2024 Oscars: The Best Picture Nominations With The Highest & Lowest Rotten Tomatoes Scores
The 2024 Academy Award nominations have been announced, and as always, it's led to a discussion of who was snubbed and who snuck in with a surprise nod. Everyone has their opinion of what should've been recognized, but it's hard to argue against the very strong best picture lineup. From box office hits like "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" to smaller darlings like "Past Lives" and "American Fiction," it's genuinely an honor just to be nominated with this company. But what movie has the worst ranking on Rotten Tomatoes?
They're all great, with each one being Certified Fresh on the platform, so none have a truly disappointing score. But there is some range in the rankings. Leading the pack is "The Holdovers," which stands at a 97% positive rating. With 328 reviews aggregated, that's near-universal praise, with a lot of critics enjoying the bittersweet dramedy with crackling dialogue. Conversely, the category's worst-performing score belongs to "Maestro," standing at a still-impressive 80%.
Here's how all the best picture nominees rank on Rotten Tomatoes, going from highest to lowest score:
- "The Holdovers" — 97%
- "Anatomy of a Fall" — 96%
- "Past Lives" — 96%
- "Poor Things" — 94%
- "American Fiction" — 93%
- "Killers of the Flower Moon" — 93%
- "Oppenheimer" — 93%
- "The Zone of Interest" — 92%
- "Barbie" — 88%
- "Maestro" — 80%
It's a strong best picture category compared to previous years
It's important to remember that Rotten Tomatoes is merely one metric when judging a movie's quality, especially since it merely categorizes reviews as "fresh" or "rotten." There may be a 17-point difference between the top- and worst-performing best picture nominees, but "Maestro" has nothing to be ashamed of, with a robust 80%. It outpaces a couple of the nominees from last year's ceremony. "Elvis" and "Avatar: The Way of Water" have Rotten Tomatoes scores of 77% and 76%, respectively. Even those don't hold a candle to some of the questionable nominations from years past.
The best picture nominee with the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score ever is 1936's "Anthony Adverse," standing at a rotten 20%. However, there are only 10 reviews on its page, so perhaps it's a bit unfair to call it the out-and-out worst. It may be more prudent to look at a more recent nominee generally panned by critics, such as 2011's "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," which has a disappointing score of 45% with 193 reviews. Even 2021's "Don't Look Up," which was nominated for a few Oscars, only has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 55%.
It's clear the Oscar voting body occasionally deviates from the consensus of professional reviewers. However, a strong batch of movies is up for best picture this year. All of them have their merits, so the eventual winner will be worthy no matter what.