The 7 Netflix movies that have been nominated for the best-picture Oscar since it broke into the race in 2018
Travis Clark
- Seven Netflix movies have been nominated for the best-picture Oscar.
- It's led in total nominations for three years in a row, but the top prize has eluded the company.
This year's Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday and Netflix led all other studios with 27 total nominations.
It's the third year in a row the streamer has dominated. Its slow-burn Western from director Jane Campion, "The Power of the Dog," led all other movies with 12 nominations, catapulting it into frontrunner status.
The movie is Netflix's best chance yet to win the best-picture Oscar, which as eluded the company since it broke into the race with 2018's "Roma." Adam McKay's Netflix movie, "Don't Look Up," was also nominated for the top prize this year.
Seven Netflix movies have been nominated for best picture as the company has attracted high-profile filmmakers in recent years like Martin Scorsese and David Fincher. The seven movies nabbed 58 nominations combined with just a handful of wins between them so far.
It hasn't been without trying on Netflix's part. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2020 that Netflix was spending an estimated $100 million on its Oscars campaign. The year before that, Vulture reported that it had spent up to $60 million.
While the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has yet to award an original streaming movie its top Oscar, it has steadily embraced streaming in recent years, a sign of the changing movie industry that's only been accelerated by the pandemic.
Amazon nabbed 12 nominations last year, including a best-picture nod for "Sound of Metal." This year, Apple received its first best-picture nomination for "CODA," just two year after Apple TV+ launched.
This year could be Netflix's year, as "The Power of the Dog" seems ascendant. And then there's "Don't Look Up," which is both Netflix's worst-reviewed and least-nominated best-picture contender — but also by far its most popular. The climate-change satire is Netflix's No. 2 movie of all time, closely behind "Red Notice" with 359.8 million hours viewed globally in its first month, according to the company.
This year's Oscars honoring the movies of 2021 are scheduled for March 27.
Below are Netflix's seven movies that have been nominated for best picture, including how many total nominations and wins they received:
"Roma" (2018)
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Description: "Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón delivers a vivid, emotional portrait of a domestic worker's journey set against domestic and political turmoil in 1970s Mexico."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 96%
What critics said: "'Roma' ebbs and flows, its quiet, episodic moments connected by near-epic images and themes, until the distinction becomes impossible (and unnecessary) to make. It's a symphony — a cohesive piece, without a single note out of place." — Polygon
Total nominations: 10
- Picture
- Director — Alfonso Cuarón (won)
- Foreign language film (won)
- Cinematography (won)
- Lead actress — Yalitza Aparicio
- Supporting actress — Marina de Tavira
- Original screenplay
- Production design
- Sound editing
- Sound mixing
"The Irishman" (2019)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Description: "Hit man Frank Sheeran looks back at the secrets he kept as a loyal member of the Bufalino crime family in this acclaimed film from Martin Scorsese."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 95%
What critics said: "It is to gangster movies what John Ford's 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' was to westerns. Without a doubt, it's a masterpiece." — San Francisco Chronicle
Total nominations: 10
- Picture
- Director — Martin Scorsese
- Supporting actor — Al Pacino
- Supporting actor — Joe Pesci
- Adapted screenplay
- Cinematography
- Production design
- Costume design
- Film editing
- Visual effects
"Marriage Story" (2019)
Director: Noah Baumbach
Description: "Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Noah Baumbach directs this incisive and compassionate look at a marriage coming apart and a family staying together."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 94%
What critics said: "Baumbach's main characters are written and acted straight as befits their personal integrity, but the rest of Marriage Story is done in a satirist's broad strokes — a penetrating, often inspired satirist." — Vulture
Total nominations: Six
- Picture
- Supporting actress — Laura Dern (won)
- Lead actor — Adam Driver
- Lead actress — Scarlett Johansson
- Original screenplay
- Original score
"Mank" (2020)
Director: David Fincher
Description: "1930s Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing wit and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish 'Citizen Kane.'"
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 83%
What critics said: "Mank is a tale of triumph, the kind that's been told countless times on the silver screen, but never quite with this moving blend of realism and regret." — The Atlantic
Total nominations: 10
- Picture
- Cinematography (won)
- Production design (won)
- Director — David Fincher
- Lead actor — Gary Oldman
- Supporting actress — Amanda Seyfried
- Sound
- Original score
- Makeup and hairstyling
- Costume design
"The Trial of the Chicago 7" (2020)
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Description: "What was supposed to be a peaceful protest turned into a violent clash with the police. What followed was one of the most notorious trials in history."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 89%
What critics said: "The movie is effective in spite of its foibles. It's an ensemble piece that tells a complex story cleanly. And even its missteps hint as to why Sorkin chose to return to this historical moment now." — Vox
Total nominations: Six
- Picture
- Supporting actor — Sacha Baron Cohen
- Original screenplay
- Film editing
- Cinematography
- Original song
"Don't Look Up" (2021)
Director: Adam McKay
Description: "Two astronomers go on a media tour to warn humankind of a planet-killing comet hurtling toward Earth. The response from a distracted world: Meh."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 56%
What critics said: "Don't Look Up is a blunt instrument in lieu of a sharp razor, and while McKay may believe that we're long past subtlety, it doesn't mean that one man's wake-up-sheeple howl into the abyss is funny, or insightful, or even watchable." — Rolling Stone
Total nominations: Four
- Picture
- Original screenplay
- Film editing
- Original score
"The Power of the Dog" (2021)
Director: Jane Campion
Description: "A domineering but charismatic rancher wages a war of intimidation on his brother's new wife and her teen son — until long-hidden secrets come to light."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 94%
What critics said: "'The Power of the Dog' builds tremendous force, gaining its momentum through the harmonious discord of its performances, the nervous rhythms of Jonny Greenwood's score and the grandeur of its visuals." — New York Times
Total nominations: 12
- Picture
- Director — Jane Campion
- Lead actor — Benedict Cumberbatch
- Supporting actress — Kirsten Dunst
- Supporting actor — Kodi Smit-McPhee
- Supporting actor — Jesse Plemons
- Adapted screenplay
- Production design
- Sound
- Cinematography
- Film editing
- Original score
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