30. Yuck! (Best Animated Short)

Admit it, when you were younger, you considered kissing and any displays of affection gross and swore you’d never follow down that path once you reached adulthood. Such is the argument with Yuck!, a colorfully animated French film about a group of kids on vacation who encounter too many grown-ups smooching, which manifests as a glowing pink aura. The trouble is that one of the kids protests too much, and once he gets too curious about what it may actually feel like, he starts to acquire that same aura. Not every animated short needs to deal with heavy subject matter, and Yuck! is a harmless, if ultimately forgettable, experience.

29. In the Shadow of the Cypress (Best Animated Short)

Perhaps the best animated film of the bunch, In the Shadow of the Cypress tells a deeply felt story of mental health and how trauma is passed down the generations. The film tells the story of a lonely man and (presumably) his daughter, as they live a solitary existence near the ocean. One day, a whale washes up on shore and, though the man knows he must save it, he finds himself unable to do anything. Any film that can communicate such complex ideas without dialogue is a winner in my book, and the lush animation and character designs makes In the Shadow of the Cypress an enjoyable short film.

28. I’m Not a Robot (Best Live Action Short)

At the very least, I’m Not a Robot provides a good reminder that the Oscar-nominated short films are allowed to be funny and not overly dramatic or heavy. In the film, a simple Captcha flub – where a woman has to prove she’s a real human – causes her to go into an existential vortex until she discovers that, yes, she is actually a robot. The film ends a little abruptly and, as is often the case with the Live Action Short category, feels like an audition for a feature-length adaptation, but based on what we do get of I’m Not a Robot, I’d happily watch more.

27. The Girl with the Needle (Best International Feature)

If The Girl With the Needle was not based on a true story, I’d dock it points for being too unbelievably bleak. Unfortunately, the true tale of one of Denmark’s most notorious serial killers is at least partially ripped from the headlines. Regardless, the film is stunningly shot in black and white, and the period-specific details of post-WWI life in Copenhagen add a considerable heft. Not every film needs to be a ray of sunshine in order to be enjoyable, but viewers should steel themselves with The Girl With The Needle if they plan on going in blind.

26. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Best Animated Feature)

Some people have a genetic alteration which makes cilantro takes like soap. For me, the phenomenon applies to Aardman Animation films (with the exception of Chicken Run) and, unfortunately, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is the latest example. Of course, the film is wonderfully animated, packed with hilarious jokes and gags, plus a timely message on our overreliance on technology as a hindrance to our humanity. All of this puts the film at the top tier of 2024’s animated films, even when I can’t find myself to love it.

25. September 5 (Best Original Screenplay)

As an informative, you-are-there examination of the Munich Olympics terror situation, September 5 is a taut period thriller. As pre-text for how today’s TV journalists value the scoop over the humans at the center of the story, the film is occasionally too heavy-handed. John Magaro, Peter Sarsgaard, Leonie Benesch, and more play varied, effective pieces of an ensemble puzzle as the team navigates the rapidly unfolding hostage situation against their journalistic ethics. The film may play better if you’re somehow less familiar with the real-life story, but September 5 remains an effective exercise in tension.

24. Better Man (Best Visual Effects)

How much better is the musical biopic formula when its protagonist is portrayed by a CGI monkey? In the case of Better Man, it turns out that it’s loads better than its competitors. Yes, the story beats that we’ve come to expect from the litany of films in the genre covering Robbie Williams’s life are all there, but the small tweak to the formula brings an unexpected bit of chaos. Sure, the central metaphor of Williams’s self-perception doesn’t dig as deep as it probably should, but at least there are a few genuinely fun sequences thrown in thanks to director Michael Gracey.

23. Sugarcane (Best Documentary Feature)

Sugarcane presents an unsettling accounting of a community still grappling with the pain of abuse, and its wide-ranging consequences. Without talking heads or much expository text, the film follows a handful of Native American survivors, and survivors’ descendants, subjected to the abuses of the Catholic church within the schools they were forced to settle into. Much like Killers of the Flower Moon, the documentary takes an unflinching look at the cruelty of White people and how they can so easily betray the Natives’ trust. Righteously angry but never overly saccharine, Sugarcane is essential history.

22. Death By Numbers (Best Documentary Short)

As America becomes more and more numb to the news of school shootings, it’s the survivors who often suffer the most. Death by Numbers follows a survivor of the Parkland, Florida school shooting as she recounts the innumerable ways that the events of that day have traumatized her in the years since. What could be a downer of a short film becomes something hopeful, as those affected not only find justice but a way forward, difficult as it may be.

21. I Am Ready, Warden (Best Documentary Short)

Never underestimate American institutions’ abilities to seek out the most cruel methods possible to punish its most vulnerable people. In I Am Ready, Warden, the state of Texas finds ways to send a convicted murder to death row, in spite of his years of reform and the pleas of those who have come to know him. Part true crime dissection, and part eulogy for a man’s final days, director Smriti Mundhra deserves credit for getting unfettered access to those most closely affected by the tragedies on both sides. The film may not break new ground, but I Am Ready, Warden hits its emotional beats hard.