Here's Entirely Too Much Information About The 2023 Academy Award Best Picture Nominees

So, in alphabetical order, let's get started:

The Plot

Based on the 1928 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque, this wartime epic follows a young German boy whose idealistic dreams of heroics are shattered when he enlists in the army with his friends during World War I and is exposed to the true horrors of battle while he does his best to survive.

Cast and Crew

Directed by: Edward Berger

Screenplay by: Edward Berger, Ian Stokell, and Lesley Paterson

Starring: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl, Sebastian Hülk, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic and Devid Striesow

Notable Award Season Wins/Accolades

While this film was not nominated at the Golden Globes or the Critics Choice Awards, it is currently nominated for 14 British Academy Film Awards (Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Not in the English Language, Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Make Up and Hair, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Special Visual Effects).

Other Oscar Nominations

Best Score

Best International Feature Film

Best Adapted Screenplay

Best Visual Effects

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Best Sound

Best Cinematography

Best Production Design

A Random Fun Fact for No Extra Charge

This is the second major screen adaptation of this work, and the first adaptation — made in 1930 — was the first movie to ever take home the Oscar for both Best Production and Best Director.

The Plot

In a sequel that was, quite literally, a decade-plus in the making, we see that Jake Sully now lives with the Na'vi on Pandora, raising his family with Neytiri. However, their peaceful lives are once again interrupted when humans arrive with plans to colonize Pandora as Earth is dying.

Cast and Crew

Directed by: James Cameron

Screenplay by: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, Matt Gerald, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, and Jemaine Clement

Notable Award Season Wins/Accolades

It was also nominated for two Golden Globes (Best Picture — Drama and Best Director), though it won neither. It was also nominated for six Critics Choice Awards, winning Best Visual Effects.

Other Oscar Nominations

Best Visual Effects

Best Sound

Best Production Design

A Random Fun Fact for No Extra Charge

As of the publishing of this article, the film has made $2.027 billion worldwide, making it the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time.

The Plot

The film follows two best friends on a remote island in Ireland whose lives are thrown into odd turmoil when one of them abruptly ends their yearslong relationship without warning or reason.

Cast and Crew

Directed by: Martin McDonagh

Screenplay by: Martin McDonagh

Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, and Barry Keoghan

Notable Award Season Wins/Accolades

The films was nominated for eight Golden Globes — the most nominations for a single film since Cold Mountain in 2004 — and won three (Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay). It also received nine nominations at the Critics Choice Awards, though it won none.

Other Oscar Nominations

Best Director (Martin McDonagh)

Best Actor (Colin Farrell)

Best Supporting Actor (Brendan Gleeson AND Barry Keoghan)

Best Supporting Actress (Kerry Condon)

Best Score

Best Original Screenplay

Best Film Editing

A Random Fun Fact for No Extra Charge

This is McDonagh, Farrell, and Gleeson's second collaboration as a trio, the first being 2008's In Bruges — which is also fantastic.

The Plot

I mean, TBH...it's all in the title. It's about Elvis. His life. HIs legacy. His rise. His fall. His hip thrusts felt around the world.

Cast and Crew

Directed by: Baz Luhrmann

Screenplay by: Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner

Starring: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Luke Bracey 

Notable Award Season Wins/Accolades

It was nominated for three Golden Globes, winning one for Best Actor. It also had seven nominations at the Critics Choice Awards, winning one for Best Hair and Makeup.

Other Oscar Nominations

Best Actor (Austin Butler)

Best Costume Design

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Best Sound

Best Cinematography

Best Film Editing

Best Production Design

A Random Fun Fact for No Extra Charge

With its eight Oscar nominations, Elvis became the second-most-nominated musical biopic at the Oscars after Amadeus (which had 11)!

The Plot

While being audited by the IRS for her taxes, a woman discovers she can access the multiverse — and that she may also be the only hope against a looming threat to every reality.

Cast and Crew

Directed by: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Screenplay by: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, and Jamie Lee Curtis

Notable Award Season Wins/Accolades

It was nominated for six Golden Globes and won two (Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor). It was also nominated for 14 Critics Choice Awards, winning five (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing).

Other Oscar Nominations

Best Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert)

Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh)

Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan)

Best Supporting Actress (Stephanie Hsu AND Jamie Lee Curtis)

Best Costume Design

Best Score

Best Original Song

Best Original Screenplay

Best Film Editing

A Random Fun Fact for No Extra Charge

As of right now, Everything Everywhere All at Once is A24's first film to cross the $100 million mark, surpassing Hereditary (2018) as its highest-grossing film.

The Plot

A coming-of-age story following a young aspiring filmmaker as he attempts to use the medium of moviemaking to better understand the chaos around him.

Cast and Crew

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Screenplay by: Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner

Starring: Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Judd Hirsch

Notable Award Season Wins/Accolades

It was nominated for five Golden Globes and won two (Best Motion Picture — Drama and Best Director). It was also nominated for 11 awards at the Critics Choice Awards, winning one (Best Young Actor/Actress).

Other Oscar Nominations

Best Director (Steven Spielberg)

Best Actress (Michelle Williams)

Best Supporting Actor (Judd Hirsch)

Best Score

Best Original Screenplay

Best Production Design

A Random Fun Fact for No Extra Charge

The film is loosely autobiographical, based on a screenplay Spielberg and his sister Amy wrote about their real lives back in 1999. However, worried that it might upset their parents, they shelved the project. Spielberg then revisited the idea in 2019 with Kushner while they were making West Side Story. 

The Plot

Following the rise and downfall of a fictional pianist, ethnomusicologist, and composer.

Cast and Crew

Directed by: Todd Field

Screenplay by: Todd Field

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, and Mark Strong

Notable Award Season Wins/Accolades

It was nominated for three Golden Globes and won one for Best Actress. It was also nominated for seven Critics Choice Awards, winning two (Best Actress and Best Score).

Other Oscar Nominations

Best Director (Todd Field)

Best Actress (Cate Blanchett)

Best Original Screenplay

Best Cinematography

Best Film Editing

A Random Fun Fact for No Extra Charge

This movie basically gave Martin Scorsese the will to live again.

The Plot

Maverick returns to coach a new group of recruits, including the son of his deceased best friend, to the Top Gun program for a dangerous mission.

Cast and Crew

Directed by: Joseph Kosinski

Screenplay by: Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, and Ed Harris

Notable Award Season Wins/Accolades

It was nominated for two Golden Globes, though it won none. It was also nominated for seven Critics Choice Awards, winning one for Best Cinematography. 

Other Oscar Nominations

Best Original Song

Best Adapted Screenplay

Best Visual Effects

Best Sound

Best Film Editing

A Random Fun Fact for No Extra Charge

The film grossed $1.489 billion worldwide, making it the top-grossing film of Cruise's entire career (which is truly wild when you think about it).

The Plot

This satirical black comedy follows a cruise ship for the mega-rich that sinks, leaving a group of survivors stranded on an island to fend for themselves.

Cast and Crew

Directed by: Ruben Östlund

Screenplay by: Ruben Östlund

Starring: Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Dolly de Leon, Zlatko Burić, Henrik Dorsin, Vicki Berlin, and Woody Harrelson

Notable Award Season Wins/Accolades

It won the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. It was also nominated for two Golden Globes, though it won neither. It was also nominated for Best Comedy at the Critics Choice Awards.

Other Oscar Nominations

Best Director (Ruben Östlund)

Best Original Screenplay

A Random Fun Fact for No Extra Charge

On top of winning the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, it also received an eight-minute standing ovation after its premiere at the festival.

The Plot

Based on a true story involving events that occurred at the Manitoba Colony in Bolivia, the film follows a group of religious women whose faith is shaken after reports of a series of sexual assaults within their small colony.

Cast and Crew

Directed by: Sarah Polley

Screenplay by: Sarah Polley

Starring: Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw, and Frances McDormand

Notable Award Season Wins/Accolades

It was nominated for two Golden Globes, though it won neither. It was also nominated for six awards at the Critics Choice Awards, winning one for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Other Oscar Nominations

Best Adapted Screenplay

A Random Fun Fact for No Extra Charge

Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir — who won Best Score in 2019 for Joker — created the score for both this film AND Tár, and thus has two reasons to celebrate!

Which Best Picture nominee is your favorite? Who do you think will take the award home? Share in the comments below! Oh, and you can check out all of the other nominations here!