The Oscars Has Too Many Best Picture Nominees, And I’m Willing To Die On This Hill

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The Academy Awards are almost here, and the nominations for the 98th Oscars are out. While not every great film from 2025 made the list, a good number did. After reviewing the nominees – and noticing some surprises, like the omission of Wicked: For Good – I keep wondering why there are so many films competing for Best Picture.

The Oscars expanded the number of nominees from five to ten fifteen years ago, but I now believe going back to five would be a good idea. The change was originally made to ensure deserving films weren’t overlooked, but this year’s list of nominees has convinced me that ten is simply too many.

The 2026 Academy Awards Has 10 Nominees For Best Picture

2025 was a fantastic year for movies, with several titles earning nominations for Best Picture. If you haven’t checked out the nominees yet, here they are:

  • Bugonia
  • F1
  • Frankenstein
  • Sinners
  • Marty Supreme
  • Hamnet
  • One Battle After Another
  • The Secret Agent
  • Train Dreams
  • Sentimental Value

This year’s Academy Award nominations included a diverse range of films – different genres, historical dramas, and even some you can stream on Netflix. With ten nominees being typical, the list feels appropriate. However, if only five movies were allowed, I wouldn’t be upset to see about half of these titles left out.

10 Nominees Is Excessive, And It Still Doesn’t Fix The Problem

According to Variety, the Academy increased the number of Best Picture nominees to include popular, big-budget films like The Dark Knight. Previously, these well-received and critically praised blockbusters were often overlooked in favor of smaller, more independent films.

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Despite receiving strong reviews and audience scores in 2026, films like Superman, Wake Up Dead Man, Avatar: Fire and Ash, 28 Years Later, Weapons, and Jay Kelly were overlooked for Best Picture nominations. While I appreciated the films that were nominated, I believe some of these other titles were just as deserving, and I suspect I’ll remember them more fondly in the long run.

Honestly, I don’t think expanding the Best Picture category has actually improved things. It seems like it just gives more chances for films clearly made to win awards – you know, the “Oscar bait” movies – to get some recognition, even if they don’t truly deserve to win. Take Train Dreams, for instance. It didn’t get nearly as much attention as a blockbuster like Superman when it came out, but just being nominated for Best Picture will definitely drive people to watch it on Netflix. If the expanded category is just a way for voters to reward smaller, less popular films instead of the genuinely great ones, it feels less about honoring art and more like a clever marketing trick to get certain movies seen.

It’s common for awards shows to leave out deserving films, but when a category has room for ten nominees, you’d expect most of them to be truly memorable – either big hits with audiences, culturally significant, or known for outstanding filmmaking. Looking at the nominations for Best Picture this year, I don’t see that happening. Having seen over a hundred movies from last year, I feel further away from the Academy’s choices than ever before. The list feels unnecessary as it is, and I believe going back to just five nominees would give the award more meaning.

Tune in to ABC on March 15th to watch the Oscars, hosted by Conan O’Brien! Our team at TopMob has also shared a list of our favorite movies from 2025, including the films we thought deserved a Best Picture nomination – you can find it on our site.

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2026-01-22 22:43