‘F1’s Best Picture Controversy – Does Brad Pitt’s Sports Flick Deserve a Nomination? – TopLineDaily.Com

The 98th Academy Awards have been announced, and easily the biggest shock of the nominees was F1 being among the ten Best Picture nominees. This wasn’t entirely surprising, given rumblings that the Brad Pitt-led Formula One film had become a favorite among older Academy voters. Yet its name being announced in place of films like It Was Just an Accident, No Other Choice, and Sorry, Baby certainly made its inclusion more jarring.

Directed by Top Gun: Maverick‘s Joseph Kosinski, F1 stars Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, and Javier Bardem. It became a surprise hit at the box office, grossing $613 million worldwide, becoming Brad Pitt’s highest-grossing movie, and a much-needed win for Apple Films. While it might have been perceived as a potential Oscar contender before it opened, any awards momentum seemed to slow after its release, and everyone was content with it being just a fun summer blockbuster. Now it has entered the Best Picture race at full speed. But should F1 be nominated?

‘F1’ Should Not Be Nominated for Best Picture

Apple/Warner Bros.

Let’s get this right out of the way. F1 is not a bad movie. This is not an Emilia Perez situation where an actually bad movie somehow managed to get nominated for Best Picture. F1 is a perfectly good movie. It was a fun, thrilling summer blockbuster whose paint-by-numbers script was elevated by excellent race scenes and a charismatic cast. But is that enough to be a Best Picture?

This isn’t like Top Gun: Maverick, which was both an incredible action film that worked as a technical marvel and had an emotionally resonant, character-centric story that landed with audiences. F1 was a hit, but it also felt a bit like reheated Top Gun: Maverick leftovers. That same feeling of “been there, done that” seems to have hurt Avatar: Fire and Ash, as it was the first Avatar film not to be nominated for Best Picture. However, F1 was immune.

It is also hard not to see what F1 was nominated over. It Was Just an Accident, the winner of the Palme d’Or, was snubbed for a Best Picture nomination over F1. This makes It Was Just an Accident the first Palme d’Or winner since Titane in 2021 not to be nominated for Best Picture. Sorry, Baby, the critically acclaimed film that MovieWeb named the Best A24 film of 2025, was completely shut out, as the story of a woman learning to live her life following a sexual assault that masterfully balances tone was overlooked in favor of a movie about two men trying to prove themselves as the best in their profession. Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, one of the best movies of 2025, was also overlooked.

F1 being considered Best Picture worthy would be as shocking as Superman or The Fantastic Four: First Steps being nominated. Those two would actually be less absurd given that, on average, they received better reviews than F1. If it is so absurd to think of Superman or The Fantastic Four: First Steps as Best Picture nominees, why is F1 any different? Well, it comes down to perception, as F1 is considered a “real” movie. Or at least reminds voters of what an Oscar movie should be.

‘F1’ Shows How Oscar Bait Has Changed

Damson Idris as Joshua Pearce and Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes in F1

As movies like The Shape of Water, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Anora have challenged the idea of what an Oscar-winning film can be, F1 represents how Oscar bait has changed. F1 is tailor-made to check off the nostalgia centers of older Academy voters. It features a classic movie star like Brad Pitt, and follows a similar model to Ford vs. Ferrari or the Oscar-winning Rocky. F1 is an old-school blockbuster, one without superheroes or CGI worlds like Avatar: Fire and Ash.

F1 has a real “they don’t make them like they used to” vibe that seems to have taken Academy voters by storm. It’s cinematic comfort food, which absolutely has its place, but there were better cinematic comfort movies from 2025. There were also just better movies overall. F1’s nomination shows that one can always count on the Academy Awards, even in a year overflowing with great movies that deserve recognition, to have notable snubs and a shocking Best Picture nomination for F1.