Oscars: Every Best Picture Nominee Of The 2010s - Ranked Worst To Best
5. Lady Bird
"Call me Lady Bird like you said you would!”
While she’s been a defining part of the indie scene for decades now on-screen, Lady Bird was Greta Gerwig’s first solo effort behind the camera. A coming-of-age film that was well aware of its own conventions and cliches, Gerwig makes a conscious effort to subvert or deviate from the expected beats that sometimes make flicks in this sub-genre come across a little inauthentic.
Everything from the way Timothee Chalamet’s character embodies the super sexy (but super lame) “cool guy” boyfriend to even the use of Catholic iconography as set dressing, acknowledging the subtle differences in upbringings without making the whole film about that one topic, breathes new life into a well-worn sub-genre.
What makes Lady Bird so special, though, is the way it captures the push and pull of a real, mother-daughter relationship. It recognises that both parties can be horrible to each other, but it’s only because they’re so alike, and at the end of the day, the love between them is stronger than anything. It’s refreshing to see the subject tackled so honestly - and their relationship can get so ugly - but that’s kinda what makes it so beautiful.
JB