Best Actress Oscar is hers; they are just polishing it for her. She is another example of what I’ve always said: the land of Ire is where great potatoes and actors are grown.

I have read a decent amount of Shakespeare and knew quite a bit about the Globe Theater, as I did a project on it while I was in middle school. So I nerded out a bit seeing that brought to life in the third act. Jacobi Jupe has more talent at 12 years old than I will have my whole life. I have no real criticisms about this film. I found the healing power of art themes to not be shallow at all, most likely because of how grounded they were in the central performances and how wonderfully directed and cohesive the story was. No flaws, it will just take me having a brave day to revisit this.

Thanks Chuck!

Well, there you have it, another award season coming to a close. I am more excited about this year than last year, and was quite pleased watching this batch of films. I just want to take one moment to shout out The Life of Chuck, my favorite movie of last year that got absolutely no award season love. I have no idea why, so if none of these best picture films floated your boat, check out The Life of Chuck, it was incredible. It has been great year to be a film fan. I hear watching films as a parent is even better, so here’s to hoping for a great first year of films for my daughter!