CultureMap film critic’s guide to the 10 Best Picture Oscar nominees of 2024

The nominations for the 2024 Academy Awards have been announced, with 10 films vying for Best Picture. Leading the way is Oppenheimer with 13 nominations, followed by Poor Things with 11 and Killers of the Flower Moon with 10.

As a refresher, we're sharing what we had to say about each of the nominees in our reviews, published when the films were originally released.

This year's Oscars ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 10.

If you missed catching any of these films, Cinemark will host its annual Oscar Movie Week festival from Monday, March 4 through Sunday, March 10, when they'll screen nominees for Best Picture, Live Action, and Animated Short Film.

Here's the list, in alphabetical order:

American Fiction
Based on a book called Erasure by Percival Everett, an English professor at the University of Southern California, American Fiction offers up a variety of over-the-top satirical moments while also telling a heartfelt family story. Writer/director Cord Jefferson (nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay) is able to combine the disparate parts together by giving each their own proper showcase. Star Jeffrey Wright (nominated for Best Actor) is the perfect actor to portray the lead character of Monk, as he’s well-known enough to be a great leading man, but not so much of a star for his fame to override the nuances of the role.

Anatomy of a Fall
The film lives fully up its title, fully examining the circumstances leading up to the death of a father, as well as the somewhat turbulent life his family of three led. But at no point in the film’s 152-minute running time does writer/director Justine Triet (nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay) tip the scales in favor of one point of view over another. Anatomy of a Fall is not so much a whodunit, but a deep dive into how and why such a thing ever happened in the first place. While speculation is rampant in the film, it’s the lack of clarity that keeps the viewer engaged.

Barbie
As with Barbie herself, Barbie is several things at once: A self-referential ode to the many types of Barbies, Kens, and other dolls; a fun romp with double entendre jokes and song-and-dance sequences; and an examination of outdated gender politics. Writer/director Greta Gerwig and co-writer Noah Baumbach (nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay), while definitely straying far from early collaborations like Frances Ha, still make the story their own, delivering commentary that wouldn’t come from many other filmmakers. Star Margot Robbie is, of course, perfect casting as Barbie, a fact that is referenced on several different occasions in the film itself.

The Holdovers
The second collaboration between director Alexander Payne (nominated for Best Original Screenplay) and star Paul Giamatti (nominated for Best Actor), The Holdovers has an enormous number of small pleasures and heartbreaks. Payne and writer Hemingson are just as interested in touching your heart as they are in making you laugh. While echoing some of Payne's earlier films, it becomes its own thing thanks to its unique central trio of characters, the setting in the cloistered environment of a boarding school, and its slowly-evolving story that reveals a ton of heart. Giamatti and Payne seem to share a certain sensibility that leads to a great performance.

Killers of a Flower Moon
Given his long and award-laden career, it’s tempting to give writer/director Martin Scorsese (nominated for Best Director) and co-writer Eric Roth the benefit of the doubt, that they have the best of intentions in telling this particular story about white people trying to steal oil rights from the Osage tribe. But it’s difficult to get around the idea that the film puts the bad guys front and center instead of the Osage. When the victims of the crimes are omnipresent and not afforded the background scenes that make them into fully fleshed-out characters, it removes almost all emotion and cheapens the story.

Maestro (not reviewed)
Writer/director/star Bradley Cooper's biopic about composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife, Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), had a surprisingly strong showing in the Oscar nominations, nabbing nods for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Original Screenplay, along with three others in technical categories. Still, it is considered a longshot to win any of those awards, as other films have dominated those categories at other award shows.

Oppenheimer
The first biopic for writer/director Christopher Nolan (nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay) is still true to his inimitable style, flitting around to the different eras of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life often and quickly. In another filmmaker’s hands, the story might come off as dry and stodgy, but the pace with which the film is edited, as well as the propulsive - and now, Oscar-nominated - score from Ludwig Göransson, gives it the feel of a thriller for much of its running time. Cillian Murphy (nominated for Best Actor) commands every second he’s on screen, employing a unique not-quite monotone and straightforward delivery that keeps him riveting throughout. The implications of the story are dire, but the filmgoing experience watching it transpire is anything but.

Past Lives
Writer/director Celine Song (nominated for Best Original Screenplay) does her level best to imbue the conversations between lead characters Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) with a lot of meaning, but those chats are often disjointed and stilted. Any good romance, even one that never really was, needs to impart those feelings to the audience, and their scenes together never reach that necessary level. The style of filmmaking and the generally good acting keeps Past Lives watchable even as its central story doesn’t have the intended impact.

Poor Things
The latest from writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos (nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay) is one of the strangest stories about giving a woman agency (sexual and otherwise) that’s ever been put on screen. There is little in the film that is not unsettling, and because it’s a constant parade of oddities, it also becomes one of the funniest movies of the year in the process. The film puts the audience on their heels through its audio and visuals, including steampunk/futuristic elements, a dissonant soundtrack, and more. Star Emma Stone (nominated for Best Actress) puts it all out there, literally and figuratively, with her performance, accomplishing a feat of which few others are capable..

The Zone of Interest
Written and directed by Jonathan Glazer (nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay), the film almost perfectly encapsulates the banal form that evil can take. Villains, and especially Nazis, are typically portrayed as over-the-top or obviously depraved, but here the malevolence reveals itself in how normally it’s treated by those perpetrating it. Where the film gets its power is in what it doesn’t show or shows with no one commenting upon it. Glazer has made a World War II film that doesn't feel like a retread, showing Nazis and Nazism in a new light while still demonstrating how appalling their influence can be.