I Ranked The 2026 Oscars Best Picture Nominees From Worst To Best — With One Notable Exception

Posted 34 minutes ago

Note: This post is an Op-Ed and shares the author's personal views.

9. Train Dreams

Ugh, more like train snores. The best thing you can say about this one is that it's the type of role that Joel Edgerton could play in his sleep (his dreams?); if you want to be really generous, you could say that it also looks quite nice at times, if a little "What if Terrence Malick directed an American Express commercial." Otherwise, Train Dreams more often than not reaches for something just outside its grasp, carrying an assumed profundity that it never quite makes the case for possessing. (On the bright side: Train Dreams being the possible worst-of-the-worst in this year's nominees does highlight how strong of a year it's been! It's certainly no Green Book, that's for sure.)

8. Hamnet

I loved Chloé Zhao's last Movie For Adults, 2020's Nomadland (I didn't bother with Eternals, and that seems to have been a choice well-made), but I couldn't stand Hamnet. As a whole, it verges on total emotional exploitation, and the lack of overall focus makes for a Jessie Buckley performance that is, while intense, also somewhat wasted. I also found Paul Mescal's performance to be borderline embarrassing — but! I did randomly love Joe Alwyn's background-grunt "what the hell is a play, anyway" role. Hey, I wonder what he would've thought of the opera and ballet!

7. Sentimental Value

I wanted to love Joachim Trier's lovely-looking and (sorry) sentimental dramedy about estrangement, the nature of the entertainment industry, and the ties that bind family members together. Ultimately, however, I found Sentimental Value to be quite lopsided in its approach and composition, with its most powerful portion taking place shortly before the film itself ends. Speaking of that portion: In any other year, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas would be a Best Supporting Actress frontrunner. As is, it's a relief that she was recognized for being the secret MVP of the film itself.

6. Frankenstein

Some people really didn't like this one, which I get. For starters, "The monster is kind — and who is the real monster, anyway?" is well-worn territory for Guillermo del Toro at this point. But I mostly enjoyed Frankenstein in a passive sort of way; for its length, the time flew by quite nicely, and I was ultimately touched by Jacob Elordi's soulful and sensitive performance as (deep breath) The Creature. Christoph Waltz seemed to understand the assignment; Oscar Isaac, perhaps not as much. As for Mia Goth: How are you not gonna cast someone with the last name "Goth" in a moody creature feature?

5. Sinners

Before everyone starts yelling at me at once: Sinners is very good! Several aspects of it — Wunmi Mosaku, Miles Caton, Delroy Lindo, Hailee Steinfeld — are great. (I think it's the best Michael B. Jordan has ever been, but I still think of him more as a "star" than as an "actor" at this point, and I think that's entirely fair.) I do think that the third act devolves into the sort of "Avengers, assemble" nonsense that has marked many an MCU film, and even as Ryan Coogler is an excellent filmmaker overall, I would love to see him move past that specific approach and make something that feels truly new. And there's plenty of time for that to still happen!

4. One Battle After Another

Again, perhaps some would find this placement fairly low considering that One Battle After Another is right alongside Sinners in terms of Oscar-contender viability. But while I quite enjoyed OBAA, I did feel like it's ultimately a minor film in Paul Thomas Anderson's filmography, which admittedly is pretty stacked at this point. I have other quibbles with the film's tonal and thematic specificities, but I'm not trying to go on longer than the Oscars themselves here. One thing I will say: If Teyana Taylor takes home Best Supporting Actress, I'll be more than happy.

3. Bugonia

Yes, it's Yorgos Lanthimos playing the hits in terms of the surrealistic tableaus of misery that he enjoys playing around in. But he does seem to be at the top of his game with Bugonia, providing a solid balance between the pitch-black scenarios that marked Kinds of Kindness and The Killing of a Sacred Deer with the bitter-taste comedy of The Lobster and Poor Things. And of course, Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons (the latter of which was the year's biggest Oscars snub full stop) remind us why they're two of our most beloved living actors.

2. Marty Supreme

Marty Supreme, what a rush! I loved Josh Safdie's pressure-cooker odyssey so much that I ended up seeing it twice in theaters; I may just watch it at home again within the next month or so. I get why it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's definitely mine. Whatever you think about his awards-season shenanigans, Timothée Chalamet turns in a career-defining performance — and, of course, let's honor the other big Oscars snub from this year, which is Gwyneth Paltrow's nuanced and perfectly-played return to acting in this one.

1. The Secret Agent

If I ran the Oscars, this one would win Best Picture. Hell, give it every award it's nominated for! I found Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho's latest film to be a highly entertaining and thoroughly engrossing meditation on memory and its endless fractures in fascism's remains; it slyly switches between genres without being too showy about it, before landing on a final shot that is beautiful and encapsulates the film as a whole. A perfect performance from Narcos star Wagner Moura as well.

DIDN'T SEE IT: F1

I didn't see F1! I honestly considered watching it right before this year's Oscars ceremony, but my wife said, "Why bother?" and I found myself agreeing pretty much immediately. I'm sure it's fine; maybe if I'd watched it I would've said something like, "I liked this more the first time when it was called Top Gun: Maverick" — but, honestly, I also have not seen Top Gun: Maverick for similar reasons of general interest. Sometimes that's just how it goes!

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