The 2010s are coming to an end and so too is a decade of cinema that has produced some outstanding films. This decade has seen the MCU and Disney take over the world both financially and culturally, streaming services have a surge in popularity and the Oscars, well, just remained the Oscars.
The films that win Acadamy Awards, especially the Best Picture, are often seen as the best of the year, from a critical standpoint. A good authority on critical reception for a film is Rotten Tomatoes on which Best Picture winners usually have a good Tomatometer score. Here is every best picture winner of the 2010s ranked by their Rotten Tomatoes score.
Green Book - 78%
A film rife with controversy, Green Book is understandably, and by a relatively large margin, the lowest-ranked Best Picture winner of the decade on Rotten Tomatoes. It is the story of Dr. Don Shirley embarking through the deep south on tour, driven by Tony Lip.
The movie suffered a lot of criticism for poorly dealing with the issue of race and telling the story of an inspirational black musician through a white person’s point of view. When this won Best Picture, it was a headscratcher, far from the best film of the year and not even the best film that dealt with race of the year (see BlackKklansman and If Beale Street Could Talk). The performances are great though and if your mind is switched off to the exterior issues, it is a fun ride.
Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance) - 91%
Ambitious if not brilliant, Birdman is excellent technically, features a brilliant performance from Michael Keaton, as well as Edward Norton, and has a deep narrative. It follows an actor who is famous for portraying a superhero as he desperately tries to put together a Broadway play.
Birdman had excellent competition at the 2015 Oscars in Whiplash, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Selma, who all could have deserved the award. But with its technical brilliance, Birdman took the golden statue. It is perhaps not the most popular among audiences and maybe needs a second viewing to be more appreciated. However, in many aspects, the film is genius.
The Shape Of Water - 92%
Guillermo Del Toro’s phenomenal The Shape Of Water was the most nominated film at the 90th Academy Awards and earned those nominations. It tells a fantastical tale of a blooming romance between a mute cleaner and a water-based creature kept in captivity.
Perhaps in hindsight, a picture like Get Out, Lady Bird or even Dunkirk, should have won Best Picture. However, the visually beautiful and emotionally rich story, led by Sally Hawkins’ wonderful performance, and anchored by Del Toro’s fantastical direction, is a worthy winner, even if it may not be to everyone’s liking.
The Artist - 95%
A love letter to an era of cinema long past, The Artist is a beautiful, joyous film. It follows the interlinked fates of a young actress on the rise to stardom and a silent movie star whose career is going downhill in the dawn of the ’talkies'.
Moneyball may well have been the rightful winner in 2012, however, there is no denying The Artist’s fresh simplicity and its popularity among critics and those who have seen it. It is a crowd-pleaser that inspires pure happiness from its audiences and contains great visuals and solid performances.
12 Years A Slave - 95%
The true story based off of its protagonist’s memoirs, 12 Years A Slave is a fantastic film, deserving of its Oscar win. It follows citizen Solomon Northup as he is kidnapped and sold into slavery, changing owners and going through a gut-wrenching journey.
There were some great movies up for the Best Picture alongside this emotional flick, including Dallas Buyers Club and Wolf Of Wall Street, but 12 Years A Slave earns its praise and acclaim and then some. It is a movie which contains phenomenal performances. It is a difficult watch but perhaps a necessary one, and is one of the finest of the decade.
The King’s Speech - 95%
Further up the list than the two previous entries due to its audience score, The King’s Speech is a good film that absolutely should not have won Best Picture. It follows the new King, King George VI, as he attempts to overcome his speech impediment and lead his country when it needs him.
Anchored by an outstanding performance by Colin Firth, The King’s Speech is a stylish period piece drama that was always going to catch the attention of the Academy. However, The King’s Speech has been soured by its undeservedness, The Social Network, Inception and even The Fighter were more worthy winners. Nonetheless, it is a good film that hit with critics, evident by its Rotten Tomatoes score.
Argo - 96%
A brilliant, tense picture that earns its acclaim, Argo faced stiff competition on route to its Best Picture. It follows a covert mission to rescue six Americans being held captive in Tehran during the US hostage crisis in Iran.
It contains great acting and a tense, gripping narrative. It is oddly comical at points but still manages to grab the audience in its telling of true events, taking them into the mission in great detail. Argo is fully deserving of its Oscar and the praise that it has received from critics and audiences alike.
The Hurt Locker - 97%
The only film on this list that did not come out this decade, the 2010 Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker made history by earning Katherine Bigelow the well deserved Best Director Oscar, the first time a woman had won the award. It shows a bomb disposal unit in the Iraq war and the effect combat has on them, from the point of view of the soldiers themself.
It is a war epic and one of the best films relating to the Iraq war that there is. Acted to a high quality and shot as intensely as it is excellent, it’s a thrilling movie filled with suspense. It deserves its Oscar, while not a giant hit - which people may have been looking for following The Dark Knight failing to get even a nomination - the film is better than any that came out that year such as nominee Avatar which pales in comparison to Bigelow’s film.
Spotlight - 97%
Edging out the war epic due to its superior audience score, Spotlight is a grounded and fantastic film which again, deserved its win. It chronicles the ‘Spotlight’ team of the Boston Globe on their layered investigation into child molestation in the catholic church.
Spotlight is a masterpiece that builds slowly, resisting the urge to explode in emotion or drama, opting instead to let its somber plot, nuanced performances, and fantastic script do its job. It feels real, is authentic and treats the audience as its equal, allowing us to follow along with the disgusting topic that earned the real team a Pulitzer Prize. It faced tough competition from films such as The Big Short, Brooklyn, and more, but earned its golden statue, standing above the rest. Its Tomatometer score backs that point.
Moonlight - 98%
Undoubtedly the best Best Picture of the decade, La La Land… wait no Moonlight is a remarkable movie. It depicts three key points in Chiron Harris’ life as he attempts to find himself while he battles with his sexuality and a multitude of both joyous and painful experiences that define his life.
This film is brilliant in both its beauty and its story. Couple the fantastic performances with Barry Jenkins’ brilliant direction and the film is excellent on every level. It is raw and emotional with Muharshala Ali and all the actors portraying Chiron giving beautiful performances under Jenkins’ direction, which also uses color expertly. Moonlight is one of the best coming of age tales of a generation, if not the best, and was beloved by critics.
