Oscar Nominations 2024: 8 Ups & 9 Downs

2. SNUB: Beyond Utopia (Best Documentary Feature)

Best Documentary Feature is always a strange category in which several of the most buzzed about and expected nominees end up getting snubbed entirely, and 2024 is evidently no exception.

There was one anticipated nominee in particular whose exclusion proved hugely surprising, and that's Beyond Utopia - Madeleine Gavin's mesmerising doc centered around several families attempting to escape North Korea.

And this isn't to slight the nominated films at all, but only to indicate how frustratingly the documentary branch almost spitefully seems to ignore buzzier, more mainstream-skewing docs in favour of more niche - if still well-received - fare.

Beyond Utopia was an incredibly well-crafted doc about a vital, current subject, and an Oscar nomination would've given it an even larger, much-needed platform. But alas, it wasn't to be.