10 Best Films of 2018 Not Nominated for Best Picture

The 2019 Academy Awards boast a couple excellent films in the Best Picture category, plus one groundbreaking film, one flawed but deeply important film, one perennial golden child, and three films ranging from middling to abominable. But, expanding our scope beyond these strange bedfellows of quality, 2018 was actually a pretty good year for film. Any “Best of 2018” list would surely feature Roma and The Favourite, but here are ten other films that were overlooked by the Academy but should not be overlooked by any true cinephiles.

10. Sorry to Bother You, dir. Boots Riley

Sorry to Bother You is the consensus pick of the year, both fun and smart, able to please mainstream and indie crowds alike. Lakeith Stanfield has so far shown his acting chops in every genre of film — drama (Short Term 12), comedy (Atlanta), horror (Get Out) — and Boots Riley’s debut feature allows him to bring all those skills together in one place. Sorry to Bother You has a cinematic language that borrows from so many places it’s nearly limitless. For a first time director that can be a lot to juggle, and there are a few instances where the balance gets a little unwieldy (as in Tessa…