Oscars 2017: 20 Predicted Best Film Nominees Ranked Worst To Best

Certain Women is probably a long distance outsider in the Best Film race, but it's hard to argue that the four female performances at the centre of this profound, feminist drama don't deserve some attention.

The film, which will have flown under a lot of radars, unfortunately, focuses on four women living their small town lives in an impressive ensemble cast that has Laura Dern, Jared Harris, Michelle Williams, Lily Gladstone and Kristen Stewart in key roles. And with so many characters and story threads, director Kelly Reichardt is able to craft a series of tight, never flabby tales.

They're no more than frames for performance really, the best of which is probably Gladstone's almost unbearably sad take. Her story is just one of Reichardt's measured, beautiful looks at women's lives, entirely free of the kind of agenda that tends to rankle with anyone who sees feminism as a dirty word. It's slight in comparison to some of the other films on this list, but slightness is not an excuse to dismiss it at all.