Emilia Pérez Just Set A New Oscar Record For Best Picture Nominees

Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perezis indisputably one of 2024’s most polarizing and divisive projects - but that hasn’t prevented it from being an unstoppable force throughout this year’s awards season. The film navigates the complex relationship between the leader of the Mexican drug cartel and the American family she leaves behind to undergo a secret transgender surgery. It’s a very bold and audacious musical that many audiences have taken issue with, but many experts still consider Emilia Perez to be the frontrunner for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars ceremony.

Unsurprisingly, there’s a huge disparity between Emilia Perez’s reputation among industry critics and general audiences who caught the film on Netflix. This disagreement has been one of the biggest talking points of this year’s awards season, but the film has now officially broken a record that proves just how strong the negative reactions are. The film is not only the worst of this year’s Best Picture nominees, but it’s also been voted as the worst ever.

Emilia Perez Has A Score Of Just 2.4 On Letterboxd

That's The Lowest Of Any Best Picture Nominee

With a Letterboxd score of just 2.4 (out of five), Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez has officially become the lowest-rated Best Picture nominee in the history of the Academy Awards. With over 600 films nominated in this category, the fact that such a recent release has made its way so quickly to the bottom of the list is both surprising and seriously damaging for its prospects at this year’s ceremony. The disparity between Emilia Perez’s popularity and its critical reviews is one of the most confounding aspects of this year’s awards season, and this broken record just makes things worse.

Best Picture Nominee	Letterboxd Score
Dune: Part Two	4.4
I'm Still Here	4.4
Nickel Boys	4.2
The Brutalist	4.1
Anora	4.0
Conclave	3.9
Wicked	3.9
The Substance	3.8
A Complete Unknown	3.6
Emilia Perez	2.4

There’s a very clear difference between how general audiences are embracing this movie and how critics have rejected it, and it’s difficult to explain why. The movie has come under serious fire for its problematic treatment of racial issues, transgender stories, and criminal stereotypes - but it’s still one of the frontrunners to win Best Picture at the Oscars. In a year when critical darlings like Nickel Boys, The Brutalist, and The Substance also made the Best Picture lineup, it’s hard to understand why such a divisive movie is still leading the charge.

Despite The Reviews, Emilia Perez Could Still Win Best Picture

There's No Clear Frontrunner For Best Picture

And yet, Emilia Perez could still be firmly on the path to winning Best Picture at the ceremony in March. It received a phenomenal count of 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress, and several more. This equals the number of nominations received by last year’s Best Picture winner Oppenheimer, and it’s three more than Everything Everywhere All At Once in 2023.

In a year when there’s no clear frontrunner for Best Picture, the chances of Emilia Perez sneaking past the competition are extremely high. Its acclaimed performances, original songs, and industry popularity could prove enough to push it to victory, in which case it would also become Letterboxd’s lowest-rated Best Picture winner.