Oscar-Nominated Films That Deserved More

Kleber Mendonça Filho turns Brazilian political history into a tense, formally playful thriller. The film feels risky as cinema, not merely important as subject matter.

Oliver Laxe uses music, engine noise and environmental sound to carry large sections of the story. That unusually narrative sound design was one of the year's clearest craft achievements.

Clint Bentley's adaptation depends on landscape, natural light and the passage of time. Its cinematography gives an intimate life story the scale of American history and should have won for that work.

Jafar Panahi builds escalating tension from a chain of ordinary decisions and moral compromises. The direction is controlled enough that the politics emerge from the situation rather than a speech.

Richard Linklater keeps the action largely inside conversation, then lets the lead performance turn each exchange into a contest. The film deserved recognition for making talk feel volatile.

Josh Safdie's table-tennis drama received nine nominations without a win. Its propulsive direction, period detail and central performance made that shutout feel excessive even in a crowded Oscar field.

Jessie Buckley won for her performance, but Chloé Zhao's direction, Max Richter's score and the film's visual control deserved more recognition. One acting prize did not cover the scale of the achievement.

Yorgos Lanthimos combines an abrasive comic tone with a deliberately unstable science-fiction premise. The Academy recognized the film across categories but rewarded safer, more conventional work on the night.

Emilie Blichfeldt reworks a familiar fairy tale through elaborate prosthetics, costumes and body horror. The craft branches nominated the film but missed how completely those elements create its world.

Lee Sang-il asks the central performer to chart years of artistic training and personal change. The physical discipline and emotional continuity make the performance far more than standard prestige transformation.