The Oscars should be about celebrating groundbreaking films – so why has Brad Pitt’s unremarkable F1 movie been nominated?

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For decades, the phrase “Oscar-bait” has been used whenever it’s time for awards season to begin.

The term originally described movies clearly made to win awards, often without much concern for how well they’d be remembered later. These films were usually predictable historical dramas or feel-good stories about unlikely heroes, characterized by competent but uninspired direction and scripts that relied heavily on familiar tropes.

They were feel-good movies that entertained audiences, but didn’t really offer anything new or groundbreaking in cinema.

For a long time, certain types of movies – big, sweeping epics and traditional dramas – were almost expected to be nominated for Oscars. But lately, that’s been changing. These kinds of films haven’t been showing up as much in the Best Picture nominations, even though the selection process isn’t perfect. The Academy seems to be favoring films made by distinctive directors, international movies, and even genres that were previously ignored, like horror – the huge success of ‘Sinners’ in this year’s nominations is a perfect example of this shift.

Reflecting these shifts, this year’s best picture nominees feature many well-deserved contenders, such as Joachim Trier’s deeply emotional family drama and Paul Thomas Anderson’s captivating and brilliant film.

And then, there’s F1.

Many critics are confused about why this racing movie made the list, and for good reason – it’s hard to see how a fairly average blockbuster deserves to be considered among the best films of 2025.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski (known for Top Gun: Maverick) and starring Brad Pitt, the film was made with the full cooperation of Formula One racing. This is obvious throughout – it feels more like an extended advertisement intended to boost the sport’s popularity than a truly impressive movie. It almost certainly contains more product placements than any other film ever nominated for an Academy Award.

Although dismissing F1 entirely isn’t quite right – the racing sequences are visually strong, and its nominations for editing and sound are reasonable – it feels strange to celebrate it as one of the year’s best films when its story is so predictable. This is especially true considering that several bolder and more compelling films, like Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee, Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love, and Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, didn’t receive any recognition at all.

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We initially gave the film a 3-star review, before its summer release, and found it lacking in substance. We noted that Brad Pitt’s character, Sonny, felt shallow and predictable. Unfortunately, the finished film largely lives up to that initial impression – it’s a visually polished but ultimately empty experience. It feels more like a cleverly made advertisement than a serious movie, and would be better suited for an advertising award than an Oscar.

Awards season is always a bit of a lighthearted affair, despite how much attention it gets. Really, it’s mostly an opportunity for people in Hollywood to celebrate and pat themselves on the back, though occasionally deserving films do get recognized. Getting overly concerned about who’s nominated or snubbed seems pointless – a good movie is good, regardless of how many awards it receives, and your opinion of it shouldn’t depend on that.

Even so, it’s worth paying attention to these shifts, and Formula One’s potential inclusion might signal a new trend in Oscar nominations: choosing popular, widely-liked films. With concerns that the Oscars are losing relevance and viewership is declining, there appears to be a recent effort to include at least one big commercial hit each year alongside more artistic films. I’d suggest last year’s nomination of Wicked fits into this same pattern, even though it might upset some dedicated fans.

As a movie lover, I’m starting to think we might need to adjust our expectations for the Oscars. It feels like we’re going to see more and more big box office hits nominated for Best Picture, even if they aren’t necessarily the most innovative or artistically daring films. It’s a little disheartening, because it often means truly groundbreaking movies get overlooked.

Authors

Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona writes about film for TopMob, covering new releases in theaters and on streaming platforms. He’s been with the site since October 2019, and during that time has interviewed many famous actors and reviewed a wide variety of films.

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2026-01-22 21:09