Oscars 2019: The biggest snubs and why you should watch them

The 2019 Oscars arrived amid real turbulence. Kevin Hart stepped away from hosting after backlash, the Academy trimmed several categories from the live broadcast, and only two of the five nominated songs received airtime. Viewers tuned in expecting chaos, yet the evening still delivered familiar frustrations when Green Book took Best Picture over Roma. The show reinforced long-standing complaints about how the Academy rewards spectacle and sentiment over craft and risk. Film Daily revisits the most glaring oversights and why those films still merit attention.

Roma for Best Picture

Roma earned three Oscars that night: Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Foreign Language Film. Alfonso Cuarón became the first filmmaker to win both directing and cinematography for the same project. The black-and-white portrait of domestic life in 1970s Mexico City also marked the first time a Mexican film claimed the foreign-language prize. Despite those victories, the Best Picture loss to Green Book continues to appear on retrospective lists of the Academy’s most questionable decisions. The film’s precise sound design, controlled performances, and unsparing realism still reward repeat viewings for anyone interested in how personal history can translate into wide-screen storytelling.

Netflix's Awards Breakthrough

Roma secured ten nominations for Netflix, the first time the streamer reached that level of recognition. Three wins followed, including the foreign-language category. Industry observers noted the campaign helped shift studio attitudes toward streaming titles, even as traditional gatekeepers still resisted giving the top prize to a non-theatrical release. The effort proved Netflix could mount a serious awards push, and the company has since expanded its original-film slate with similar ambition.

Glenn Close for Best Actress

Glenn Close arrived at the 2019 ceremony with seven prior nominations and a widely praised turn in The Wife. At 71, she delivered a tightly controlled portrait of a woman who had spent decades shaping her husband’s literary reputation while erasing her own. Olivia Colman won for The Favourite, and the loss stood out as one of the night’s bigger surprises. Close later added an eighth nomination before the Academy announced an honorary Oscar in 2026. Her performance in The Wife remains a clear example of how restraint can reveal decades of accumulated compromise.

Glenn Close's Record and Honorary Recognition

Close’s competitive record spans eight nominations across five decades without a win. The honorary Oscar acknowledges that sustained body of work and the range she has shown from broad comedy to quiet domestic drama. Industry coverage framed the award as long overdue, yet it also highlighted how the Academy’s competitive categories often reward flashier showcases over the kind of internalized performances Close has specialized in. Viewers revisiting The Wife can still trace the precise choices that made her 2019 bid feel inevitable at the time.

Yalitza Aparicio's Lasting Influence

Yalitza Aparicio became the first Indigenous Mexican actress nominated for Best Actress for her work as the domestic worker Cleo. The performance drew attention for its grounded physicality and emotional directness. Since 2019 she has continued acting in projects that foreground Indigenous perspectives, including The Great Seduction in 2023 and The Long Haul in 2026. Aparicio has spoken publicly about using her platform to increase visibility for Indigenous stories on screen, turning a single nomination into an ongoing career focused on representation rather than prestige alone.

Mary Queen of Scots

Mary Queen of Scots earned nominations for Makeup & Hairstyling and Costume Design. Jenny Shircore led the hair and makeup team, while Alexandra Byrne handled the costumes. Both crafts captured the visual language of rival courts without tipping into pageantry for its own sake. The film did not win either category, yet the work later appeared in Academy Museum displays that trace how historical epics use fabric and silhouette to signal political tension. Audiences interested in the intersection of design and narrative can still examine those choices on their own terms.

Costume and Makeup Craft in Historical Epics

Period films often receive craft recognition only when they lean into overt spectacle. Mary Queen of Scots took a quieter approach, using restricted palettes and layered textures to underscore isolation and rivalry. Byrne’s costumes traveled to museum exhibitions that place them alongside earlier Oscar-recognized designs, allowing visitors to compare how different eras approach the same historical figures. The nominations, even without wins, kept the conversation about craft visibility alive for films that balance drama and historical detail.

The 2019 ceremony ultimately confirmed several patterns that have persisted. Films with modest budgets or streaming origins still face resistance in the top categories, while performances built on restraint can be overlooked in favor of broader strokes. Roma, Close’s work in The Wife, and the craft contributions to Mary Queen of Scots each illustrate what the Academy sometimes sidelines. Revisiting them offers a clearer picture of what the Oscars chose to celebrate and what they chose to set aside.