The Oscars are upon us. The entire season leads up to this night. Hollywood's finest gather to celebrate the best in cinema. And just like any big event, there are always snubs and surprises. While the Academy Awards always do their best to honour the best films, actors, and filmmakers, it's impossible to please everyone.
This year was no exception, as some extraordinary films were left out of the nominations. In light of these lapses by the Academy, we have compiled a Dream Oscar Ballot of films that should have been nominated, and even won, at this year's ceremony. These are the films that left us spellbound, that made us laugh and cry, and that we believe truly deserve recognition.
But before you dive into the ‘Should Have Beens’, here are the ‘Could Be's’ from the Oscar 2023 with our Oscar Predictions:
Here is our Oscar Dream Ballot of ranked winners and nominees:
Best Make-up and Hairstyling
- All Quiet on the Western Front (WINNER)
- The Whale
- The Northman
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Babylon
Best Costume Design
- Babylon (WINNER)
- Everything Everywhere All at Once
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Prey
- The Batman
Best Visual Effects
- Everything Everywhere All At Once (WINNER)
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Nope
- The Batman
Best Production Design
- Babylon (WINNER)
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- The Fabelmans
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Prey
Best Sound
- All Quiet on the Western Front (WINNER)
- Nope
- Top Gun: Maverick
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- TAR
Best Film Editing
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (WINNER)
- Babylon
- Athena
- Top Gun: Maverick
- Aftersun
Best Cinematography
- Athena (WINNER)
- EO
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Aftersun
- Empire of Light
Best Original Score
- All Quiet on the Western Front (WINNER)
- Babylon
- Nope
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- The Quiet Girl
Best Original Song
- Naatu Naatu - RRR (WINNER)
- This Is A Life - Everything Everywhere All At Once
- Fearless Hero - Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
- Con La Brisa - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Carolina - Where The Crawdads Sing
Best International Feature
- Close (Belgium) (WINNER)
- EO (Poland)
- Joyland (Pakistan)
- The Quiet Girl (Ireland)
- All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)
Best Documentary Feature
- Navalny (WINNER)
- All That Breathes
- All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
- Fire of Love
- The Territory
Best Animated Feature
- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (WINNER)
- Jujutsu Kaisen: 0
- Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
- Apollo 10&½: A Space Age Childhood
- Inu-Oh
Best Adapted Screenplay
- The Quiet Girl (WINNER)
- She Said
- Women Talking
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Living
Best Original Screenplay
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (WINNER)
- Close
- The Banshees of Inisherin
- TAR
- Nope
Best Director
- Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert - Everything Everywhere All at Once (WINNER)
- Charlotte Wells - Aftersun
- Damien Chazelle - Babylon
- Romain Gavras - Athena
- Todd Field - TAR
Best Supporting Actor
- Ke Huy Quan - Everything Everywhere All at Once (WINNER)
- Barry Keoghan - The Banshees of Inisherin
- Brian Tyree Henry - Causeway
- Ben Whishaw - Women Talking
- Paul Dano - The Fabelmans
Best Supporting Actress
- Keke Palmer - Nope (WINNER)
- Angela Bassett - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Kerry Condon - The Banshees of Inisherin
- Stephanie Hsu - Everything Everywhere All at Once
- Dolly De Leon - Triangle of Sadness
Best Actor
- Paul Mescal - Aftersun (WINNER)
- Colin Farrell - The Banshees of Inisherin
- Jeremy Pope - The Inspection
- Diego Calva - Babylon
- Felix Kammerer - All Quiet On The Western Front
Best Actress
- Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All at Once (WINNER)
- Cate Blanchett - TAR
- Danielle Deadwyler - Till
- Zahra Amir Ebrahimi - Holy Spider
- Frankie Corio - Aftersun
Best Picture
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (WINNER)
- Babylon
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- The Banshees of Inisherin
- Aftersun
- Close
- The Quiet Girl
- Athena
- TAR
- Nope