Well, it’s that time of year again – by which, of course, I mean the time for us to share our entirely unsolicited opinions about the Oscars and awards season at large with our would-be award winners here at No But Listen. As usual, we’ll be taking a look at some of the categories we feel at least vaguely qualified to comment on, despite all evidence to the contrary, and we’re always keen to hear your personal favourites and standouts of the year in the comments below. With that said, prepare your overlong speeches, prepare the fake tears, and let’s jump in to the alternative Oscar nominations for 2026!
Best Picture
Bring Her Back
No Other Choice
Weapons
Dangerous Animals
28 Years Later
The Ugly Stepsister
Winner: No Other Choice
I truly think 2026 was a great year in film in many ways, and especially a brilliant one for horror, both franchised and new – from the thoughtful, meditative zombie thriller of 28 Years Later to the small-town horror masterpiece of Weapons. But, with that said, the movie this year that brought me the most pure cinematic joy was No Other Choice, a magnificently confident blend of comedy, thriller, horror, drama, and pretty much every overlap in between. When it came to the top spot, despite some significant competition, you could say that we had no other…well, I shan’t say it.
Best Director
Park Chan-wook
Stuart Oritz
Phillipou Brothers
Sean Byrne
Emilie Blitchfeld
Winner: Park Chan-wook
It is completely unfair on every other director on the planet when Park Chan-wook releases a new film. Any other year the debut of Emile Blitchfeld’s The Ugly Stepsister, or the long-overdue return of Sean Byrne with his Hitchcockian shark thriller, Dangerous Animals, or the Philipou Brother’s perfecting their own brand of terror with Bring Her Back would be fighting for top spot. Instead, it’s not even close. It is actually ridiculous the quality and consistency of the South Korean master’s filmography that, as his shutout at the Oscars shows, we have come to expect it. No Other Choice shows once again that Park Chan-wook deserves to be talked about in the same breath as cinematic greats like Scorsese, Almodóvar, and Bergman. And that we’ll be banging on about him here at No But Listen for as long as you all keep reading.
Best Actress
Son Ye-Jin – No Other Choice
Sally Hawkins – Bring Her Back
Lea Myren – The Ugly Stepsister
Sophie Thatcher – Companion
Kotone Furuwaka – Best Wishes to All
Winner: Sally Hawkins
Much of this years choices for our Best Actress showcase women in trapped in impossible situations. Sophie Thatcher is a new lifeform fighting for her sort-of life, Kotone Furuwaka is faced with an awful choice that she must make for her family, Lea Myren is carried along by her mother’s plan to sell her off, and the bodily changes (NOT THE WORMS, DON’T MAKE ME THINK ABOUT THE WORMS) that are supposed to ensure her victory. But Sally Hawkins is the one in Bring Her Back who controls everything. She expertly uses her façade as a small and delicate middle-aged woman, as well as tapping into our own screen memories of her as Paddington’s Mum, to terrorise everyone in the film to get what she wants. This is the best performance of 2025, full stop.
Best Actor
Lee Byun-Hun – No Other Choice
Jai Courtney – Dangerous Animals
Harry Melling – Pillion
Alfie Williams – 28 Years Later
David Jonsson – The Long Walk
Winner: Lee Byun-Hun
What makes this such a standout performance in a career full of them for Byun-hun is how hard he is playing against type – in his filmography that’s made it out of South Korea and into the West, at least, he’s known for playing smooth, commanding, competent leading men with a penchant for polished action. So to see him go so against that in this oft-bungling and desperate paper company layoff is downright brilliant – he peels back the layers of the character expertly across the film’s sprawling runtime and brings it home in a third act that’s as compelling as it is horrid. Part horror villain, part goofy dad, every inch the fascinating protagonist.
Best Supporting Actress
Ella Newton – Dangerous Animals
Yeom Hye-ran – No Other Choice
Ane Dahl Torp – The Ugly Stepsister
Lesley Sharpe – Pillion
Jodie Comer – 28 Years Later
Winner: Ella Newton
Now, this is how you do it. This is how you create sympathy and fear for a character that contributes to the dread of the rest of the film. Ella Newton is perfect as, well, just a wee soul, the perfect victim for Sean Byrne to give teeth to his villain and the sharks (that because seeing both Jaws and Deep Blue Sea at a young age I’m pant-shitingly scared of) that he utilises in his sick game. The other actresses on this list are fantastic, they add flavour, depth, and theme to their stories but none are as important to their film’s success than Ella Newton in Dangerous Animals.
Best Supporting Actor
Lee Sung-Min – No Other Choice
Ralphe Fiennes – 28 Years Later
Charlie Plummer – The Long Walk
Alexander Skarsgard – Pillion
Alden Ehrenreich – Weapons
Winner: Ralph Fiennes
Maybe I’m biased because of his recent and fantastic return to the character in The Bone Temple, but Ralph Fiennes as Ian Kerson in 28 Years Later is one of the most beautifully human characters to come out of cinema in the last few years. Fiennes imbues him with a depth, softness, and humanity that belies the darkness of the setting and his initial character introduction. Even up against Charlie Plummer’s raw nerve in The Long Walk or Alexander Skargard’s mysterious leather dom in Pillion, there’s something about Fiennes’ performance here that I can’t stop coming back to, and there’s no way he wasn’t taking this for me.
Anyway, those are our favourites of this year, but we’d love to hear yours in the comments below – what individual efforts on or behind the camera did you think deserved more recognition?
(header image via Filmink)
No But Listen 