Every Best Picture Oscar Movie Winner Of 21st Century Ranked Worst To Best

4. 12 Years A Slave (2013)

Should have won!

Steve McQueen’s galvanising historical drama 12 Years a Slave is never an easy watch - in fact, it’s likely you’ll never sit through it again - but its tale of a free Black man (Chiwetel Ejiofor) sold into slavery in the 1840s is so engrossing that you'll struggle to fault its vision. 

Based on his autobiography, the film follows Solomon Northup as he goes from a free man with a loving family and musical aspirations, to tortured slave forced to endure the very limits of human cruelty. It’s breathtaking in its imagery, seamless in its storytelling, and though gruelling, remains peppered throughout with moments of real humanity.

Anchored by Ejiofor’s searing portrayal of incalculable courage, as well as an Oscar-winning display from a heartwrenching Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave will challenge you to stay glued to Northup’s story, and even when you want to look away, McQueen’s disciplined direction will leave you unblinking.

Deserving of the title “vital viewing”, 12 Years a Slave is a monstrous feat of filmmaking, compelling, bleak, uncompromising and raw, and though you won’t rush back to it, you’ll never forget what it has to say.