Oscars 2024: What our critics thought of the best picture contenders
Read what our reviewers thought of all the films nominated for best picture at this year’s Oscars.
★★★★
This Palme d’Or winner is meticulous and utterly mesmerising
Anatomy of a Fall isn’t just about a mysterious death – it’s an intensely introspective French portrait of a doomed marriage.
- by Sandra Hall
★★★★
Emma Stone’s feminist ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ is extraordinary
Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is so at ease with the language of cinema that he can produce wonders with it.
- by Sandra Hall
★★★
Even with the fake nose, this is Bradley Cooper’s virtuoso performance
The actor directs himself in this biopic of legendary American composer Leonard Bernstein, which almost functions as a retro luxury item.
- by Jake Wilson
Ambitious, powerful, flawed: Killers of the Flower Moon ends with a stroke of brilliance
Martin Scorsese’s epic, which is based on the true story of Osage Nation murders, is redeemed by a very late scene.
- by Anwen Crawford
★★★★
Past Lives deserves the hype – its final moments will leave you breathless
The feature debut of Celine Song follows a pair of childhood friends over three time periods, with 12 years passing between each.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
★★★½
Is Oppenheimer Christopher Nolan’s best film yet?
The three-hour epic about the father of the atomic bomb is a grand yet grim spectacle.
- by Jake Wilson
Margot Robbie’s Barbie is finally here. Does it live up to the hype?
The year’s most anticipated release tries to faithfully service the history of Barbie, while grappling with modern gender politics.
- by Anwen Crawford
Nobody plays a strangely likeable curmudgeon like Paul Giamatti
There’s no doubt that The Holdovers is a feel-good film, but it’s laced with enough wit and sarcasm to keep you in touch with the fact that nobody here is perfect.
- by Sandra Hall
Smart and entertaining, this film leaves plenty to think about
Nominated for five Oscars, American Fiction is a zippy satire about the hot topic of representation in literature.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
★★★★
The Zone of Interest lays bare the banality and ordinariness of evil
Jonathan Glazer’s drama about the Auschwitz camp commandant and his wife takes a meticulously forensic approach, allowing them to incriminate themselves.
- by Sandra Hall