The prestigious production and distribution companyA24has a total of seven Best Picture nominations at the time of writing, ranked here from worst to best.A24 has solidified itself as the leader and standard of trending independent cinemaand also one of the most reliable producers and distributors of original horror content. Some of thebest A24 horror movies, including Ari Aster’sMidsommar(2019) andHereditary(2018), Robert Eggers’The Lighthouse(2019) andThe Witch(2016), and Yorgos Lanthimos’The Killing of a Sacred Deer(2017), are also among the best films of the 21st century.
A24 rose to new levels of prestige afterMoonlightwon Best Pictureat the unforgettable 89th Academy Awards in 2017.Moonlightwas also the first film that A24 produced in-house and ignited a renaissance of instant modern classics such asLady Bird(2017), which earned five Oscar nominations,Eighth Grade(2018), which earned a near-perfect 99% on Rotten Tomatoes,Uncut Gems(2019), which arguably features the best performance of Adam Sandler’s career, andEverything, Everywhere, All At Once(2022), which won seven Oscars including Best Picture. There is also an exciting slate ofA24 movies releasing in 2024that span across all genres.
The seven Best Picture nominees that were either produced or distributed by A24 includeRoom(2015),Moonlight(2016),Lady Bird(2017),Minari(2020),Everything Everywhere All At Once(2022),The Zone Of Interest(2023), andPast Lives(2023). Of these celebrated films, only two –MoonlightandEverything Everywhere All At Once– have won Best Picture. This is certainly subject, and even expected, to change in the coming years as A24 continues to churn out high-quality and deeply original movies.Two A24 films,Sing SingandThe Brutalist, are currently projected to be nominatedforBest Picture at the 2025 Oscars.
Minari
Cast
2020’s Minari is a Drama film that showcases a young boy’s upbringing by Korean immigrants in the United States in the 80s. Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the film is a partial autobiography about his own experiences and stars Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Noel Kate Cho, and Alan Kim as a family trying to make it in rural Arkansas.
Minarifollows a Korean-American family who moves to Arkansas during the 1980s to try and realize the American dream as farmers. Despite the ambitious and hopeful intentions, the family, led by Steven Yeun’s Jacob, realizes that bringing the dream to life is immensely more difficult than it sounds. Lee Issac Chung, who went on to direct the 2024 blockbusterTwisters, wrote and directed the Best Picture nomination which wasalso nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Score, and won Best Supporting Actressfor Youn Yuh-jung.
Minariis a simple yet profound story about family ties and the roots that bound them. The highlights of the film are the gripping performances by its lead actors and its effective ability to create an immersive, ironically serene at times atmosphere despite the daily struggles of the protagonist’s family. Despite its ambiguous and divisive ending,Minaribeautifully blends comedy and drama to create a lifelike portrait full of vigor and truisms. The screenplay is one of the strongest qualities ofMinari. However, its arguably hollow ending is one of its biggest detriments.
Room
Based on the best-selling novel by Emma Donoghue, Room stars Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay as Joy and Jack Newsome, a mother and son held captive by a madman in a one-room shed in his back yard. Born in “Room”, Jack has never experienced anything else, but when the opportunity presents itself to escape, he must brave the outside world in order to save his and his mother’s life.
Roombecame the first A24 movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the 88th Academy Awards in 2016. The psychological drama starring Brie Larson features a remarkable performance from 8-year-old Jacob Tremblay, who is now 18 years old and has appeared inWonder(2017) andLuca(2021). Directed by Lenny Abrahamson (Frank,Normal People),Roomis written by Emma Donoghue, who also wrote the 2010 novel of the same name. Apart from Best Picture,Roomwasnominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director. Brie Larson won Best Actress.
Roomis, in a word, devastating, but also delicately profound. Larson is in top form and is arguably elevated by the outstanding talents of Tremblay’s Jack, who has a wonderfully creative mind that is captured through intricate and well-written voiceover. It’s impossible not to feel for Larson’s Ma and Jack, who have been held captive for years by a deranged man. The film masterfully blends two contrasting forces – a childlike tenderness and a scarred sense of hopelessness – that create a fascinating thematic dichotomy. Whilethe film suffers from a lack of plot logic in some areas, the sheer impact of the film makes it unforgettable.
Past Lives
Past Lives is a film that follows Nora and Hae Sung, childhood friends who reunite in New York after many years. As they spend a week together, they explore themes of destiny, love, and the pivotal choices that shape their lives. Released on July 08, 2025.
Past Liveswas one of two A24 films to be nominated for Best Picture at the 96th Academy Awards in 2024. Written and directed by Celine Song,Past Livesis a romantic drama about a married writer living in New York who reconnects with her dearest childhood friend from South Korea. The film stars Greta Lee as Nora, who immigrated to the United States when she was a child with her parents, leaving Teo Yoo’s Hae Sung behind. Through her development as a writer, she met and fell in love with a novelist named Arthur (John Magaro).Past Liveswas nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
Past Livesis a poetic and thoughtful film that plays out a what-could-have-been scenario with narrative poise and refinement. The natural chemistry of Lee and Yoo makes it near-impossible not to root for them in the name of fairytale romance, emphasized by the contrasting modern circumstances of Nora’s marriage with Arthur, who shares her career and interests.Past Livesis instantly relatable because its subtle premise can happen to anybody andevokes palpable personal feelings of lost love and what-if scenariosthat keep people up at night. It’s also a stunning directorial debut for Song.
The Zone of Interest
The Zone of Interest examines the lives of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, and his wife, Hedwig, as they attempt to cultivate a dream life for their family in a house and garden adjacent to the camp. The film delves into the juxtaposition of their domestic existence against the backdrop of the Holocaust.
2023’sThe Zone of Interestwas the other Best Picture entry at the 2024 Oscars. The film is directed by Jonathan Glazer, who also adapted the screenplay based on the Martin Amis novel of the same name and is known for directing 2013’sUnder the Skinas well as several Radiohead music videos, including “Karma Police”. Led by the standout performances of Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller, the latter of whom was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress forAnatomy of a Fall,The Zone of Interestwas also nominated for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, andwon the Oscars for Best Sound and Best International Feature.
The Zone of Interestleaves an indelible mark and is a cold reminder of the darkest side of humanity. While it’s not quite on the level of previous movies that tackle the harrowing subject matter of the Holocaust likeSchindler’s List,The Zone of Interestis still hauntingly effective in its stark thematic juxtaposition and its demonstration of the banality of evil. It’s a brutal yet crucial film not only for its message but for its achievements in cinematic design. The premise alone is nearly unfathomable, but once you realize that the film is based on true events, an internal shift occurs that can’t be shaken.The Zone of Interestis an unforgettable and essential piece of filmmaking.
Lady Bird
Acting as Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut, Lady Bird stars Saoirse Ronan as Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, a high school senior who dreams of leaving what she sees as a miserable existence in Sacramento, California, and going to college on the East Coast. Lady Bird’s dreams clash with the overbearing wishes of her mother Marion, played by Laurie Metcalf. As Lady Bird faces the social and emotional challenges of her final year of high school, her relationship with her mother becomes more and more strained the harder she attempts to break free.
With a near-perfect 99% Rotten Tomatoes score,Lady Birdis often considered one of the greatest coming-of-age movies ever made. Featuring an all-star cast led by 4-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, Lucas Hedges, Beanie Feldstein, and Timothée Chalamet, Lady Bird is written and directed by Great Gerwig, who would go on to direct 2023’s highest-grossing movie,Barbie. Lady Bird was nominated for atotal of five Oscars, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress, but did not walk away with any victories at the 90th Academy Awards held in 2018.
Lady Birdis arguably the premier product in the 2010s era that was overflowing with coming-of-age films likeThe Edge of SeventeenandThe Perks of Being A Wallflower. An excellent blend of traditional teen comedy mixed with the sharp edges of family drama,Lady Birdis fueled with passion and originality that gives it a true cinematic voice. The titular protagonist is defiant, idealistic, andmessy in an endearing way that makes audiences root for her success as well as her impending reality check. Lady Bird arrived with resounding character development and a whole lot of heart, which made it an instant classic.
Moonlight
Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, Moonlight follows Chiron (Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, and Alex Hibbert) during three stages of his life, starting in childhood and progressing all the way up through adulthood. The film explores themes of identity and sexuality, chronicling Chiron’s life as a gay black man growing up in Miami to an abusive, drug-addicted mother.
Moonlightwas the first A24 film to winBest Picturein what would become a historic night at the Academy Awards due to the infamousLa La Landmix-up. Barry Jenkins, who directed the upcomingMufasa: The Lion King, wrote and directed the Best Picture winner, whichalso won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali. The film was nominated for a total of eight Oscars, including Best Director, Best Cinematographer, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Supporting Actress for Naomie Harris. Trevanate Rhodes stars as Black, one of the three iterations ofMoonlight’sprotagonist.
Moonlightis nearly perfect in its structure and should be considered Jenkins' masterpiece. A simple story of intensely complex emotions and formations of identity,Moonlightis a tragically beautiful film about how societal expectations can shape and suppress an individual, particularly a disadvantaged black man. Visceral at times while blissful in others,Moonlightrepresents the unspoken truths and the unrealized dreams of oppressed people and groups. Overflowing with themes of human empathy and the yearning for true connection,Moonlighttouches on the most primal human desires and needs and illustrates how external factors can make it hard for people to simply be themselves.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
In Everything Everywhere All at Once, a middle-aged laundromat owner (Michelle Yeoh) is distracted from her financial and family issues by a multiversal crisis. With just her husband (Ke Huy Quan) to support her through the confusion, she must contend with her overbearing traditional father (James Hong), a pencil-pushing auditor (Jamie Lee Curtis), and her emotionally-distant daughter (Stephanie Hsu).
Everything Everywhere All At Onceis A24’s biggest achievement to date. Not only is it the company’s highest-grossing movie of all time with a worldwide box office of just under $111.5 million but it alsoreceived the most Oscar nominations (11) and wins (7) out of all A24 films. Apart from winning Best Picture,Everything Everywhere All At Oncealso won Best Original Screenplay and Best Director for Daniel Kawn and Daniel Scheinert, Best Editing, Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh, Best Actor for Ke Huy Quan, and Best Actress for Jamie Lee Curtis. It was also nominated for Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Costume Design.
There’s no question thatEverything Everywhere All At Onceis A24’s most impressive feat on paper. The film deserves its slew of accolades for having one of the most creative and fun movie concepts of the 21st century. Apart from the obvious outstanding performances and great characters,the visuals inEverything Everywhere All At Onceare breathtakingly innovative and extremely well-executed. The film stretches itself to cover multiple themes and seamlessly blends action and comedy without losing its reverting plot and arriving at its profound conclusion.Everything Everywhere All At Oncecohesively captures authentic aspects of the human experience using a superhuman methodology, makingA24’sgreatest film thus far.
