Have you ever wondered why the Academy Awards (Oscars) never seem to recognise A24 horror movies? Well, you aren’t alone.
Getting snubbed by the Academy Awards can be a nightmare for most movie studios. Considering that the Oscars are still perceived as the ultimate achievement in cinema for some filmmakers, not getting a well-deserved nomination can feel like your movie simply wasn’t up to par with the standards of the Academy.
The Academy Awards have received their fair share of controversy over the years. One of the most notable examples of this is the apparent disdain of the Academy for animated films. Some film buffs feel that animation shouldn’t be relegated to a category of its own, with more films deserving the same treatment that Pixar’s Up got some years ago.
However, an issue that’s become clearly evident in recent years is that the Academy Awards seem to be actively ignoring the achievements of A24, especially their horror films. One of the leading distributors and producers of indie and arthouse films, A24 has been involved in the production of some of the most influential horror movies made in recent memory. Films like Talk to Me, X, Saint Maud, Heretic, The Witch, The Lighthouse, Hereditary, Green Room, It Comes At Night, Lamb, Under The Skin, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Midsommar have revolutionised the genre by making some of the most original films in the last decade. Worst of all, some of the best performances of the last few years have come from these horror films.
Did Toni Collette not deserve an Oscar nomination for her performance in Hereditary? What about Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse and Hugh Grant in Heretic?
The Academy Awards has overlooked the accomplishments of these A24 horror movies year after year while nominating some frankly questionable titles for some of the most prestigious honours. Part of the reason why the Academy Awards seems so intent on overlooking most A24 horror productions is that the Oscars are still mostly commercial accolades. For example, a few years back there was a whole discussion surrounding the possibility of the Academy Awards establishing a new category — Most Popular Film.
While this might sound like a logical decision for an entertainment-related award ceremony, it would certainly leave out some of the most deserving indie films out there — you know, the kind of movies that A24 is most known for. It’s safe to say that the idea of cinema held by the Academy Awards and A24 are somewhat different, with the latter keeping a more auteur-oriented production while the Oscars commemorate the achievements of Hollywood films in a more commercial/popular sense.
One thing is for sure: the Academy’s dismissal of A24 horror movies doesn’t mean that the studio’s films have lesser merit than their Oscar-winning counterparts. For what it is worth, the Academy Awards have recognized the achievements of A24 in the past. In 2017, the A24 film Moonlight won the Academy Award for Best Picture after a minor confusion between it and La La Land. In 2024, A24 got two films nominated for Best Picture: Past Lives and The Zone of Interest and in 2025, The Brutalist was also nominated for Best Picture.
Another issue that’s emerged in recent years — and one that could get some points for A24 in its struggle with the Academy Awards — is that the Oscars have lost a good chunk of their mystique in recent years. The Awards don’t have the same “divine” status they once held in popular culture — just one look at the diminishing audience numbers of recent ceremonies will tell you all you need to know about how relevant the Academy Awards are right now.
The Oscars don’t dictate which movies are “better” than others — they merely recognize which films are the favourites of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A24 is set on the right path to make a meaningful impact in the landscape of modern cinema. The studio has worked on some of the most beloved indie films of recent years, not to mention how flexible they are with different film genres.
Given that The Substance, a film that could easily have been made by A24, received a lot of Oscar buzz in 2025, perhaps next year’s Academy Awards will be the year that A24 horror returns to its rightful place between the nominees, but for now, let’s just enjoy the quality productions the studio releases constantly.
RELATED: If You Thought Talk to Me Was Scary, A24’s Bring Her Back Will Haunt You
What do you think? Is it time that the Academy Awards stop ignoring A24 horror movies?
