Ten years have passed since the 2015 Oscars ceremony, and the 8 Best Picture nominees have aged in wildly different ways. Here are all the movies ranked from worst to best!
Simultaneously the most exciting and distracting part of Oscar season is how all-compassing it can feel; the Best Picture nominees often seem like the most important movies of their respective year, but when looking back on them several months later, it’s much easier to criticize and deconstruct them. Especially once we know for certain which films have won which awards, it’s easier to view these projects through a more objective lens without focusing on their Oscar prospects. For that reason, we’ve delved ten years into the past to evaluate 2015’s movies and the legacies they’ve left behind. Here are all 8 2015 best picture nominees ranked from worst to best!
8. The Theory of Everything
James Marsh
The Theory of Everything was among the biggest talking points of the Oscars ceremony in 2015, collecting five nominations in total and ultimately leading Eddie Redmayne to his controversial victory in the Best Actor category. However, with a firmer distance from the frenzy of awards season, The Theory of Everything hasn’t aged very well at all. It’s an extremely clinical and paint-by-numbers biopic that does little to depict Stephen Hawking’s life in any meaningful way, focusing instead on the scientist’s disability and its effect on his crumbling marriage.
The film offers a far too evident focus on Hawking’s physical struggles and dangerously little about the man himself, using his story as a stage for a fairly reductive message about the resilience of the human spirit. Admittedly, The Theory of Everything does include some brilliant writing and acting (mainly on the part of Felicity Jones in her fierce supporting role), but there’s so much wasted potential here. Eddie Redmayne is good, but his Best Actor win is unjust to the other actors nominated in the category – and many that weren’t.
7. American Sniper
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper embodies all of the strengths and weaknesses of the iconic director’s late-era projects. It’s immersive, it’s large in scale, and it’s directed with a clear vision that’s consistent from start to finish. Unfortunately, the film’s screenplay has an evident lack of depth that results in some very bland characters without much purpose – including Bradley Cooper’s protagonist, Chris Kyle. For a film that’s so interested in toxic masculinity and its complicity in war, American Sniper never goes beyond the surface with its social commentary.
The film is based on the real-life story of US army sniper Chris Kyle, who served four tours in Iraq and received countless commendations for his contributions to the war effort. But truthfully, American Sniper could have been about anybody. The film is much more concerned with painting a visceral, tangible portrait of the Iraq War (which it does with immense confidence and ability), that its characters end up little more than hollow puppets on the stage. As a tactile, atmospheric portrait of war, American Sniper is a brilliant film – but Eastwood tries so hard to make it a character-driven drama without including any of the ingredients needed to do so.
6. Selma
Ava DuVernay
Thankfully, this is where the quality of 2015’s Best Picture nominees takes a noteworthy leap forward. Selma is an excellent film, and its relegation to the #6 spot is nothing more than proof that it’s up against some serious competition in the category. Ava DuVernay’s fierce biopic is a dramatization of Martin Luther King Jr’s work in Selma, Alabama, where he campaigned for increased access for Black communities to their right to vote. The film explores King’s legacy from the perspective of those closest to him, detailing his relationship with President Johnson and how this complex dynamic forged the activist’s public perception.
In a year where 50% of the Best Picture nominees were biopics of some description, Selma stands out as the most innovative and unconventional. It’s much less the story of Martin Luther King in a traditional sense, but rather it uses his narrative as a framework to explore the Civil Rights Movement from a more personal, community-driven perspective. David Oyelowo’s lead performance is staggering, and it’s an injustice that he wasn’t even nominated for Best Actor in a year where he would have been a fully deserving winner.
5. The Imitation Game
Morten Tyldum
While The Imitation Game has often faced criticism for being an underwhelming portrayal of Alan Turing’s life and the suffering that he experienced at the hands of Britain’s unfair justice system, it’s still a very entertaining film that perfectly walks the line between historical drama and high-octane thriller. There’s a real sense of pressure and anxiety that runs throughout The Imitation Game, which isn’t easy to achieve in stories where audiences essentially know the outcome from the beginning.
Where many biopics would dedicate time to exploring Turing’s past and paving the road that led him to this covert assignment, The Imitation Game jumps straight into the action with the mathematician’s work against the clock to decode the Nazi’s covert Enigma Machine. Despite a fairly messy subplot that flashes forwards to Turing’s eventual charges and tragic death, this is an otherwise gripping film that displays immense focus and storytelling ability. Benedict Cumberbatch is better than he’s ever been in this film, bringing Turing’s own flaws and anxieties to the screen in a way that makes him much easier to understand and empathise with.
4: Boyhood
Richard Linklater
While it may not strictly be the best movie in 2015’s Best Picture category, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is certainly the most ambitious. A sprawling odyssey of friendship, compassion, and self-acceptance that was filmed over twelve years, this film has one of the most captivating and immersive stories ever put to screen. The way these actors age alongside their characters is totally unique, working in tandem with Linklater’s naturalistic writing to forge a story that feels entirely authentic and real.
Boyhood’s screenplay is a little looser and less refined than some of Linklater’s more beloved projects, but it’s the messiness of Boyhood that really stands out as an unexpected strength. It’s unpredictable and unstructured in a way that’s reminiscent of life itself, and while the story may not always make the safest and most impactful choices, that just reflects its unwavering dedication to authenticity.
3. Birdman, or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Perhaps the most controversial Best Picture nominee of that year (despite ultimately winning the award), Iñárritu’s Birdman deserves far more recognition than it gets. This brave, risk-taking film sticks out drastically among the other movies nominated alongside it; the movie certainly isn’t for everybody, but it’s the kind of story that everybody can at least appreciate. Following a washed-up actor as he makes his public return in an ambitious stage project, Birdman is a darkly hilarious deconstruction of fame in Hollywood and how far people will go to achieve (and maintain) it.
Birdman features three excellent performances from Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, and Emma Stone – all of whom were deserving of awards recognition for these unique characters. Their on-screen dynamic is the beating heart of this project, and they’re the reason this weighted story manages to stay on its feet from beginning to end. The fast-paced storytelling and dynamic cinematography definitely require some time to adjust to, but the film’s ambition alone is enough to warrant its victory in the Best Picture category – even if the following two projects may have aged better.
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson has made a name for himself throughout the past decades as one of the strongest, most distinct voices in Hollywood – but it wasn’t until The Grand Budapest Hotel that his consistent efforts were recognized by the Academy. And it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving project. This bold, colorful adventure is undeniably Anderson’s magnum opus, experimenting with the form of cinema in a way that few directors are brave enough to attempt.
With an unbelievably stacked ensemble including Ralph Fiennes, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, and countless other famous faces, The Grand Budapest Hotel tells the story of an eccentric concierge at the titular building who finds himself framed for a crime that he didn’t commit and forced to prove his own innocence. It’s both deeply funny and bitterly tragic in ways that only Wes Anderson could achieve, resulting in a wholly singular project unlike any of its fellow Best Picture nominees.
1. Whiplash
Damien Chazelle
Damien Chazelle is a name that’s only become more and more revered in the years since Whiplash’s release, but the filmmaker’s first project remains his most impressive and engaging to date. While La La Land may have the dreamy romance, and Babylon may have the visual spectacle, Whiplash is an undeniable feat of both writing and directing that’s unrivaled in this category. The film tells the story of a young man named Andrew Neiman, who enrolls at a prestigious music academy where his teacher puts him through hell in pursuit of discovering his greatness.
At its heart, Whiplash is an astute examination of ambition, success, and suffering that asks important questions about the relationship between all three. It features a career-best (and Oscar-winning) performance from J.K. Simmons as Neiman’s abusive teacher Terrence Fletcher, who’s brought to life by Chazelle’s fundamentally human dialogue and rich understanding of character. The music is catchy, the visuals and sharp, and the direction is classy – but what’s most impressive about Whiplash is how effectively it condenses a lifetime of ambition and creativity into just under two hours, crafting a story that remains painfully relevant over a decade later.
The 2025 Oscars will take place on Sunday, March 2, 2025.
