Every year during the fall and winter seasons, theaters are inevitably flooded with Oscar bait. These movies are produced with the sole purpose of earning Academy Award nominations. The accolades can translate into serious box office -- making the quest for Oscar gold as much financial competition as an artistic one -- and every production company offers a few contenders every year. Oscar bait is often defined by appearing to say something profound and important with the medium while taking very little creative or political risks. Period films that depict a major world tragedy tend to make good Oscar bait, as movies that push a social agenda in an overtly sentimental way. The ultimate Oscar bait combines these two elements into one film.

Numerous pieces of Oscar bait receive average to poor reviews from critics, but are rewarded with prestigious nominations in an attempt to boost box office revenue. Others are heaped with critical praise when first released -- even earning Oscars in the process -- only to fade with time and reflect their age quite poorly. For every Best Picture that genuinely deserves the honor -- The Godfather, for instance, or Silence of the Lambs -- there are dozens of others that just don't stand up. In that kind of environment, the overt Oscar bait becomes exceedingly easy to spot. The most egregious examples are in a class all their own.

Updated on March 13, 2024 by Robert Vaux and Ajay Aravind: The Academy Awards have been around for nearly a hundred years, so filmmakers are quite aware of what the institution expects from them. As surprising as it sounds, it's actually quite easy to craft an Oscar-worthy movie. That said, it doesn't mean these films are necessarily going to receive positive criticism. We've updated this list to include five more Oscar-bait movies, each entry has been expanded to include new material, and the formatting has been adjusted to meet current CBR guidelines.

15 Green Book Is A Good Movie, But Certainly Not Best Picture Worthy

Based on a true story, Green Book is the ideal Oscar bait movie — a period drama about racial discrimination set in the early 1960s. That said, Green Book is by no means a bad movie, and features excellent performances from Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali. However, compared to some other films released in 2018, Green Book had no business being nominated for Best Picture, let alone winning the award.

The reasons why are typical of Oscar bait. Though well constructed and comparatively high-minded, it takes no distinguishable risks: either visually or with its source material. It decries racism in a manner that makes it easy to agree without actually engaging the topic. Roma was by far the most award-winning and critically acclaimed film of 2018. First Reformed, The Rider, The Favourite, Burning, and Shoplifters are just a few of the countless films more deserving of the Best Picture Oscar than Green Book.

14 Lion Uses Overt Sentimentality To Its Advantage In Earning Oscar Nominations

Lion is a biographical drama that is based on the real-life story of Saroo Brierley, who was adopted by an Australian family and was reunited with his biological mother in India 25 years later. Lion exploited the overt sentimentality of its story to garner six Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. Lion is a phenomenal movie with incredible performances, but is not a film worthy of a Best Picture nomination.

The film received average reviews from critics, as indicated by its score of 69 on Metacritic. Films such as Toni Erdmann, Paterson, and The Handmaiden were much more deserving candidates for Best Picture in 2016. Lion's by-the-book storytelling and overt plays to the audience's heartstrings have not improved its standing.

13 Hidden Figures Tells An Important Story Despite Its Many Flaws

Hidden Figures tells the real-life story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, three African American women who worked at NASA during the Space Race. The film was a massive box office success and earned three Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. Praise was aimed at the film for bringing this important, yet unknown story to the public's attention.

However, like most Hollywood films based on true stories, Hidden Figures was criticized for its embellishments of the truth. Other complaints targeted the film's generic, crowd-pleasing style and forced melodrama. Hidden Figures maintains a false sense of feel-good attitudes instead of diving deeper into the film's themes of sexism and racism: suggesting that the problems were either comparatively easy to resolve or forever a part of the past. It doesn't necessarily ruin the film, but neither does it make Hidden Figures worthy of serious consideration on the subject.

12 CODA Marked Yet Another Oscar Bait Best Picture Winner

CODA's plot revolves around Ruby, the only non-deaf member of her family, which includes her deaf mother, father, and brother. Ruby is tasked with helping her family's struggling fishing business while at the same time trying to pursue her own singing career. CODA garnered good, but not great reviews from critics. However, it also received a divisive reaction from the deaf community, with many claiming the film misrepresented the competence of deaf individuals.

CODA's Oscar win for Best Picture was a shock to many, as films such as The Power of the Dog, Drive My Car, and Licorice Pizza were the clear-cut favorites. It has only been a short amount of time since the win, but the film has already faded into the rearview mirror: the fate of a surprising number of Oscar winners over the years.

11 Jojo Rabbit Depicts One Of The Academy Awards' Favorite Time Periods

Odds are that if someone makes a film about World War II, they will receive countless Academy Award nominations. Jojo Rabbit is a coming-of-age comedy drama that focuses on Jojo, a ten-year-old boy in Hitler's youth program who eventually realizes the evils of the Nazi belief system. Jojo Rabbit earned six Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture, despite receiving mostly negative reviews from critics. Jojo Rabbit has a score of 58 on the review site Metacritic, making it one of the lowest-scoring films ever nominated for Best Picture.

More importantly, it's arguably Taika Waititi's weakest movie. Despite the intriguing concept and a proper sense of the absurd -- Waititi himself plays a variant of Hitler who serves as Jojo's imaginary friend -- the humor falls flat more often than not. And the director often struggles with the darker truths of occupied Europe, resulting in a well-meaning but morally inert final product.

10 Vice Was One Of 2018's Most Polarizing Films

Adam McKay's Vice is a biographical satire about former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. McKay has become a favorite of the Academy, with his last three films all earning Oscar nominations for Best Picture, despite only The Big Short receiving positive reviews from critics.

While some critics hailed Vice as one of 2018's best films, others felt the movie was a self-indulgent project that felt more like a lecture than a feature film. The movie garnered a significant amount of criticism for its historical inaccuracies and the messiness of its narrative structure. And Christian Bale's central performance, while technically impressive, felt more like an impression than a genuine character. Without more insight into its central character, the movie is left reflecting the audience's preconceptions back at them.

9 The Blind Side Is One Of The Most Critically Panned Best Picture Nominees

The Blind Side is a biographical drama about Michael Oher, an African American teenager who is adopted by a white family. Oher eventually works his way into becoming a professional football player in the NFL. The Blind Side was a massive financial success, grossing over $300 million. The film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture and Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for Best Actress.

However, The Blind Side was panned by critics, with many citing flaws in the film's portrayal of race. Michael Oher himself was also critical of the film, arguing the film improperly depicted him as unintelligent. Bullock's Oscar was subsequently seen as a reflection of how well-liked she was in the industry, rather than the caliber of the performance itself. And the narrative often depicted her character as a white savior, giving the movie some significantly problematic undertones.

8 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close's Best Picture Nomination Caused Outrage

In 2011, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close was heavily promoted as one of the year's prime contenders for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. However, when the film was released, it received overwhelmingly negative reviews, with many critics calling the film's September 11th terrorist attack-centered plot exploitative.

Despite being bashed by critics, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close still earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, causing outrage among audiences and critics alike. Paste Magazine declared Extreme Loud & Incredibly Close to be the worst Best Picture nominee in twenty-eight years. Upon reflection, the movie benefited from the Academy's then-recent decision to expand the potential number of Best Picture nominees from five to ten. Rather than create a more diverse field of contenders, it resulted in watered-down dramas such as Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close receiving honors they simply don't deserve. The Academy hasn't improved much on that front in the ensuing years.

7 Don't Look Up Is Another Head-Scratching Best Picture Nominee From Adam McKay

Don't Look Up is a political satire with an all-star cast about humanity's indifference to an approaching comet that will end human civilization. Don't Look Up earned four Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. Although given an extremely limited theatrical release, Don't Look Up became a streaming hit for Netflix. However, it also received mostly negative reviews from critics, as demonstrated by its 49 Metacritic score.

Similar to McKay's Vice, many critics dismissed Don't Look Up as pretentious in its preaching and sloppy in its execution. The film is essentially a one-joke premise, bolstered by a game cast and some very funny moments, but ultimately with very little to say about humanity's capacity to ignore facts that are screaming right in their faces. Without taking the idea any further, Don't Look Up is left spinning its wheels most of the time.

6 Bohemian Rhapsody Is One Of The Worst Best Picture Nominees Of All Time

Bohemian Rhapsody, a musical biopic about Freddie Mercury and Queen, is one of the worst Best Picture nominees of all time. The film received a Metacritic score of 49 and had the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating for a Best Picture nominee since Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Bohemian Rhapsody is almost entirely historically inaccurate and contains poor editing, subpar directing, and a weak screenplay full of corny and contrived dialogue.

Much of the criticism the film received focused on its sanitized plot, which glossed over Mercury's sexuality and drug use. Credible abuse allegations about director Bryan Singer have further marred the film for entirely off-screen reasons. None of the Oscar winners for the film mentioned or thanked him in their acceptance speeches, a sign of how large the scandal had grown. That said, Rami Malek's phenomenal performance was rightfully praised.

5 Victoria & Abdul Should Not Be Confused With Actual History

Victoria & Abdul chronicles the relationship between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, an association that was completely unprecedented for its time. That said, with Dame Judi Dench playing the titular monarch, it was instantly evident that this movie was designed to seek out Oscars. Indeed, it didn't seem made for any other purpose. The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus notes the film's "imbalanced narrative," whereas an article in The Atlantic reminded audiences not to "mistake it for actual history."

Victoria & Abdul ended up being nominated for two Academy Awards, neither of which it won. Dench did receive the Golden Globe for Best Actress, but this didn't surprise anyone. Her performance is solid, but hardly a challenge for the veteran actor who seemed destined to play such figures in perpetuity. It leaves Victoria & Abdul an also-ran amid a resume of stronger performances and better films.

4 Darkest Hour Fulfills All The Basic Requirements For Oscar Bait

Gary Oldman finally obtained his first Academy Award for playing Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Joe Wright's Darkest Hour. This movie focuses on a brief period of time during World War II, and contains several powerhouse performances in addition to Oldman's. The actor himself did his usual sterling job of vanishing into the part, providing an insightful look at Churchill's mindset during the first terrible weeks of his government as he contemplates an unthinkable surrender to Hitler.

All things considered, Darkest Hour fulfills all the basic requirements for Oscar bait, from setting to storyline and everything in between. It lost Best Picture to Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water, which most critics agree to be a far superior film. Darkest Hour isn't bad per se; it just feels somewhat formulaic. Beyond showcasing the lead actor's well-established talents, it never steps outside of its comfort zone.

3 Slumdog Millionaire Is Arguably The Most Oscar Baitworthy Movie In Recent Memory

There are few films as Oscar baitworthy as Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire. Not only does this feebly constructed movie mock an entire subcontinent, but it does so without a shred of self-awareness. India is certainly home to the nightmares experienced by Jamal Malik, but it also contains an infinitely vast set of traditions, customs, beliefs, and histories. It ultimately ends up other-ing the culture it tries to depict, presenting an outsider's view of India as authoritative.

Slumdog Millionaire isn't directly offensive, as it celebrates its young heroes, but the film doesn't even attempt to critique itself while dissecting such a complex culture. To nobody's surprise, Slumdog Millionaire racked up an impressive eight Oscars along with Best Picture. The irony is that India itself possesses a thriving movie culture, with films released every year that easily outpace the likes of Slumdog Millionaire without any hope of the Academy ever noticing them.

2 Boyhood Received Near-Universal Praise, But Some Critics Still Had Complaints

Critics who condemn Boyhood are in the minority, and that's not going to change anytime soon. On the other hand, it doesn't mean that their complaints are invalid. This Richard Linklater film is a modern epic, revolving around Mason Evans Jr.'s personal journey through childhood and puberty.

The director used the same actors throughout Boyhood, explaining why it took eleven years to complete filming. At the same time, this casting choice can also be interpreted as unnecessarily pretentious — almost as if it's supposed to be the movie's entire USP. Everything in Boyhood screams Oscar bait, but it won only one of six Academy Award nominations. It ultimately felt more like an interesting stunt than a substantive piece of art.

1 Cats Was Oscar Bait at Its Emptiest

Tom Hooper's Cats could have been a shade better if it hadn't transformed its cast into CGI hybrids. Or maybe not, because dumping some of the most iconic actors into a movie without a coherent narrative structure is an obvious recipe for disaster.

Idris Elba, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Taylor Swift, and Jennifer Hudson are all brilliant performers, so their fans are still confused as to why they'd agree to participate in Cats. This movie failed spectacularly on both audience and critical fronts. Its flaws are conceptual in nature, from the weird cats-eye-view scenery to the clunky delivery of the musical's peppy songs. No amount of good casting or flashy delivery could save it.

Its entire approach reeks of Oscar-baiting, starting with director Tom Hooper who previously helmed Les Miserables, and presumably got so many noted actors to sign on to this projects in hopes of garnering some nods themselves. (Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actress for Les Miserables, and Hugh Jackman received his first Best Actor nomination for the film.). Thankfully, Cats garnered exactly zero nominations at the Academy Awards, and has since become infamous as one of the most hysterically misguided movies to come along in recent memory.