Oscar Snubs and Surprises 2023: Tom Cruise and Viola Davis Are Out, Paul Mescal and Ana de Armas Are In

The 2023 Oscar nominations are here, and it wouldn’t be the Oscar nominations if there weren’t a bunch of people on Twitter getting really mad at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The nominations for the 95th annual Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday morning, hosted by Riz Ahmed & Allison Williams, which you can watch on the Oscars YouTube page. Eligible films for the 2023 Oscars include titles released from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, and had to have at least a 7-day qualifying run in theaters in a major U.S. city during that time.

The 2022 movie year marked a return to theaters for Hollywood, with box office hits like Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar Way of Water, after two years of streaming supremacy thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. But streaming services didn’t just go away. Netflix came through with nominations for All Quiet on the Western Front, Blonde, RRR, and more.

But again, it wouldn’t be the Oscars if people weren’t unhappy. Read on for a breakdown of the 2023 Oscar snubs and surprises, and find the list of 2023 Oscar nominations here.

OSCAR SNUBS 2023:

Viola Davis for The Woman King: While there were a few well-deserved surprises in the nominations for Best Actress, there were also some harsh snubs, and the biggest oversight has to be Viola Davis for The Woman King. Most assumed the Academy Award-winner was a shoo-in for a nomination—but apparently not! In fact, The Woman King was overlooked entirely. Boo hiss.

Danielle Deadwyler for Till: This one in particular hurts. All the experts were predicting a banner awards year for Danielle Deadwyler, thanks to her performance as Emmett Till’s mother in this civil rights drama. We can only imagine what a letdown it was for Deadwyler not to see her name on the nomination list this morning.

Tom Cruise for Top Gun: Maverick: Tom Cruise has been flying high in Hollywood this year since the rousing financial and critical success of Top Gun: Maverick, which got plenty of nominations in other categories. But the Academy overlooked Cruise himself for Best Actor. Maybe after Will Smith’s slap last year, the Academy wasn’t feeling so friendly toward Scientologists.

Charlotte Wells for Aftersun: There are too many egregious oversights in the all-male nominees for Best Director to count, but one of them has to be Charlotte Wells for her deeply personal feature film debut, Aftersun. She didn’t create that breathtaking “Paul Mescal dancing to Queen” scene for this!

Sarah Polley for Women Talking: Thank god Women Talking managed to pull off the Best Picture nomination, but would have killed the Academy to name a single woman for Best Director? Really?

Jessie Buckley and Claire Foy for Women Talking: One last gripe on the Women Talking front—if you saw the movie, you know that at least one of those performances deserved a nomination. Either would have made me happy!

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio for Best Song: Listen, I don’t know about you, but “Ciao Papa” has become the adorable soundtrack to my life these days. Where was the love for that little puppet?

Spirited for Best Song: Hugh Jackman got his wish—that catchy “Good Afternoon” tune from the Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell Christmas movie didn’t manage to snag a nomination.

Descendant for Best Documentary Feature: If you haven’t seen this compelling Netflix documentary about the discovery of the last slave ship in America, add it to your watchlist ASAP. It definitely deserved a nomination.

OSCAR SURPRISES 2023:

Andrea Riseborough for To Leslie: Shout-out to Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchette, who pushed a last-minute Oscar campaign for Andrea Riseborough’s little-known drama about an alcoholic, To Leslie, and actually managed to get Riseborough the Best Actress nomination. What an underdog story!

Brian Tyree Henry for Causeway: This was a pleasant surprise for this Apple TV+ drama starring Jennifer Lawrence—Atlanta star Brian Tyree Henry nabbed a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Well-deserved!

Stephanie Hsu for Everything Everywhere All At Once: While Jamie Lee Curtis was all but guaranteed to get the Best Supporting Actress nomination, the fate of her talented co-star, Stephanie Hsu, was less sure. But thankfully, the Academy came through, and you could hear the screams of support for Hsu when her name was announced.

Ana de Armas for Blonde: For a while it seemed Netflix’s controversial Marilyn Monroe biopic would be shut out of the 2023 Oscars entirely, but Ana de Armas was honored with a Best Actress nomination for her heartbreaking portrayal of this troubled star.

Paul Mescal for Aftersun: While I’m bummed Charlotte Wells didn’t get the recognition she deserved, at least Mescal snagged a surprise Best Actor nomination for his performance in Aftersun. At least someone is being awarded for that “Under Pressure” scene!

The Sea Beast: An unexpected but certainly not unwelcome nomination was the nod to Netflix’s The Sea Beast for Best Animated Feature. It really was beautifully animated!

The Oscars will air on ABC on March 12, 2023, at 8 p.m. ET.