2018 Best Picture Academy Award Nominees RANKED

The annual Academy Awards are nearly upon us. With less than a day to go till Hollywood gets all dressed up and self-congratulatory, I want to focus attention on the nine Best Picture nominees. I look forward to the yearly list of great movies I might not have seen. I understand that there is a pretty valid opinion out there about the integrity of the Oscars. Yet, I still enjoy it simply because I get introduced to films I may not normally see. Some are great, and some are truly terrible. But ultimately, were it not for this yearly event, I would be well without opinion on some of the most acclaimed films of the year.

This year, I made a concerted effort to see each Best Picture nominee before the ceremony. Some years (actually, most years) the winner is clear on nomination day already. Thinking about the past few winners, you can’t tell me that La La Land (I mean, Moonlight), Spotlight, Birdman, 12 Years a Slave and Argo came as any surprise. But this year is different. The nominees are varied, each with different messages and agendas, and each a standout in its own right. Racial and gender biases seem at an all-time low in this list of nominees, and predicting the winner is not as easy as it could have been.

Because the competition is so strong this year, I have decided to rank the six nominees I have seen according to my taste. I still need to see Darkest Hour, Dunkirk and Phantom Thread, but I will do so before the Oscars on Sunday. Here is my list of the 2018 Best Picture Academy Award nominees (that I have seen), ranked from most to least favourite. Click on each title to see a trailer.

  1. Lady Bird

I can not find any fault with Lady Bird. A simple story told perfectly, character interactions and performances are what sets it apart. This coming-of-age film chronicles a year in the life of Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson as she prepares to finish high school and pursue further studies. I also finished high school in a small town in 2003, so I might be slightly biased. Lady Bird desperately wants to leave Sacramento, the town where she grew up.

She hates it there. But she also loves it. She seems to have the same relationship to this place as she has with her mother. Lady Bird feels she has more to offer. She is artistic and conflicted and is having a hard time finding her best self – typical teenage fare. But unlike your typical coming-of-age comedy, Lady Bird’s story feels real.

The standouts here are two solid performances from Saoirse Ronan as Lady Bird and Laurie Metcalf as her tightly strung mother. These two women play off each other without a hint of theatricality. These are real people. They might as well be mother and daughter in real life. Ronan especially shines as her performance is pitch perfect and not obvious – it never feels like a performance. Lady Bird is a real character entirely separate from the very Irish Ronan.

Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut is a thing of beauty and I can not recommend it highly enough. While I strongly support Saoirse Ronan for Best Actress and Laurie Metcalf for Best Supporting Actress, I would love it if Lady Bird can walk away with the Best Picture statuette.

  1. Get Out

This is also my number one.I would be overjoyed if either Lady Bird or Get Out wins Best Picture. Get Out is a psychological horror that hedges all its bets on the racial tension that can be felt in today’s America.

Jordan Peele’s directorial debut is a masterpiece and uses racial stereotypes and movie tropes to startling effect. In Get Out, Daniel Kaluuya’s Chris joins his girlfriend (Girls’ Allison Williams) for a weekend with her parents, who don’t know that he is a black man. From the first frame, there is tension here, and Chris’ best friend warns him that this is weird. And it is. Rose’s parents are very strange, especially her mother who hypnotises Chris to help him quit smoking. But then there’s something else going on. The help’s strange behaviour unnerves Chris. Chris is convinced he has to get out of there when a special lunch party goes awry.

I will not say more. The emotional payoffs in this film are only eclipsed by the self-revelation it forces you to make for days afterwards. This is a very clever exercise in genre film, but even more so a scathing look at the racial landscape in America.

Comedian Jordan Peele’s screenplay is about as perfect as they get, and his direction feels as though he’s been doing this for years. Daniel Kaluuya is a favourite of mine for Best Actor, and I know that Peele deserves the Best Director nod as well.

  3. The Post

As I said in my review, The Post is one of Spielberg’s most densely layered films to date. On the surface, it is a competent retelling of one of the most important triumphs in publishing history. But once you dig deeper it is also a commentary on gender, power, responsibility and action.

The performances are as perfect as you would expect from a cast of this calibre, and Spielberg has a firm hand over each frame of the film. Meryl Streep’s performance as Kay Graham is as layered and nuanced as ever. We see the conflict behind her eyes, we see it in a twitch or a small turn of the head. We see her pain when these people who ‘know better’ overrule her, and we see the anguish when she allows herself to be overruled. Her Best Actress nomination is definitely warranted, maybe even more so than some of the larger than life performances she’s given in the past.

Spielberg creates and maintains suspense throughout by shifting the focus from the historical narrative to the characters. The ticking bomb may be the publication of the story itself, but the driving force is the tension within our characters. Kay’s growth from inactivity to taking back her power is the compelling backbone of this film.

I do not see this winning the Best Picture award, but out of this batch of nominees, it is my third favourite in line.

  4. The Shape of Water

Guillermo del Toro is back on top with The Shape of Water, a cold war fable that showcases the auteur’s signature visuals and unconventional storytelling that packs a heavy emotional punch. Recalling his earlier features such as Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water is set in a 1960’s government facility where a terrifying new asset grabs the attention of a mute cleaner.

While its romance angle is well worth exploring, this film is really about otherness. Sally Hawkins’ luminous Elisa needs to be loved, seen and heard. Her life is empty, and the creature presents an opportunity to connect with something that reminds her of herself. In Doug Jones’ marvellous feral animal, Elisa finds a friend.

Del Toro and co-writer Vanessa Taylor’s characters are all sympathetic, and you feel for each individual’s story arc. They all struggle to carve out a place in a society that is built upon the tenets of inequality. But this is no fairy tale. There are monsters around every corner, and sporadic bouts of violence serve to pull you out of the film’s magical fluidity. Hawkins’ exceptionally tender turn roots the film in the human condition — the whole cast does.

Who is the monster? Who isn’t? Hard to tell. All things considered, this film never reaches the highs of Pan’s Labyrinth, but it comes damn close. Best of luck to Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in the acting categories.

  5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

I have to admit, this film disappointed me a little bit. I don’t know if it’s because after seeing the trailer so many times I expected something different, or if I have genuine issues with the film itself.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the film is great, and I still enjoyed it. Frances McDormand’s Mildred Heyes is a grieving mother fed up with the police’s inability to solve her daughter’s murder. This is a story about grief. And it is also a story about hate. Director Martin McDonagh positions Three Billboards as a darkly comic look at very serious matters.

Mildred and the police come to a head over these billboards, kick-starting a most bizarre series of events. From assault to arson and bombings, this film does not hold back.

While Frances McDormand’s performance is fine, I feel that this film actually belongs to Sam Rockwell’s Jason Dixon. Unquestionably, his character experiences the most growth out of any. He changes from an abusive, foul-mouthed dimwit to an abusive, foul-mouthed dimwit with a heart.

With some very strong characters and solid performances, I couldn’t help but spot some story issues in this film. I am not very familiar with McDonagh’s work though, so this might just be his style. Either way, a good film, but lower on my list.

  6. Call Me By Your Name

I might be crucified for saying this, but I was not that fond of Call Me By Your Name. While I will not diminish its merits, I feel this film just didn’t do it for me.

Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer give strong performances in this tender and bittersweet love story. The Italian backdrop is exquisite, and I quite enjoyed the soundtrack as well. But somehow, this film felt like a fever dream.

It is great to finally see a mainstream film dealing with a same-sex relationship without taking the Brokeback Mountainforbidden love to heart. These are just two young men who find each other and explore their sexuality. In a place where it is also very fine to do so. Elio’s parents are probably the coolest two people who ever existed. Michael Stuhlbarg and Amira Casar imbue them with so much heart. Ultimately, this is just a love story.

Do you agree with my list? Let me know in the comments, or email me from the Contacts page.