And the Oscar goes to… the wrong film.The Oscarsare the pinnacle of cinematic greatness. But sometimes, the Academymakes some questionable choices. Whether it’s due to outdated tastes or sentimentality, several films have won Oscars despite being painfully average. These movies aren’t necessarily bad, but compared to their competition, they fall flat.From white savior tropes to oversimplified social commentary, here are 10 extremely mid movies that got Oscars, ranked.
10’Anora’ (2024)
Best Picture at the 97th Academy Awards
In this Cinderella-gone-wrong nightmare, a young Brooklyn stripper, Anora (Mikey Madison), becomes acquainted with Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), a 21-year-old Russian customer. Living in the States on a temporary visa,Vanya suggests that he and Anora elope in Las Vegas so that he can stay. With the promise of living a wealthy life, Anora happily agrees. But when Vanya’s parents discover their son’s marriage, Anora’s rags-to-riches story is left in shambles.
Anoraaims to offer social commentary on the treatment andmistreatment of female sex workers, but the film leans too heavily into being a cautionary tale, with Anora herself feeling oversimplified. On the surface, it’s easy to dismiss her as naive for falling for the immature son of a Russian oligarch.Yet the film never fully fleshes out why she’s so determined to stay with Vanya. She’s not driven by greed; she’s just trying to escape the industry in search of a better life.
9’CODA’ (2021)
Best Picture at the 94th Academy Awards
In Gloucester, Massachusetts,CODAfollowsRuby Rossi’s (Emilia Jones) life as a Child of Deaf Adults (CODA). In between her classes as a high school senior and helping out with her father’s fishing boat, Ruby doesn’t have the luxury of time. What she does have, though, is the gift of singing. When she receives the chance to join the school choir, Ruby’s stuck between two realities: one where she’s there for her family, and one where she follows her dreams.
It’s essentially a movie abouta family overcoming the odds, but Ruby’s coming-of-age arc feels a bit predictable. The plot only gains complexity because Ruby’s parents are Deaf, which could’ve opened the door to deeper commentary on the structural barriers that push her into a caretaker role.Instead, the film opts for a feel-good tone that, while heartwarming, misses the chance for meaningful social critique.
8’A Beautiful Mind’ (2002)
Best Picture at the 74th Academy Awards
A Beautiful Mindoffers a glimpse into the brain of mathematical prodigy John Nash (Russell Crowe). As a PhD candidate at Princeton University, Nash stood as the odd one out. His revolutionary equation eventually earned him academic acclaim and a Nobel Prize, but when the government requests his coding skills in the peak of the Cold War,Nash is pulled into a conspiracy plotthat’ll soon become the bane of his deteriorating mental health.
Although Crow delivers a sympathetic portrayal of the late Nash,A Beautiful Mindleans heavily on the trope of the untouchable genius undone by his own mortality. Nash’s hallucinations are reduced to a simplistic personal weakness rather than acknowledging the complexity of his psychological struggles with paranoia. Perhaps most surprising is thatThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, a film grounded in decades of world-building and literary craftsmanship, lost Best Picture to what isa stylized Cold War thriller.
A Beautiful Mind
7’Nomadland’ (2020)
Best Picture at the 93rd Academy Awards
In a world defined by capitalism and corrupt corporations, Fern (Frances McDormand) retreats to the wayward lands of nowhere America.Nomadlandtells the bleak reality of the 2008 financial collapse through Fern’s eyes. When the local U.S. Gypsum plant was closed in 2011, Fern was left with little to no possessions. With nothing to lose,Fern stores the last of her memories in a second-hand van and ventures into uncharted territories as a dwelling nomad.
Nomadlandtakes a more wayward, lyrical approach instead of a grounded critique. Ironically, for a film that’s very much about the effects of capitalism on rural lands,Nomadlandavoids naming capitalism as the villain.Its minimalistic stylegives the film a more tender, humane touch to Fern’s wild plans, but the simplicity comes at the cost of not addressing who the true culprit is behind Fern’s displacement.
6’Gandhi’ (1982)
Best Picture at the 55th Academy Awards
Following the life and legacy of one of the world’s most prolific leaders,Gandhiis a riveting tale of an ordinary lawyer who became the leader of the Indian revolts. The story first takes viewers to South Africa, where Indian-British attorney Mohandas K. Gandhi (Ben Kingsley) experiences discrimination due to the color of his skin. Upon his return to India in 1915,he shed his Western upbringing to join the first for independence by promoting peaceful protests.
It’s tough to dismiss a film about a man celebrated for promoting peace. But between its epic runtime andunderdeveloped supporting characters,the overtly saintly portrayal of Gandhi glosses over his more complicated views on race, caste, gender, and family. For a film aiming to deliver emotional weight, it’s surprisinglyE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, a fellow Best Picture nominee, that offers a deeper emotional core and a far more lasting cultural impact.
Gandhi (1983)
5’American Beauty’ (1999)
Best Picture at the 72nd Academy Awards
InAmerican Beauty, Lester (Kevin Spacey) and Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening) are the perfect suburban couple. But Lester is on thin ice: he’s on the verge of losing his job, his wife might be having an affair, and his neurotic daughter Jane (Thora Birch) hates him. Just as Lester is about to give up on life, he is stunned by Jane’s best friend, the beautiful and sexually experienced Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari).Lester’s innocent infatuation grows into a shameless pursuit of beauty —at the cost of others.
American Beautytries tocritique the illusion of suburban normalcy. The suburbs, often seen as symbols of stability, become the film’s playground for exposing dysfunction. Lester’s midlife crisis is framed as profound. In reality,he’s just a sexually repressed white man whose idea of freedom and beauty involves fantasizing about an underage girl in a cheerleader outfit.
4’Green Book’ (2018)
Best Picture at the 91st Academy Awards
Two worlds collide inGreen Book. In the early 1960s, down-on-his-luck bouncer Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) is desperate for work after his nightclub is closed for renovations. The only employment available is a driver job for African-American classical pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali).Due to the prejudice of the time, Frank isn’t keen on working for a Black man. As they drive along the Deep South states, the two encounter the harsh realities of racial segregation.
Green Booktakes some risks, most notablyleaning into a white savior narrative. Told from Tony’s perspective, the film centers on his journey to become the “better white guy,” the one willing to help a Black man. Itplays more like a personal redemption story than a nuanced exploration of race. Compared to other Best Picture nominees likeRoma, which offers critiques of race and class,Green Bookultimately feels shallow.
Green Book
3’Crash’ (2005)
Best Picture at the 78th Academy Awards
Over 36 hours in Los Angeles, a group of strangers collide in unexpected ways.Through a series of racially charged events, from a carjacking involving a district attorney to a shopkeeper who seeks revenge after his store is vandalized, nobody can be trusted. As tensions escalate, each character confronts the consequences of their actions and prejudices.
Crashpresents racism as a “both sides” problem,flattening systemic injustice into a collection of melodramatic vignettes. Every character is both a victim and a perpetrator. For instance, a racist cop (Matt Dillon) saves a Black woman, a Persian shopkeeper attacks a Latino locksmith, and so on. Itconflates personal prejudice with systemic racismand pretends solving racism is about empathy rather than policy.
2’Cimarron’ (1931)
Best Picture at the 4th Academy Awards
A family epic of its period,Cimarronis a story of opportunity, idealism, and politics during the Oklahoma Land Run of April 1889. The Cravet family has their sights set on fortune, first by building their newspaper, the Oklahoma Wigwam, into a business frontier. However, when Yancey Cravet (Richard Dix) is presented with the chance to become a governor, he refuses,choosing to keep his integrity by defending the Osage people.
Hollywood lovesa good American Western, butCimarrondoesn’t age well.It glorifies the settler colonial experience while tokenizing Indigenous people.Yancey is a progressive hero for standing up for Native rights, and ironically, the Osage people in the film aren’t given the same major voice as Yancey. They merely become moral props for Yancey’s self-righteousness.
1’Out of Africa’ (1985)
Best Picture at the 58th Academy Awards
Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep), a Danish aristocrat,moves to Kenya in a marriage of convenience and ends up running a struggling coffee farm. After her husband’s infidelity, she forms a deep bond with hunter Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford). As their romance grows inOut of Africa, Karen confronts cultural differences, personal loss, and Hatton’s resistance to commitment, ultimately choosing a life of freedom instead of a life defined by love.
Out of Africais a story of heartbreak that presents itself as a sort ofmind-changing romantic epic. And for Karen,the only way to get over her personal dilemma is by falling in love in colonized Africa. Her relationship with Hatton is prioritized over any meaningful exploration of the local Kenyan population or colonial impact, and African characters are barely named, let alone developed.
