Ranking What Was Really The Best Film Of Every Year 1990-2021

Actually won: Moonlight.

On the night of the infamous La La Land/Moonlight mix-up, Barry Jenkins' coming-of-age drama officially took the award, beating out Arrival, Fences and Hell or High Water in the process.

Going in, it was a toss-up between the two front-runners, but in the end Moonlight rightly took it. No 2016 movie was as evocative and lyrically moving as the drama, which follows a child as he grows to accept his identity for all its complexities.

Thanks in equal measure to Jenkins' searing script and the performances of its principal cast, Moonlight is sure to go down as a Best Picture winner for the ages, at once timeless and timely in its depiction of growing up conflicted.