2026 BEST PICTURE NOMINEES RANKED

Published on 1/27/2026

Written by: Braylon Mitchell 

My ranking of the ten films nominated for Best Picture of the Year at the 98th Academy Awards. 

#10

F1 

(Dir. Joesph Kosinski) 

I really like this film. I think it's a great blockbuster/crowdpleaser, was a blast to watch on IMAX in theaters, and holds a lot of rewatchability- still, it's pretty easily my least favorite of the ten Best Picture nominees this year. Not to say it's a bad film at all (I gave it an 8/10!) and I don't hate that it was nominated- but out of these ten, it does stand out as an outlier of not feeling "Best Picture" caliber. 

#9

Bugonia 

(Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos) 

This is the third film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos to recieve a Best Picture nomination in the span of ten years (the others being 2018's "The Favourite" and 2023's "Poor Things") which proves how much of an unexpected awards darling the wonderfully weird Lanthimos has become- especially when he's working with his partner in crime, Emma Stone. For a majority of awards season I had this film predicted on the outskirts of my Best Picture predictions hovering around eleventh or twelfth place- until just about a month ago it struck us all how strong it was translating over into the industry awards. A lot of people watched this film, and a lot loved it. It may not be up there as one of my favorites of the year, but I do really enjoy this film. Amazing performances from Emma Stone & Jesse Plemons. 

#8

Hamnet 

(Dir. Chloe Zhao) 

Others will have this film higher on their ranking, I have a few issues with the film that hold me back from loving it as much as I wanted to, but I can't deny it's one of the year's best films and one that everyone 'ought to watch. Rarely is grief and heartbreak portrayed as authentically as it is in this film. We aren't just watching the Shakespeare family grieve, we're experiencing it alongside them and with that the audience is offered a way to process any grief of their own the same way as the Shakespeares- through lending our grief to the creation and consumption of art. A beautiful film and a real tearjerker, for sure. 

#7

Frankenstein 

(Dir. Guillermo Del Toro) 

Similar to Yorgos Lanthimos, recents years have shown us that when Guillermo Del Toro has a film positioned to release during fall festival season there's a high likelihood it'll go on to become a major Oscar contender. Del Toro is exactly who comes to mind when many film fans think of "style" in modern day cinema. With his adaptation of the legendary Frankenstein story, it's arguable that Del Toro has made the most popular film of his beloved career so far. It's one of the few films this year that everyone of all ages seems to have either seen or at the very least heard of- and it's a very good, very well crafted film. 

#6

Sentimental Value 

(Dir. Joachim Trier) 

Even though The Secret Agent might go on to win the Best International Feature Oscar, this film has been the top international awards darling of the year. Since it's premiere at Cannes immediately solidified it as a major Oscar contender- I couldn't help but feeling like this film, Joachim Trier, and Renate Reinsve's awards love would spiritually makeup for how Trier's last film "The Worst Person in the World" missed out on being a bigger Oscar contender back during the 2021/2022 awards season. How about the academy makes an agreement that whenever Trier and Reinsve make another film together it'll also get a ton of nominations? No need to question whether it'll be great or not, because Trier only makes great films. 

#5

The Secret Agent 

(Dir. Kleber Mendonca Filho) 

It's the second year in a row of Brazilian cinema being recognized in the Best Picture lineup (last year's nominee being "I'm Still Here") and that's not just because of how much passionate support the Brazilians spread online- it's because both films are great films with something important to say. The international support within the academy and "spread of wealth" with giving more nominations to foreign films that just five years ago wouldn't have done nearly as well grows stronger every year- and its made the Academy Awards all the better, and all the more relevant to modern cinema. If only they'd caught on earlier in their ninety eight year lifetime that at the very least TWO non-english films should be in the Best Picture lineup every year. I'm so glad this film in particular contiounsly throughout awards season got the support and recognition it deserved. 

#4

Train Dreams 

(Dir. Clint Bentley) 

After Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar's previous film "Sing Sing" was snubbed of a Best Picture nomination last year, I think it's sort of funny how the very next awards season a film of their's that's much less geared towards the Oscars does gets a Best Picture nomination- and I think that's very cool, because this film wouldn't have made it into a Best Picture field in a year without ten nominees. Also, I wanted to note that this is the second tearjerking 2026 Best Picture nominee that portrays grief and beautiful naturalistic cinematography. It's popular to cry this year, folks. One of my favorite films of the year, and a great Best Picture nominee. 

#3

Marty Supreme 

(Dir. Josh Safdie) 

A film that did very well across all of awards season as a top five contender, the film that'll likely bring Timothee Chalamet his first Oscar win, and an all around exellent Best Picture nominee. Not much more to add. Fantastic film. 

#2

One Battle After Another 

(Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson) 

Whether it ends up winning Best Picture or not on March 15th (after breaking the nomination record, I feel like the tide is shifting towards a Sinners BP win), this film has been the top frontrunner throughout awards season and to this date Paul Thomas Anderson's most succesful films awards-wise for a damn good reason- it's a damn good film. 

#1

Sinners 

(Dir. Ryan Coogler) 

On the morning of January 22nd, 2026 Oscar history was made as this film received a whopping sixteen nominations- becoming the most nominated film all of time and beating the tied fourteen nomination record set by "All About Eve", "Titanic", and "La La Land". After two recent films getting close (thirteen noms for "Emilia Perez" and thirteen noms for "Oppenheimer") it was felt in the air that the all time nomination record was bound to be broken sooner rather than later- and in my book, the record couldn't have been topped by a more deserving film. This is a wholly original, very popular, and impressively made film from a modern day auteur filmmaker that happens to also be my favorite film of 2025. 

Go back and click on the posters of each film for the film's trailer.