The 5 Best Picture Oscar Winners Of The 2020s, Ranked Worst To Best

Cover image by Ana Nieves. | The 2020s have seen some incredibly tight competition at the Oscars , but there has been variation in the years when there was an obvious Best Picture winner and an incredibly close call. Going into the most recent Oscars ceremony, there may have still been some debate left, but at some point in the evening it became clear that Anora would sweep and win Best Picture. This was similarly the case with the two Best Picture winners before it, which won in several major categories before going home with the top prize.

The early 2020s perhaps saw more disappointing and controversial wins, and the industry coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic likely affected this. The biggest surprises and snubs of the 2025 Oscars cannot compare to some of the shocking turns in recent years. On the other hand, all these movies were driven by their performances, as there is a definitive link between the Best Picture winner and the acting categories. However, each Best Picture winner in the past five years has offered something different in terms of the evolution of cinema, impacting which stories are told and how.