13 Awesome 2015 Movies That Deserve Best Picture (But Won't Get Nominated)

2. Going Clear: Scientology & The Prison Of Belief

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93% (7.8/10) Why It Deserves Best Picture: Alex Gibney's incredible documentary painstakingly reveals the extent of the corruption and intimidation tactics behind the controversial Church of Scientology, such that the Church has since started an all-out PR smear campaign against the director in an attempt to discredit his work. It won't work, though, because the film is a literally jaw-dropping expose, and had 160 lawyers collaborate to ensure it didn't enter any murky legal territory. The testimonies from former Church members combined with extensive archive footage creates a terrifying image of a cult-like organisation driven by material gain, intelligence gathering and manipulation above all else. It's an extremely important film and one that's certainly among the best of the year, reflective of when discussions were had in previous years as to whether Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 could quality for Best Picture honours (though sadly, they didn't). To see Scientology torn down on such a grand stage would be tremendously cathartic. Why It Won't Get Nominated: For one, a documentary has never been nominated for Best Picture, in much the same way that animated films rarely are, because the doc field has its own Best Documentary field to worry about. Secondly, many of Hollywood's elite are themselves Scientologists, which presents a second considerable obstacle.