By the numbers

The Academy's Best Picture was also the year's best-reviewed film just 15 of 98 times (15%). The other 83 were snubs.

Perfect calls

Years the winner was also the year's best-reviewed film.

1972The Godfather90.261993Schindler's List88.41974The Godfather Part II88.392003The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King88.281975One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest85.071991The Silence of the Lambs84.85

The best Best Pictures

Highest-scoring winners.

1972The Godfather90.261993Schindler's List88.41974The Godfather Part II88.392003The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King88.281994Forrest Gump86.811975One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest85.071991The Silence of the Lambs84.852019Parasite84.64

Biggest snubs

How far the should-have-won outscored the Academy's pick.

1931City Lights+23.391936Modern Times+20.21963The Great Escape+18.871952Singin' in the Rain+18.071958Vertigo+17.761933King Kong+16.681998Life Is Beautiful+15.432002The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers+15.431944Double Indemnity+15.21966The Good, the Bad and the Ugly+14.87

Weakest winners

Lowest-scoring Best Pictures.

1929The Broadway Melody57.41933Cavalcade58.861931Cimarron59.161963Tom Jones61.121936The Great Ziegfeld62.811952The Greatest Show on Earth63.191958Gigi63.21937The Life of Emile Zola65.02

Agreement by decade

Gold bar = share of years the winner topped the ratings. −n = avg points the winner trailed the year's best (smaller = closer).

1920s0/2−11.7
1930s3/10−8.1
1940s1/10−7.3
1950s0/10−8.7
1960s0/10−7.1
1970s6/10−2.3
1980s0/10−8
1990s2/10−4.8
2000s2/10−4.9
2010s1/10−5.9
2020s0/6−5.4

Most-snubbed directors

Most "should have won" verdicts.

Christopher Nolan5×
Alfred Hitchcock4×
Sergio Leone4×
Charlie Chaplin3×
Stanley Kubrick3×
Francis Ford Coppola3×
Quentin Tarantino3×
Peter Jackson3×

The floor

Lowest-rated films ever to clear the qualifier bar.

1983Jaws 3-D3.81983Staying Alive4.82009The Twilight Saga: New Moon4.81967Casino Royale52011The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 15