The Academy Award for Best Pictureis the highest honor that the industry can give to a film, as it is intended to represent the best representation of what the medium is capable of in any given year. Although some Best Picture winners have been challenging arthouse projects that push the medium forward, many are rather serviceable crowd pleasers that don’t have a particularly strong shelf life. If it weren’t for their Best Picture victories, it is unlikely that audiences would remember films likeCrash, The King’s Speech, The Artist,orCODA.
However,the Oscars have occasionally handed the Best Picture award to darker filmsthat deal with more ambiguous themes. Although the Oscars rarely entertain the possibility of nominating genre films,several great war films, dark dramas, and psychological thrillers have won the top prize. Here are the ten darkest Oscar Best Picture winners, ranked.
10‘Midnight Cowboy’ (1969)
Directed by John Schlesinger
Midnight Cowboywas by far one of the most explicit films to ever earn the Best Picture award, as to date it is the only winner to have earned an “X” rating from the MPAA before the rating was replaced with the equally controversial NC-17 grade in 1990. While the depiction of prostitution and homosexual sex may not seem as much of a big deal today as it was in 1969, the ability to push past censorship parameters was a major step forwardwithin the development of the “New Hollywood” era.
Midnight Cowboytook a very bleak look at life as a modern working-class citizen, and showed how the power of economic institutions made it challenging to make a living with any rewards. It couldn’t have been more striking of a difference compared to the traditional musicals, epics, and romantic comedies that had won Best Picture in previous years.
Midnight Cowboy
A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
Watch on The Criterion Channel
9‘All Quiet On The Western Front’ (1930)
Directed by Lewis Milestone
All Quiet On The Western Frontis one of the most powerful war films ever made, and it’s even more surprising that directorLewis Milestonewas able tocreate such a dark projectduring an era where Hollywood censorship was still at its peak. By examining the plight of the young soldiers that fought in trench warfare in World War I,All Quiet On The Western Frontshowed that in war, it is always the innocent people who want no part in a political feud that end up suffering the majority of the consequences.
All Quiet On The Western Frontcaptured the bleak nature of the original source material, particularly the ending that concludes the film on such a dour note. Although a German-language remake was released to great acclaim in 2022, the originalAll Quiet On The Western Frontis one of the most subversive war films to ever win Best Picture.
All Quiet on the Western Front
A German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
Watch on Tubi
8‘On The Waterfront’ (1954)
Directed by Elia Kazan
On the Waterfrontis aclassic of Hollywood’s golden agethat featured one of the most heartbreaking performances ofMarlon Brando’s career. Brando starred as a former boxing heavyweight champion who torpedoed his career in order to pay off his debts to the mob; it’s a reflective, melancholy film about living a life based around regret.
On the Waterfrontdirector Elia Kazan was successful in bringing a greater sense of authenticity to the film; having directed both the stage and screen adaptations ofA Streetcar Named Desire, Kazan was able to bring out a greater sense of naturalism in his performances. The film’s themes about the plight of the informer to appease a corrupt body of authorities also had political significance in an era in which Hollywood figures were being targeted as potential Communist sympathizers as part of the “Red Scare.”
On The Waterfront
An ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate’s victims.
Rent on Amazon
7‘Unforgiven’ (1992)
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Unforgivenis unlike any other Western that Clint Eastwood ever made,as he starred as a remorseless killerwho has no shot at redemption. The character of William Munny knows that he will have to live with the mistakes he’s made for the rest of his life, but is brought out of retirement in order to take down the corrupt sheriff known as “Little Bill” (Gene Hackman), who is responsible for allowing his men to brutalize local prostitutes.
Unforgivenwas an non-glamorized look at the Western genrethat showed how brutal life was during America’s frontier era. It’s also easily one of the most violent films to take home top prize; a shocking sequence in which Munny takes vengeance on Bill’s men for executing his friend Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) is shocking in just how depraved Eastwood was able to make the material.
Unforgiven
Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The “Schofield Kid.”
6‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)
Directed by Jonathan Demme
The Silence of the Lambsis the only horror film to win Best Picture, which makes sense considering that it is often cited asone of the best in the genre’s recent history.The brilliance ofThe Silence of the Lambsis that it is a taught, suspenseful thriller that shows the cat-and-mouse game between Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) and Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Sir Anthony Hopkins) as they attempt to manipulate one another.
However,the moments in whichThe Silence of the Lambsbreak out into violence are truly shocking, with Lecter’s prison escape scene easily ranking among the most graphic cinematic serial killer moments ever. The film is also notable by ending on a somewhat ambiguous note that confirms Lecter’s survival, allowing the franchise to move forward with the sequelHannibaland the prequelRed Dragon,in which Hopkins reprised his role.
Silence of the Lambs
Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI’s training academy. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.
Watch on AMC+
5‘The Godfather’ (1972)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
The Godfatheris cited as one of the greatest films ever madeby many film scholars because it transformed the gangster genre into a more accessible story aboutthe relationship between fathers and sons.The greatest tragedy at the heart ofThe Godfatheris that while Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) desperately wants to become a better person than his father, he is unable to shake Vito’s (Marlon Brando) influence and eventually steps into his shoes as the head of the mafia family.
The Godfatheralso includes some shocking moments of violence, with the execution of Sonny (James Caan) and the discovery of a severed horse head ranking among the film’s most grotesque scenes. However, it was the ability that directorFrancis Ford Coppolahad to get audiences emotionally invested in a family of criminals that madeThe Godfatherso challenging on a psychological level.
The Godfather
Don Vito Corleone, head of a mafia family, decides to hand over his empire to his youngest son, Michael. However, his decision unintentionally puts the lives of his loved ones in grave danger.
Watch on Paramount Plus
4‘The Godfather: Part II’ (1974)
The Godfather: Part IIis one of the greatest sequels ever madebecause it managed to get bigger and darker than its predecessor. By showing the continuing exploits of Michael as he tries to make his family business legitimate, as well as a series of flashbacks showing a young Vito (Robert De Niro) immigrating to New York City from Sicily,The Godfather: Part IIpaints a very dark portrayal ofwhat the “American dream” looks like.
The Godfather: Part IIis perhaps an even more cynical film than its predecessor, as it ends by concluding that Michael is incapable of saving himself from becoming his father. Perhaps more disturbing is the assertion that this cycle of power and violence is doomed to continue forever, as the film set up an even more upsetting conclusion with the controversial threequelThe Godfather: Part III.
The Godfather: Part II
Michael Corleone expands his crime empire while dealing with personal betrayal and loss. Simultaneously, flashbacks reveal the rise of his father, Vito Corleone, from a Sicilian immigrant to a powerful mob boss in New York. The narrative intertwines their stories, exploring themes of power, family, and the consequences of ambition.
3‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Schindler’s Listis a film that should be necessary viewing for everyone, regardless of whether or not they are a cinephile. While there have been many films thathave examined the horrors of World War II,Steven Spielberg’s 1993 masterpiece was unafraid to examine the totality of the Holocaust in explicit detail.
The story of how the German businessman Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) used his power to save the lives of thousands of Jewish workers is an inspiring one, butSchindler’s Listdoes not shy away from the showing the absolute barbarity of the Holocaust, with extended sequences of murder, torture, and sexual assault that are challenging to watch. While it is easily the darkest film that Spielberg has ever made,Schindler’s Listis required viewing to ensure that a significant tragedy on this scale never happens again.
Schindler’s List (1995)
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
2‘12 Years a Slave’ (2013)
Directed by Steven McQueen
12 Years a Slaveisbased on a horrific true storyof the musician Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who was kidnapped by white bounty hunters and forced to spend over a decade enslaved to the cruel plantation owner Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender) and his wife (Sarah Paulson). Unlike other depictions of slavery,Steven McQueen’s 2013 masterpiece does not shy away from depicting the psychological torture, physical abuse, and sexual assault that slaves went through in explicit detail.
It would have been disrespectful for12 Years a Slaveto not be as dark as possible,especially considering that Hollywood has not done a great job at reflecting upon the legacy that slavery still has. While it would be hard to find a historical epic about this era that is more educational than12 Years a Slave, it’s also a film so disturbing in its realism that it is very challenging for anyone to sit through.
12 Years a Slave
In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
1‘The Deer Hunter’ (1978)
Directed by Michael Cimino
The Deer Hunterproved to be one of themost haunting films ever made about the Vietnam Warbecause it showed how the scars of battle loom much larger in veteran’s lives than just their physical wounds. Although the footage of the actual combat waged overseas is just as shocking as anything else thatMichael Ciminohas directed,The Deer Hunterbecomes particularly heartbreaking when it delves into the lasting ramifications of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Most upsetting in the film is Christopher Walken’s performance as a haunted veteranwho dies by suicide, a role that earned him the Best Supporting Actor prize. While Hollywood has often been accused of making “political” picks with its award season winners,The Deer Hunterwas a necessary counterargument to the propaganda that sought to look past the shocking truths about what actually happened in Vietnam.
The Deer Hunter
An in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.
