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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThe 2025 Best Picture field offers a sharp contrast in scale and style: an intimate family drama under dictatorship, a pop musical, a science-fiction epic and more. My ranking puts emotional force, originality and formal ambition ahead of awards totals or broadest appeal. The 97th Academy Awards honored films released in 2024; Anora won Best Picture. The list below is a critic-informed viewing guide, not the Academy’s order or a claim of objective quality.
How this ranking works
The Academy’s ten nominees and Anora’s win are fixed facts. Rotten Tomatoes offers a separate, dated benchmark: its guide, updated March 13, 2026, orders these films by Tomatometer. That score reflects the share of counted reviews that are positive; it is not a score out of 100 for how good a film is. The Popcornmeter is a distinct audience measure. Both may change as ratings are added or adjusted, so the figures here are a snapshot, not permanent standings. Rotten Tomatoes’ guide supplies those scores and short film descriptions. My order weighs emotional impact, originality, craft and ambition, with critic and audience reception as context rather than a formula.
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The 2025 Best Picture nominees, ranked
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I’m Still Here
Tomatometer: 97%; Popcornmeter: 97%. (Rotten Tomatoes, updated March 13, 2026.) A family’s search for answers during Brazil’s military dictatorship gives this drama its political stakes and intimate center. Fernanda Torres’ performance is a key part of its impact. It earns the top spot for bringing historical violence close to the scale of a family’s experience without losing sight of either.
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Nickel Boys
Tomatometer: 92%; Popcornmeter: 75%. (Rotten Tomatoes, updated March 13, 2026.) Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s novel, this is the choice for viewers drawn to formally ambitious storytelling and difficult material. Its lower audience score than critic score points to a divide in reception, not a verdict on who is right. I place it near the top for the force of its artistic ambition.
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Anora
Tomatometer: 93%; Popcornmeter: 84%. (Rotten Tomatoes, updated March 13, 2026.) A modern Cinderella variation and romantic drama, Anora pairs a familiar story shape with a more grounded, volatile feel. It combines emotional momentum with a strong sense of character, making it the most immediately inviting starting point for many viewers. It also won Best Picture.
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The Brutalist
Tomatometer: 93%; Popcornmeter: 79%. (Rotten Tomatoes, updated March 13, 2026.) This postwar immigrant story centers on architect László Toth. Its subject invites a sweeping view of ambition, displacement and the cost of building a life in a new place. The gap between its high critic score and lower audience score suggests a more demanding watch than a straightforward crowd-pleaser; its scale and seriousness are part of the appeal.
Rank #2
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Dune: Part Two
Tomatometer: 92%; Popcornmeter: 95%. (Rotten Tomatoes, updated March 13, 2026.) Denis Villeneuve continues his adaptation of the science-fiction series with a film built for immersive scale. Its strong scores from critics and audiences make it one of the field’s clearest consensus picks. I rank it below the more intimate dramas because spectacle and world-building matter more to its effect than close character observation.
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Conclave
Tomatometer: 93%; Popcornmeter: 86%. (Rotten Tomatoes, updated March 13, 2026.) The selection of a new pope supplies the setting for a contained drama shaped by institutional tension. It is the most straightforward recommendation for viewers who want a tightly focused story rather than an epic, musical or formally experimental film. Its high critic score supports that appeal, though my ranking favors films with a more distinctive emotional or visual signature.
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![Oscar Winners: Argo / Gravity / The Great Gatsby [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Belgium ]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41nhcX8uNLL._SL160_.jpg)
Oscar Winners: Argo / Gravity / The Great Gatsby [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Belgium ]- Oscar Winners: Argo / Gravity / The Great Gatsby
- Oscar Winners: Argo / Gravity / The Great Gatsby
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The Substance
Tomatometer: 89%; Popcornmeter: 76%. (Rotten Tomatoes, updated March 13, 2026.) A body-horror film starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, The Substance makes genre audacity central to its identity. Its lower audience score alongside a strong critic score reflects a film less likely to work for every viewer. For those open to body horror, its willingness to push its premise gives it a singular place in the nominees.
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Wicked
Tomatometer: 88%; Popcornmeter: 95%. (Rotten Tomatoes, updated March 13, 2026.) This retelling of the witches-of-Oz story brings musical spectacle to the Best Picture field. The 95% Popcornmeter against an 88% Tomatometer makes it one of the clearest audience-favorite cases in this snapshot. It ranks lower here not because popularity is a flaw, but because this list gives greater weight to originality and emotional complexity than sheer crowd appeal.
Rank #4
![Oscar Winners: Argo / Gravity / The Great Gatsby [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Belgium ]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fiV3tTPpL._SL160_.jpg)
Oscar Winners: Argo / Gravity / The Great Gatsby [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Belgium ]- Oscar Winners: Argo / Gravity / The Great Gatsby
- Oscar Winners: Argo / Gravity / The Great Gatsby
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A Complete Unknown
Tomatometer: 81%; Popcornmeter: 95%. (Rotten Tomatoes, updated March 13, 2026.) This Bob Dylan portrait is set against the early-1960s music scene. Its 14-point split between the audience and critic measures is the widest among these ten nominees, suggesting a particularly strong audience response relative to critics. It is a sensible pick for viewers interested in music and the period, though my ranking puts less familiar dramatic territory ahead of the biographical form.
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Emilia Pérez
Tomatometer: 70%; Popcornmeter: 73%. (Rotten Tomatoes, updated March 13, 2026.) Described by Rotten Tomatoes as a genre-bending musical crime thriller, it is the field’s lowest-ranked film by Tomatometer in the March 2026 snapshot. That score does not make it irrelevant: its hybrid of genres gives it a distinct identity within the nominees. It lands last in my ranking because the other films left a stronger impression across the criteria I chose.
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How the Academy results compare
The awards offer another way to view the field, but Oscar wins do not determine this ranking. The Academy’s 97th Oscars results show wins across several nominees: Anora took Best Picture, directing, actress in a leading role and film editing; The Brutalist won actor in a leading role and original score; Emilia Pérez won actress in a supporting role; The Substance won makeup and hairstyling; and Wicked won production design. ABC’s results list reports five Oscars for Anora, including Best Picture, directing and actress in a leading role.
Which nominee should you watch first?
- For a moving historical family story: I’m Still Here.
- For intimate drama and a lively romantic story: Anora.
- For a large-scale science-fiction continuation: Dune: Part Two.
- For a musical with strong audience approval: Wicked.
- For genre experimentation: The Substance or Emilia Pérez.
- For a more formally ambitious adaptation: Nickel Boys.
These are starting points, not substitutes for the full ranking: the best first pick depends on whether you want political history, spectacle, music, romance or risk-taking.
Quick Recap
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