18 Must-See Movies That Weren't Nominated for Oscars
The Oscars neglected a number of great films. Here's a look at the best of the snubbed, and where you can stream (or leave your house to watch) them right now.
Image via ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
To the surprise of no one, the Academy consistently misses the mark when it comes to the breadth of quality cinema released in a year. And while we have a knack for picking the people and projects that will no doubt be getting announced during the Oscars ceremony, it's still frustrating to look back at the best of 2019 and see so many of our favorite films being left without that spotlight.
We know how it can be for some; you spend the weekend leading into the Oscars trying to devour every film available to be seen streamed, but why not relieve that stress, watch what you actually want, then take in any number of these neglected necessities? We're guaranteeing you that one of these 18 films will have something for you—everything from NBA lockout heists and family strife to intergalactic sex romps and riotgrrl bands imploding are here for you to take in. All are flames, and a better representation of where film will be heading in 2020 and beyond.
Here is a look at the best films that got neglected by the 2020 Oscars.
'Apollo 11'
Director: Todd Douglas Miller
Starring: Edwin Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Charles Duke, Bruce McCandless
Where to Watch: Hulu
Frankly, I’m still at a loss as to why the Academy didn’t lap up every single drop of Apollo 11. Directed, produced and edited by Todd Douglas Miller, the movie is made up entirely of archival footage, including previously unreleased 70mm footage, to create a stunning tribute to one of history’s greatest achievements: the 1969 Apollo 11 spaceflight that saw humanity walk on the surface of the Moon for the first time.
The chronicling of this epic feat feels like it would resonate with the Academy in the same way something like 1917 seemingly has. After all, what’s more powerful than the human spirit? By avoiding typical trappings of documentaries—i.e., no talking heads—Miller’s approach quite literally lets these men speak for themselves. The inside look, whether it be in Mission Control or in the Apollo 11 spacecraft itself, offers a previously unseen insight into a story that’s been told a dozen times over by this point. Each new element colors in the lines of a true spectacle, yielding new discoveries even all these years later. Case in point: in the process of restoring and editing the over 11,000 hours of audio and hundreds of hours of video, the production team was able to identify astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin listening to folk singer John Stewart’s song “Mother Country,” a fact previously unknown.
Perhaps members of the Academy felt that Apollo 11 charted too many of 2018’s (vastly underrated) First Man’s beats to be fully rewarded. However, their loss is your gain. The movie is a miraculous achievement, one that’s more than a worthy testament to the extraordinary act at its center. It’s a living, breathing document that says, “We did this. We made this happen. Bear witness.” We’re all the richer for having it in our lives. —William Goodman
'The Art of Self Defense'
Director: Riley Stearns
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots
Where to Watch: Hulu
I totally understand why this movie was snubbed by the Oscars. It’s a weird, dark humor thriller, with clumsy violence, and something to say. That’s also exactly what makes it great. The fact that so many people didn’t get its quirky tone or important message will no doubt only endear it more to those who do. Jesse Eisenberg capitalizes on his years of being cast as the oddball to instantly pull you into his sad little world of TV dinners. From there on absurdity reigns, as an exceptionally intelligent script pokes holes in subjects like toxic masculinity, while never losing the ability to poke fun at itself. My money is on this one becoming a cult classic. Get in while it’s fresh. —Nate Houston
'Ash Is Purest White'
Director: Jia Zhangke
Starring: Zhao Tao, Liao Fan
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
What begins as a gangster picture—all gambling dens, cigarettes smoked with the utmost cool, and illegally possessed firearms—becomes a kind of melodrama about the wages of romantic loyalty, and then something else entirely. Ash Is Purest White, the new movie from master director Jia Zhangke, would make a good companion to The Irishman, as K. Austin Collins pointed out at Vanity Fair. They’re both crime epics about aging, loss, and a bygone way of life in a country that’s changing. The basic premise here is an underworld heavy in a mining city in China, played by Liao Fan, gets into some shit; he’s bailed out of a violent confrontation by his girlfriend, played by Zhao Tao, and she winds up doing a bid. But when she’s released from prison years later, he’s moved on. From there, the story moves in consistently surprising directions that are best experienced without forewarning. Funny, melancholy, and stunning, this movie has a better long take than 1917. —Ross Scarano
'Atlantics'
Director: Mati Diop
Starring: Mame Bineta Sane, Amadou Mbow, Ibrahima Traoré
Where to Watch: Netflix
A relationship ends abruptly, before you can prepare. What happens? You can’t take your mind off the person; you start mistaking strangers for them on the street. You’re haunted. Mati Diop’s first feature, Atlantics, is a romance and a ghost story. Ada, played by Mame Bineta Sane, is torn between two men in Dakar, Senegal—there’s Souleiman, who she’s in love with, and then there’s Omar, the rich guy her family wants her to marry. She’s robbed of the drama of her choice when Souleiman and the other young men he works with, on the construction site of a decadent luxury tower at the city’s edge, depart one night on a boat for a better opportunity in Europe. It’s a treacherous crossing; the men are desperate—they haven’t been paid in months for their work on the tower. If this were typical neorealism, it might become a quiet drama about Ada’s miserable life with Omar. Instead, it becomes something supernatural and strange, a heartbroken revenge story. The first black woman director to have a film compete at Cannes, Diop should have been up for an Oscar—but you know how that goes. —Ross Scarano
'Dark Waters'
Director: Todd Haynes
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, Bill Pullman
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
With Mark Ruffalo playing another scrappy, do-gooder, Todd Haynes’s latest film feels more like a spiritual sequel to Spotlight (which, by the way, won Best Picture—hello, Academy, pay attention). In this thrillingly true story that’s David and Goliath-esque, Ruffalo plays an ex-corporate lawyer who unexpectedly ends up fighting for the little guys in a stacked case against DuPont, the company responsible for Teflon, which used harmful chemicals that caused deaths and birth defects. Along the way, Ruffalo’s attorney puts his own career and safety, and that of his pregnant wife, at risk to expose the truth. Dark Waters may not seem like a movie by Todd Haynes, the man who most recently brought us swoon-worthy, nostalgia-leaning features like Carol and Wonderstruck, but go further back to his 1995 film Safe to trace the director’s fascination with environmental paranoia. —Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
'The Farewell'
Director: Lulu Wang
Starring: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Zhao Shuzhen, Lu Hong, Jiang Yongbo
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
Lulu Wang’s omission from the Best Director race and The Farewell’s lack of a Best Picture nomination are the most egregious oversights in an Oscars year that critics and audiences agree largely missed the mark. Not only did the film meet with a greater level of critical acclaim than most of the Best Picture nominees and post an incredible per-screen average at the box office, the film’s directing indicates the kind of virtuoso talent that was expressed by Barry Jenkins in Moonlight and Greta Gerwig in Lady Bird. If the Oscars' expanded Best Picture category is meant to elevate rising talent ready for a bigger stage and bigger budget, then this oversight was a complete failure of the system. Lady Bird’s budget was $10 million while Little Women was made for $40 million. Gerwig’s directorial debut made $79 million at the box office largely thanks to Oscar season re-release, setting the stage for her next project. While The Farewell returned an impressive $19.6 million on a $3 million budget, that number could have more than doubled if the Academy had provided an assist. Oscar nominations matter.
While Awkwafina and Zhao Shuzhen were certainly snubbed in their respective acting categories, Wang’s directing is perhaps the most ridiculous oversight. Wang’s use of movement in the frame to create dramatic tension is absolutely brilliant and was the perfect way to illustrate the feeling of shoving an entire family that has spread across the globe into a small apartment one last time. Wang has the directorial instincts of a master. This is certainly not the last we have heard from Lulu Wang, but there is no denying that the Oscars can and should be a springboard for emerging talent rather than just a stage for doling out lifetime achievement awards to directors who have entire shelves of laurels collected when their voices were fresher and their instincts sharper. While many snubs are unfortunate or disappointing, the failure of the Academy to recognize The Farewell is an indictment of the supposed mission and vision of the Oscars, and indicates that whatever steps have been taken to make things better simply aren’t working. —Brenden Gallagher
'Her Smell'
Director: Alex Ross Perry
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Cara Delevingne, Dan Stevens, Agyness Deyn, Gayle Rankin, Ashley Benson, Dylan Gelula, Virginia Madsen, Amber Heard
Where to Watch: HBO Now
You may know Her Smell as the movie that brought together Cara Delevingne, Ashley Benson, and that infamous sex bench. It’s also one of the best music movies of 2019. Elisabeth Moss has certainly played unhinged before (look no further than Jordan Peele’s Us), but her manic energy as frontwoman of fictional ’90s riot grrrl band Something She is so pervasive and contagious that the film’s 135-minute ride is nearly painful. As Becky Something, Moss is both so nightmarish and charismatic as director Alex Ross Perry follows the tempestuous rock star in rattling long takes that contain pendulating emotions. Separated into five acts that unfold in real-time, Her Smell tracks the band’s fall—mostly on account of Becky’s unspecified substance abuse—and her slow journey recovery. The running theme song throughout? Their cover of The Only Ones’ “Another Girl Another Planet.” Fittingly, the opening line, which Moss snarls is, “I always flirt with death.” —Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
'A Hidden Life'
Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: August Diehl, Valerie Pachner, Matthias Schoenaerts
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
In a year in which the Academy is slobbing heavily on two allegedly important and profound war movies, it’s embarrassing that the one true anti-war movie got nothing. Terrence Malick’s latest is set in Austria during World War II and depicts not a single scene of combat. There are no shootouts, no bombings, no plane crashes, no knife fights. Instead, it’s the true story of a Catholic farmer, Franz Jägerstätter, who refused to swear allegiance to Hitler and serve in his army. It’s one of the most powerful movies of the year; the camerawork and editing are startling and beautiful—I don’t think I’ve seen a movie that better depicts the horrible duration of time in prison. A Hidden Life is a real reckoning with the cost of protest, not just for the individual but for their loved ones too. It’s about life and death, and what it means to follow your beliefs as far as they can go. Jojo Rabbit and 1917? Sucker shit. —Ross Scarano
'High Flying Bird'
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: André Holland, Zazie Beetz, Melvin Gregg, Sonja Sohn, Zachary Quinto, Kyle MacLachlan, Bill Duke
Where to Watch: Netflix
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A NYC man on the verge of losing everything makes a crazy, NBA-related gamble in order to save his entire career. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
What if I told you this isn’t Uncut Gems—but rather, a Steven Soderbergh-directed movie? That it was shot entirely in NYC on an iPhone 8? And that it was written by Moonlight scribe Tarell Alvin McCraney? Would any of that ring a bell?
There’s a good chance that it won’t. Because even among the most pretentious parts of #FilmTwitter, Netflix’s High Flying Bird didn’t leave much of a lasting impact. One of the best auteur filmmakers in the business has now made four films in a row (Logan Lucky, Unsane, High Flying Bird, and The Laundromat) that audiences have seemed to care little about. It’s particularly sad in the case of High Flying Bird, as the movie had elements that should have made it a beloved new-era sports movie: An early February 2019 release on Netflix put it right in the barren wasteland of the infamous studio dump months and featured an array of beloved actors including André Holland (who brought the idea to Soderbergh after their work together on the equally underrated Cinemax series The Knick), Zazie Beetz, Sonja Sohn, Zachary Quinto, Kyle MacLachlan, and Bill Duke. The film’s plot is all about a cunning plot hatched by NYC sports agent Ray Burke (Holland) to get both himself, his rookie client, and his agency paid during the middle of a massive NBA lockout. Additionally, NBA players Reggie Jackson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Donovan Mitchell serve as a Greek chorus to give less informed viewers an inside look at what it’s like to be a rookie in a massive sports league.
The film’s actual plot machinations are better left unspoiled, but ultimately serve as a fun and endlessly entertaining metaphor for the director’s approach to filmmaking since his 2016 return. In lesser hands, the iPhone 8 filmmaking could come across as gimmicky, but Soderbergh’s approach makes it so the audience’s focus is drawn to the fantastic performances and crackling script from McCraney, instead of a flashy or distracting camera shot. And at 91 minutes, the whole piece moves like a freight train, never wasting a second. While it doesn’t ever capture the dread or tension of Uncut Gems, High Flying Bird would make for a hell of a double feature as a treatise on what humans are capable of when their backs are against the wall. It’s an absolute gem of a movie, just waiting for you to unearth it. —William Goodman
'High Life'
Director: Claire Denis
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin, Mia Goth
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
While Ad Astra and The Rise of Skywalker got a little bit of Oscar love in a robust year for space movies, there was not a single Academy shout-out for what is arguably the best one of the year: High Life. Directed by the French auteur Claire Denis, released by A24, and starring Robert Pattinson—who boasts another arthouse addition to his ever-fascinating post-Twilight filmography—this sci-fi flick finds horror that’s atypical to space movies. There may be no aliens, but it grapples with an even more terrifying concept: alienation, and what happens when freedom is lost in such free space. Denis uses the vastness of the universe to imagine a nightmarish new frontier for prison and Pattinson plays a celibate death-row inmate who becomes the non-consensual subject of a fertility test, run by a mad doctor (Juliette Binoche, who whips her waist-length hair back and forth in the most terrifying sexual scenario of the year). —Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
'Honey Boy'
Director: Alma Har'el
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe, FKA Twigs
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
Shia's auto-biopic about his time in therapy, contrasted with his complicated childhood spent with his father (whom Shia plays) feels like a therapy session in its own right. By that token, it could've been too indulgent to connect with anyone outside of the LaBeouf family. Instead what we have is a quietly devastating and affecting drama, boasting another casually great performance from Lucas Hedges, another confirmation that Noah Jupe is next up, and the role of Shia's lifetime, humanizing a man he loved and probably occasionally loathed. Honey Boy doesn't offer any easy answers, but it's a deeper look into Shia's formation into the troubled teen star that bemused as often as he entertained than any cover story could go. —Frazier Tharpe
'Hustlers'
Director: Lorene Scafaria
Starring: Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, Cardi B
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
Hustlers would not be my personal choice for a female Best Director nomination. Greta Gerwig, Lulu Wang, and Céline Sciamma reached greater aesthetic and technical heights in their respective work. Despite an over-reliance on slow motion and flashforward and a fairly standard directorial approach, Lorene Scarfaria turned in a sturdy effort with Hustlers that allowed Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu to shine. In the Supporting Actress category, no nominee comes close the Lopez’s depth and breadth in their role except for likely winner Florence Pugh (Little Women). Similarly, it is hard to argue that Renee Zellweger managed a more Oscar-worthy performance in Judy or Charlie Theron’s work in Bombshell was more deserving of recognition than what Wu did as Hustlers’ lead. It’s difficult not to look at these to snubs and feel that the subject matter influenced Academy voters to award less controversial performances. While a number of women have been nominated for playing sex workers, J.Lo’s confident, unabashed portrayal of stripper and criminal mastermind Ramona might have put off more conservative voters’ sensibilities. Apparently, the Academy is less interested in rewarding a turn as a self-assured and confident sex worker than a maudlin effort as a stripper or prostitute who plays the remorseful victim. In a media landscape with ever-decreasing ratings for awards shows, Lopez would have been a sure audience driver. But, unfortunately, the Academy missed a chance for renewed relevance in favor of safe, bland choices. It’s doubly unfortunate that Lopez won’t be rewarded for a career-best performance that marks a high-point in her decades as a mainstay in American film. Given Bombshell’s two acting nods with a story that rehabilitates conservative commentators and Trump apologists, the shutout of Hustlers also speaks volumes about what kind of politics Academy voters can make peace with and which they actually object to. —Brenden Gallagher
'The Last Black Man in San Francisco'
Director: Joe Talbot
Starring: Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors, Tichina Arnold, Rob Morgan, Mike Epps, Finn Wittrock, Danny Glover
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
The biggest snub for Last Black Man in San Francisco was overlooking Jonathan Majors for a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Buzz had been building for Majors’ lovely, sweet performance in the film, and a nod would have been a nice gesture to the kind of plucky, insular film that so often gets overlooked by the Academy. However, not enough attention has been paid to Last Black Man in San Francisco as a technical achievement. Director Joe Talbot pulls off a very difficult trick with this film, creating a world of magical realism that manages to keep us invested in the very real stakes of its characters as they grapple with being displaced by gentrification. This magical feeling pervades the film, endowing everyday objects with vivid, profound beauty. The house that is central to the plot is shot with a level of love and care that helps us understand the characters’ fascination, and even obsession, with it. This doesn’t just happen. The cinematography of Adam Newport-Berra is so generous and full of life as to practically animate inanimate objects and the score from Emile Mosseri gives the film the feeling of a fairy tale.
The technical achievements of Last Black Man in San Francisco may not be as readily evident as they are in the machine-gun riddled oners of 1917, but if we are evaluating a film’s technical success, the difficulty of infusing the oppressive mundanity of Silicon Valley gentrification with vibrance and depth is an amazing accomplishment. —Brenden Gallagher
'Luce'
Director: Julius Onah
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Octavia Spencer, Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Norbert Leo Butz
Where to Watch: Hulu
Luce is a tight, compelling and often gripping drama but I don't know that it needed to run the awards gamut—despite being a solid and much-needed bounce back for director Julius Onah after that Cloverfield Paradox debacle. Some consideration for the always stellar Octavia Spencer would've been nice (would she have been supporting?) But between this, Waves, and It Comes At Night, history will come to look at the Academy foolishly for not being early on Kelvin Harrison Jr. Waves is arguably the better movie but Luce has the better lead performance (both taken together showcase how readily he can transform himself for vastly different roles). As a master manipulator and maybe worse, Harrison Jr. is left to convey his inner motives through the smallest of facial twitches, glances, tics and expressions that slip through the cracks of his otherwise perfectly crafted mask. It's all simmering tension and rage that finally boils to the surface in a searingly memorable finale. 2019 was just the beginning of what seems like a long run to come. —Frazier Tharpe
'Midsommar'
Director: Ari Aster
Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Will Poulter
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
On its face, Midsommar seemingly charts the beats of a typical ‘trip gone wrong’ horror movie; A group of college kids vacation at a place wherein things start to go awry. Yet Midsommar’s best trick is just how Aster twists our expectations at every point. Most of the horror comes at the very beginning of the movie, darkness is removed for blistering daylight, the tension comes from a romantic relationship that’s well past its expiration date. The meticulous way in which Aster stitches together each element is not unlike the rich tapestries that foreshadow many of the film’s most gruesome and horrific moments. Anchored around this chaos is a superlative performance from future Black Widow Florence Pugh. The second of three incredibly diverse and interesting 2019 performances from the actress, Midsommar is arguably the showiest of the bunch, as Pugh brings such raw, powerful, and memeable emotion to every scene. The movie’s rich production design (spearheaded by Henrik Svensson) feels like a glaring Oscar sub, as the entire village was built from scratch, its imagery evoking fiery horrors of its own.
Despite strides forward in recent years (sup, Get Out), horror is still an exceedingly difficult sell to members of the Academy. However, Midsommar never really had a chance to compete, as the film’s nature makes it an inherently difficult watch. Most typical horror movies are nightmares; they take place at night and often involve supernatural elements that can be explained away. Midsommar is different because its plot is grounded in fears far more real to life than a Boogie Man. This movie isn’t a nightmare — it’s a day terror. No matter how hard you try, you can’t shake it. After all, there’s nothing to wake up from. Instead, it continues to linger long after it’s over, dominating every waking thought. —William Goodman
'Portrait of a Lady on Fire'
Director: Céline Sciamma
Starring: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel
Where to Watch: In theaters (if you're lucky)
To get serious Oscar attention, Portrait of A Lady on Fire would have had to overcome several major hurdles. The film had the misfortune of coming out in a year when France had another strong submission in Les Miserables, which was ultimately chosen over Portrait as the Gallic Oscar submission. It is already difficult for a foreign film to break through into the major categories and for a film that isn’t in contention for the international Oscar, it is almost impossible. When these films do take the big stage, they are often directed by a filmmaker already somewhat familiar to mainstream American audiences like Alfonso Cuarón and Bong Joon-ho. Those two directors, of course, are also both men. Had Portrait of a Lady on Fire been chosen as France’s official entrant into the Best International Feature Film category, it would have been an easier path to nominations for all three featured actresses (Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel as leads, and Luàna Bajrami in a supporting role) and director Céline Sciamma.
In a year when films like Bombshell and Little Women capitalized on the feminist frustration around #MeToo and a potential Trump re-election, Portrait of a Lady on Fire offers the most interesting “woman in a man’s world” narrative of the three films. Not only is Portrait of a Lady on Fire a period piece lesbian love story that avoids typical tropes of the genre, but the film offers sharp insights on the choices women make to exist in a world dominated by men. Additionally, the film is a stunning look at the nature of art and how an artist encounters and is inspired by a subject. Unlike some of the other films being championed by the Academy this time around, these themes are reflected in the superb, if subtle, filmmaking that internalizes these complex ideas and processes them as art. —Brenden Gallagher
'Uncut Gems'
Director(s): Josh and Benny Safdie
Starring: Adam Sandler, Lakeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, Eric Bogosian
Where to Watch: In theaters (with a little something extra)
Most flicks have nothing more to offer than the sensation of simply occupying your time. That’s why when I call Uncut Gems a 135-minute stress ulcer, I mean it in the best way. Movies like this are proof that you don’t need a blockbuster to have an experience at the theater. The idea that the self-proclaimed people’s champ of original storytelling which is the Academy failed to recognize this gem (pun intended) with a single nomination is a travesty. If it were up to me, I’d have given nods across the board all the way to costume design, because anybody who was alive in NYC 2012 knows that shit was a time machine. My advice: skip the Oscars and go see Uncut Gems. There’s a good chance many of us at Complex will be there with you for our fifth helping. —Nate Houston
'Waves'
Director: Trey Edward Shults
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lucas Hedges, Taylor Russell, Alexa Demie, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sterling K. Brown
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
I was late to the Waves party. I watched it the Saturday before Kobe and his daughter passed and was subsequently an emotional wreck for about a week. The acting is superb, the camerawork is art—the story left an indelible mark on me. The fact that the film features a black family without it being a “black” movie and written by Trey Edward Shults who happens to be white was interesting to me. I wasn’t aware of the “controversy” surrounding the latter and scoffed at the notion that people wouldn’t enjoy this film because the writer and director is white. The second half of this movie is a heart-wrenching experience; Sterling K. Brown and Taylor Russell are acting their asses off. And let me not gloss over Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s performance. He set the movie's tone, sets the plot off and his actions lead to the series of events that follow. Waves is a beautiful take on loss and how families can either be torn apart or become stronger. Don’t let the chatter sway you from watching this film. —Angel Diaz