It would be remiss of me to begin anywhere other that horror, which is a genre renowned for its award season snubbing, though arguably none more so than Ari Aster’s Hereditary, especially in the Best Actress category. Toni Collette delivered a career-defining performance in the film, equal parts devastating and unsettling, whilst the film’s composition, which delectably builds tension and culminates in a horrifying finale, would not have seen Aster out of place in the Best Director category. Same could be said for Midsommar, both in terms of Aster’s filmmaking and Florence Pugh’s leading performance, along with the film’s vivid cinematography which could certainly be considered award worthy.
...not the first time deserving horror films have lacked acknowledgment.
Though it cannot be said horrors have been entirely excluded from awards conversations, with mainstream releases such as Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners being nominated widely, Aster’s snubs are not the first time deserving horror films have lacked acknowledgment. In retrospect, The Shining holds up as one of the biggest snubs in Academy Award history across the board, from Stanley Kubrick’s direction to Wendy Carlos’ menacing score, though it provides a shining (ha!) example that award recognition isn’t required for a movie to hold up as a cult classic.
Speaking of historical snubs with excellent scores, Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly received no nominations, having released prior to the western genre being widely recognised within the award season, though you’d be hard pressed to find many who weren’t familiar with the music Ennio Morricone composed for the film. On a different note, Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 tennis love triangle Challengers also received no nominations, though perhaps its biggest snub also lies with its Grammy-nominated score, of which the techno beats that soundtrack the film are as iconic as they are propulsive.
In terms of notable recent acting performances, two of the biggest Oscar nomination snubs have been Best Actor for Adam Sandler’s performance in Uncut Gems - and broader nominations for Josh Safdie as director, though the recognition he has received for Marty Supreme has perhaps made up for that - and Best Supporting Actress for Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers. Whilst both of the aforementioned performances saw the actors break free from their usual typecasting and really put their acting chops to the test, the Oscars evidently remained unmoved as both their performances and the films as a whole received zero nominations.
From 2026 alone, there have also been notable nomination snubs. Whilst John M. Chu’s first Wicked received 10 nominations, Wicked: For Good was left out of this year’s running entirely, much to the surprise of fans who at least expected a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Ariana Grande’s portrayal of Glinda. In terms of Best International Film nominations, Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice feels left out, whilst Sorry, Baby, an underrated gem from Eva Victor in 2025, has been wrongfully excluded from the Best Original Screenplay category, joining other infamous screenwriting snubs like Lulu Wang’s The Farewell and Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise.
...seemingly couldn’t break through the Oscars’ lack of enthusiasm towards genre films.
On the flip side, some of the most noteworthy Best Adapted Screenplay snubs lie with Mary Harron’s American Psycho and Martin Scorcese’s Shutter Island, the former for its cultural impact (specifically the Hip To Be Square scene!) and the latter due to its position as an impressive and compelling adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s 2003 thriller novel. One further film which received no nominations that absolutely deserves a shot out is Michael Mann’s Heat, which would’ve fit in several categories - Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Robert De Niro, to name a few - but seemingly couldn’t break through the Oscars’ lack of enthusiasm towards genre films.
So, the two things all of the above mentioned films have in common? The fact they were all nominated for zero Academy awards and the fact they absolutely deserved to be. It’s proof that films are certainly worth more than the lacking sum of their nominations and, whilst the Oscars may be classically held up as the paragon of film accreditation, their categories and nominations are not always all-inclusive. In the future, we can only hope that more and more deserving films are recognised, irrespective of their genre or box office popularity.