Oscars: Every Best Picture Nominee Of The 2010s - Ranked Worst To Best

10. Roma

Roma publicity image
Netflix

Of all the 2019 Best Picture nominees, Roma is the only one that you’d put into even the strongest of years and call a serious contender. It’s the only one that should be deemed a true masterpiece.

Simply on a technical level, it’s a wonder: the direction, cinematography, production design, sound, editing and so on all work in perfect harmony, each worthy of an award yet complementing the larger whole in a way that allows the film to feel both grandiose and intimate.

Alongside those feats, though, is a story that is human to its very core. You couldn’t say this is a film with a lot of plot in a conventional sense, but that’s not really the point. The point is that this is life. It’s beautiful. It’s ugly. It’s overwhelmingly happy, devastatingly sad, and a lot of the time mundane. In all of those moments, Roma finds a way of capturing the enduring human spirit, the connections we make, the love we forge. It is simply stunning.

JH

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