15 worst films that ever won Oscars, ranked

Jacob Stolworthy runs through 15 of the awards show’s most ridiculous victors... and what should have won instead. Any belief that the Oscars award the right films, directors and performances has faded over the years. While every ceremony has a smattering of correct decisions – trophies handed to the right people for the right films – more often than not, the pervading feeling is one of pessimism caused by a deluge of undeserving recipients.

The Oscars are a far cry from what they claim to be – a celebration of the previous year’s cinematic offerings. But this does not stop people from trawling the internet the following morning in the hope that maybe, just maybe, the winners list impresses rather than disappoints.

With the 2025 ceremony taking place in March, we have highlighted 15 films that really should not have been awarded Oscars. 15. Slumdog Millionaire (2008). How many did it win: Eight. This might be a controversial one, but it’s sometimes good to hold your hands up and admit that a film is nowhere near as good as you recall. Sadly, Best picture winner Slumdog Millionaire is one of those. While the Danny Boyle film’s win no doubt put smiles on the faces of commuters reading the morning papers the next day, the shine wears off its success with every rewatch. The rightful winner – The Dark Knight – wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture, an omission that led to the Academy increasing the number of nominees in that category.

14. The Imitation Game (2014). How many did it win: One. There are many reasons why The Imitation Game is a bust. It plays at being a progressive film about “the father of theoretical computer science” Alan Turing, but the awful screenplay – which won! – has barely any interest in unpacking his queerness or social aloofness in any way that shows a smidgeon of nuance. The term “Oscar bait” gets bandied around incorrectly quite a lot, but it would be apt to describe The Imitation Game as a perfect example of being such. Its win for Adapted Screenplay, beating Inherent Vice and Whiplash, still feels like a prank.

13. Irma la Douce (1963). 12. Out of Africa (1985). How many did it win: Seven. Sydney Pollack’s Best Picture-winning drama – unsurprisingly – boasts decent performances from Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, but much of its 161-minute runtime remains interminable. This isn’t helped by its rather outdated romanticisation of colonialism, told through the eyes of Streep’s Karen. Quite simply, you can do without it. However, if you do decide to plough on, John Barry’s score and the beautiful scenery save it from being a complete waste of time. But it’s a far cry from being the best film of 1985. We’d have opted for Peter Weir’s moving Witness.

11. In Old Arizona (1928). It can be fun to pluck out a random Oscar-winning film you haven’t watched to see what all the fuss was about. Sometimes, you’ll finish the film and still be wondering. One such film is early victor In Old Arizona, which secured Warner Baxter a Best Actor win in the late 1920s. The performance is... fine, but the film surrounding it is monotonous and too reliant on uninspired dialogue. We’d recommend avoiding it.

10. Chariots of Fire (1981). How many did it win: Four. While Chariots of Fire is precisely the type of film the Academy likes to take under its wing, the fact it won was a big surprise on the night; everybody present expected Warren Beatty’s Reds to take home Best Picture. It was a far more worthy candidate. Frankly, Chariots of Fire is as musty a winner as they come – and worth watching only for the electrifying Vangelis score, which also took home a trophy.

9. Green Book (2018). How many did it win: Three. To those who don’t care about awards ceremonies, Green Book is a crowd pleaser that boasts decent performances from Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali. To everyone else, it’s the damp squib that somehow came out of nowhere to snatch Best Picture from under Roma’s nose.

8. How the West Was Won (1962). Making an Oscar win for How the West Was Won even more ridiculous is the fact that, should you go by Academy Award count, this would position it as one of the best Westerns of all time. It doesn’t even touch the top 10 of its three directors, Henry Hathaway, John Ford and George Marshall. The colourful epic might be a technical marvel (it won for Sound and Editing and somehow Original Screenplay) but it’s also a turgid slog and a far cry from the genre’s classics.

7. The Iron Lady (2011). How many did it win: Two. Meryl Streep has won enough Oscars for the world to know she’s one of the finest actors who’ll ever live. Her win for The Iron Lady, though, was one Oscar too many. Although Viola Davis has since spoken out against the film she was nominated for that year – The Help – hers was easily the better performance. In an ideal world, biopic performances would have their own category. It would certainly mean that more interesting performances could win Academy Awards.