The 96th Academy Awards are upon us and this year’s Oscars ceremony will take place on March 10, 2024. Ahead of the awards ceremony, the Academy announced a complete list of final nominations for this year’s edition of the Oscars. While the nominations feature some of the best films and contributions of 2023, the final list also features some important absentees.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer leads the pack with a total of thirteen nominations at this year’s ceremony. Meanwhile, other frontrunners such as Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things also secured nominations in double digits. However, there were some surprising snubs from the nominations, and here are some of them ranked from least to most shocking.
6. Best of the Rest
Several films missed out on well-deserved nominations at this year’s Oscars. Chief among them is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which was expected to receive a Best Original Score nomination. Similarly, No Strange Way of Life missed out in the Best Short Film category while Past Lives, which received five Golden Globe nominations received only two nominations at the Oscars. However, The Iron Claw, John Wick 4, and Priscilla ended up without any nominations, which was a major surprise given the critical acclaim received by the three films.
5. TMNT: Mutant Mayhem
Directed by Jeff Rowe, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem received widespread praise for its animation, humor, and fresh take on the subject material. However, despite being a critical and commercial success, the film missed out on a Best Animated Film nomination at this year’s Oscars. It lost a place to The Boy and the Heron, Elemental, Nimona, Robot Dreams, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
4. Charles Melton and Willem Dafoe
Charles Melton and Willem Dafoe will both consider themselves unlucky to have missed out on a Best Supporting Actor nomination despite having a stellar 2023. Melton was always a dark horse in the race with his captivating performance in May December, a deeply sensitive film about a complex subject. On the other hand, Dafoe’s performance as Dr. Godwin “God” Baxter was nothing short of brilliant in Poor Things, but his co-star Mark Ruffalo ended up in the top five.
3. Rachel McAdams and Greta Lee
Rachel McAdams’ performance in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret received critical acclaim and several Best Supporting Actress nominations during the awards season. However, she did not make it into the final list of Oscar nominees. Meanwhile, Greta Lee anchored the Korean-Canadian drama Past Lives with her stellar performance. Lee is the soul of the film, making her snub in the Best Actress category an almost unforgivable sin.
2. Leonardo DiCaprio and Zac Efron
Rarely does it happen that Leonardo DiCaprio misses out on a Best Actor nomination for one of his films. However, DiCaprio’s performance as Ernest Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon paled in comparison to the other final nominees.
Similarly, Zac Efron, who stunned everyone with his transformative performance in The Iron Claw also missed out on a nomination in the Best Actor category. Considering the final nominations, the Best Actor category is arguably the one with the fiercest competition this year, making DiCaprio and Efron’s snubs a bit less sad.
Also read: Oscars 2024: ‘Barbie’ Loses Nomination To ‘Oppenheimer’ in 1 Shocking Category That Makes No Sense
1. Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie
Barbie was the biggest commercial success of 2023 and broke several records. The Greta Gerwig-directed and Margot Robbie-led film received critical praise for tackling themes such as existentialism with an irreverent and innovative blend of satire and drama.
It also became the highest-grossing film by a female director, making the exclusion of Gerwig and Robbie from the Best Director and Best Actress categories a major surprise. Furthermore, despite the feminist themes, Ryan Gosling receiving the only acting nomination from the film makes Robbie’s snub even more heartbreaking.
