Winning the Academy Award for Best Picture is considered one of the highest honors a film can receive. But not every winner enjoys the same legacy. Some Oscar champions quickly fade from public conversation, while others continue to shape cinema years (or even decades) after their victories. In these cases, the very best Best Picture winners don’t just simply reflect what the Academy valued in a particular moment—they become enduring classics that audiences revisit, filmmakers admire, and critics continue to celebrate.
And since the turn of the millennium, the Academy has recognized an impressively diverse collection of films, from intimate character studies and sprawling fantasy epics to daring satires and genre-defying blockbusters. So, while debates over Oscar winners will never disappear, it’s hard to ignore how these six films have earned something even more valuable than awards-season acclaim: lasting cultural impact.
6
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (2022)
Evelyn Wang with a googly eye on her forehead strikes a pose as paper whirl around herImage via A24
Overwhelmed laundromat owner Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) is struggling with tax audits, family tensions, and a failing marriage when she discovers the existence of the multiverse. And when she’s suddenly recruited by a parallel version of her husband (Ke Huy Quan), Evelyn is tasked to access the skills of her other selves to stop a mysterious force threatening every universe—even as this pushes her to confront her fractured relationship with her daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu).
On paper, Everything Everywhere All at Once sounds almost impossibly ambitious, yet The Daniels somehow transform its multiversal insanity into one of the most emotionally grounded films of the 21st century. Indeed, beneath the outrageous action, absurd humor, and dazzling genre-hopping lies a profoundly moving story about generational trauma and regret. Yeoh gives the performance of her career, while Quan’s quietly heartfelt turn became one of the film’s greatest surprises (alongside Hsu’s brilliantly cartoonish whimsy). Its Best Picture win felt like a celebration of originality itself, reminding everyone that bold and deeply personal filmmaking can still resonate with audiences even when on a massive scale.
5
‘Birdman’ (2014)
Riggan (Michael Keaton) walking down the street with his famous character, Birdman, flying behind him in ‘Birdman’Image via Searchlight Pictures
Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), a faded Hollywood actor once famous for playing the superhero Birdman, attempts to reinvent himself by writing, directing, and starring in a serious Broadway play. But as opening night approaches, mounting production problems, difficult relationships, and his own fragile mental state blur the line between reality and fantasy, leaving Riggan increasingly consumed by the pressure to prove he still matters.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu‘s Birdmanis an exhilarating balancing act between biting satire and intimate character study. For one, the film’s famous illusion of a single continuous take creates relentless momentum, pulling viewers into Riggan’s spiraling psyche while also reflecting the nonstop chaos unfolding backstage. Keaton’s inspired casting adds another fascinating layer, turning the film into a sly commentary on celebrity, artistic ambition, and the legacy of superhero fame. Visually audacious and emotionally rich—no wonder Birdman is one of the Academy’s boldest Best Picture Winners of the last two decades.
4
‘Oppenheimer’ (2023)
J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) puts on his hat as he walks down a hallway surrounded by photographers.Image via Universal Pictures
Christopher Nolan‘s historical epic chronicles the life of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), following his rise from brilliant theoretical scientist to director of the Manhattan Project during World War II. In this tale, as the race to build the world’s first atomic bomb intensifies, Oppenheimer wrestles with immense scientific responsibility, political pressure, and the devastating consequences of creating a weapon capable of horrific mass destruction.
Rather than presenting a straightforward biopic, Nolan crafts a gripping psychological thriller about power, morality, and legacy. Unsurprisingly, Murphy delivers a mesmerizing performance, portraying Oppenheimer as both an intellectual visionary and a deeply conflicted man who’s haunted by his own achievements. The film’s disjointed structure, breathtaking practical filmmaking, stellar ensemble cast, and eerie score by Ludwig Göransson manage to elevate every scene, culminating in an ending that’s as bleak as it is intellectually provocative.
Collider Exclusive · Oscar Best Picture Quiz Which Oscar Best Picture Is Your Perfect Movie? Parasite · Everything Everywhere · Oppenheimer · Birdman · No Country
Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be — and what it can do to you. One of them is the film that was made for the way your mind works. Ten questions will figure out which one.
🪜Parasite
🌀Everything Everywhere
☢️Oppenheimer
🐦Birdman
🪙No Country for Old Men
01
What kind of film experience do you actually want? The best movies don’t just entertain — they leave something behind.
02
Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What’s yours?
03
How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means.
04
What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you?
05
What do you want from a film’s ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like?
06
Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything — mood, stakes, what’s even possible.
07
What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature — a technical or artistic element that makes it unmistakable.
08
What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you choose to follow says something about you.
09
How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint; others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately.
10
What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want?
The Academy Has Decided Your Perfect Film Is…
Your answers have pointed to one Oscar Best Picture winner above all others. This is the film that was made for the way your mind works.
Parasite
You are drawn to films that operate on multiple levels simultaneously — that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another. Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is a film about class, desire, and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful, and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that hides its true intentions until the moment it’s ready to reveal them. Parasite is exactly that — a film that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
You want it all — and this film gives you all of it. The Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse sci-fi, family drama, existential crisis, and a genuinely earned emotional core that sneaks up on you amid the chaos. You are someone who responds to ambition, who doesn’t want cinema to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful. This film refuses that choice entirely. It is overwhelming by design, and its overwhelming nature is precisely the point — because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what it’s about.
Oppenheimer
You are drawn to cinema on a grand scale — films that understand history not as a backdrop but as a force, and that place their characters inside that force and watch what happens. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a film about the terrifying gap between what we can do and what we should do, told with the full weight of one of the most consequential moments in human history behind it. You want your films to feel important without feeling self-important — to earn their ambition through sheer craft and the gravity of their subject. Oppenheimer does exactly that. It is enormous, complicated, and refuses easy comfort.
Birdman
You are drawn to films that foreground their own construction — that make the how of the filmmaking part of the what it’s about. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, shot to appear as a single continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor’s ego. You respond to formal daring, to the feeling that a film is doing something that probably shouldn’t be possible. Michael Keaton’s performance and Emmanuel Lubezki’s restless camera create something genuinely unlike anything else — a film that is simultaneously about creativity, relevance, self-destruction, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing if your work means anything at all.
No Country for Old Men
You are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, that refuses to explain itself, and that treats dread as a form of meaning. The Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men is a film about the arrival of a new kind of evil — implacable, arbitrary, and utterly indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of the world. It is one of the most formally controlled films ever made, and its controlled restraint is what makes it so terrifying. You want your films to haunt you, not comfort you. You are not interested in resolution if resolution would be dishonest. No Country for Old Men is honest in a way that most cinema never dares to be.
3
‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007)
Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh looking ahead while walking down a hall in No Country For Old Men.Image via Miramax Films
After stumbling across the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong, Vietnam veteran Llewlyn Moss (Josh Brolin) discovers a suitcase filled with millions of dollars and decides to take it for himself. Unfortunately, his decision triggers a relentless pursuit by chilling hitman, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). Meanwhile, aging Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) desperately tries to stop the bloodshed while grappling with a world that no longer makes sense to him.
The Coen Brothers brilliantly subvert expectation by refusing to deliver the satisfying resolutions typical of crime thrillers. Instead, No Country for Old Men becomes a mediation on fate, violence, and the limits of human control. Bardem’s Oscar-winning performance as Chigurh is unforgettable, cementing himself as one of cinema’s most terrifying villains. And yet, much of the film’s emotional weight seemingly rests with Jones’ weary sheriff, whose growing disillusionment gives the story great philosophical depth. It’s a haunting masterpiece that grows richer (and more unsettling) with every viewing.
2
‘Parasite’ (2019)
Image via NEON
The struggling Kim family survive by taking on odd jobs until an opportunity arises to work for the wealthy Park family. One by one, the Kims cleverly infiltrate the Parks’ household by posing as unrelated professionals, quickly jumping to enjoy their newfound prosperity—all while carefully hiding their deception. Sadly, their elaborate scheme begins to unravel when unexpected secrets hidden within the luxurious home threaten to destroy both families.
Masterfully blending social satire, suspense, and tragedy, Bong Joon Ho‘s Parasiteis a film that constantly reinvents itself without ever losing focus. Every twist feels both shocking and somehow inevitable, building towards one of the most unforgettable finales in modern cinema. Frankly, it’s a stellar examination of class inequality and ambition, highlighting the true depths of its devastation. And by becoming the first non-English film to win Best Picture, Parasite didn’t just make Oscar history: it demonstrated the need to transcend the one-inch barrier of subtitles.
1
‘Lord of the Rings: Return of the King’ (2003)
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, 2003, (c) New Line/courtesy Everett CollectionImage via New Line Cinema
As Sauron’s forces launch their final assault on Middle Earth, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) prepares to claim his destiny as King and lead the armies of men against overwhelming odds at Minas Tirith. Meanwhile, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) make their final, perilous journey toward Mount Doom, where the fate of the One Ring—and the future of Middle Earth—will ultimately be decided.
Few Best Picture winners have felt as monumental as The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. For one, Peter Jackson‘s epic serves as the breathtaking conclusion to one of cinema’s greatest trilogies, delivering spectacular battles, deeply emotional character payoffs, and a remarkably satisfying ending that rewards every hour audiences invested in the journey. Better still, beneath its enormous scale lies a surprisingly intimate story about friendship, sacrifice, hope, and perseverance. Sweeping all 11 of its Oscar nominations, the film remains not only one of the greatest fantasy movies ever made, but also one of the Academy’s most deserved Best Picture wins.
