What Oscar films can I show my parents? The “rise” of Oscar bait and the conservative awards tug-of-war

I was raised in a film-loving family. My parents aren’t anywhere near as obsessed with the technicalities and industry gossip as I am, but they enjoy a good film and our family bonding time has often been screen based. From a young age, my Dad instilled in me a love of movies, walking me down the road to the video rental store for “Cheap Tuesday” prices. Every time we moved, my checklist of things to establish always included: Find the local video store.

As such, I really relish being able to share movies with my parents and see them engage with cinema and film in a different way to me but with a similar sense of connection and interest. However, there’s certainly no shortage of films that I either can’t or don’t choose to recommend to my parents for a wide variety of reasons. These are often films that I watch independently and through a detached lens of analysis, focusing more on the films presentation than its themes. 

There are plenty of movies that I watch that I don’t agree with the messaging of, but I don’t allow that to necessarily detract from the films genuine technical qualities. A great film is a great film, even if I don’t agree with what it’s conveying thematically. 

But when it comes to watching something with my parents, I’ll aim to pick something I know they’ll agree with thematically because that’s the angle they approach films from. When they choose individually what they’re going to watch to relax, they’ll scan the shelf or select on whichever streaming service they’re perusing something that appeals to them narratively. 

They aren’t interested in cinematic technicalities or insider gossip about what film is better than another. They just want to watch a movie they’ll enjoy. And so, with that in mind, I try to walk that line between endearing them towards Awards fare, with a focus on the films that they’ll likely enjoy. 

Thankfully, a bulk of any years awards offerings are dubbed “Oscar bait” and its these such categorised films that tend to have the broadest appeal. Most years are a mix of these more broad, conservative films amidst more challenging, confronting or subversive fair.

There’s an argument to be made that this struggle between boundary pushing films and conservative films has always existed, but for some it feels like it’s only in recent years that the rise of independent, irreverent films has occurred. 

I firmly sit in the former camp because as I look at the Oscar decades of years past, I see plenty of provocative, ground breaking nominees that are just as niche now as they were then. Films like Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy and Apocalypse Now aren’t easy watches by any stretch of the imagination compared to easier going fare like Driving Miss Daisy, Around the World in 80 Days and The King’s Speech. 

More recently this tension between conservative and provocative has been ever growing as the Academy have pendulumed from avant-garde choices like Birdman to Spotlight to Moonlight and The Shape of Water to Green Book to Parasite... 

Each of those films have their merits but it’s films like Green Book and Parasite especially that reflect this ongoing tug-of-war. Green Book is a textbook Oscar bait drama that was palatable, accessible, digestible, conservative with mass appeal. Parasite on the other hand is a foreign language thriller that’s confronting, provocative, disturbing and niche. 

I’ve found that my Dad is far more open to niche films, whilst my Mum enjoys a smaller range of Oscar nominees. However whilst my Dad watched Parasite, when ranking it against 2019s other nominees it ranked considerably lower than my rank (where it was first). Both Mum and Dad play into the stereotypical demographic audiences for the Oscar nominees. Dad likes classic Oscar “Dad movies” like ‘Ford v Ferrari’, ‘Bridge of Spies’ and ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ whilst Mum loves ‘The Help’, ‘Hidden Figures’ and ‘Lion’ etc. 

Films containing large amounts of sexual content, violence, language, “auterishness” (I.e. high concept sci-fi, offbeat humour etc) are less likely to be my parents cup of tea, nor the cup of tea of many likeminded people. A safe rule of thumb is that anything PG or M is likely to be a good option and of all the Oscar lineups of the last decade, 2011 and 2016 were probably the most commercially accessible set of nominees I’ve seen to the point that I think my Dad had seen every nominee bar Moonlight before the 2016 awards ceremony.

And so, every year has those handful of “Oscar bait” films and those are the ones I show my parents first, followed by the other more niche nominees. Of the last decade, these are the safest Oscar films I’d recommend showing your parents if you want them to be informed to the last few years of awards fodder. 

2010

The King’s Speech

Toy Story 3

True Grit

2011

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

The Artist 

The Help

War Horse

2012

Argo

Les Misérables 

Life of Pi

Lincoln

2013

Captain Phillips

Philomena

2014 

American Sniper

Selma

The Imitation Game

The Theory of Everything 

2015

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Spotlight 

The Martian

2016

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Hidden Figures

La La Land

Lion 

2017

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

The Post

2018

A Star is Born

Green Book

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody 

2019

1917

Ford v Ferrari

Little Women

In terms of this years awards race, whilst Oscar nominations are yet to drop, the films currently jostling to make the lineup are on brand with past years. A mix of Oscar bait and auteur. Films like The Trial of the Chicago 7 and News of the World are likely to be solid accessible options, whilst smaller films like Nomadland and Minari could be feasible, albeit less conventional than the stereotypical Oscar bait. Films like Promising Young Woman, Mank and Sound of Metal are likely too provocative, niche, abrasive or insular for mainstream audiences whilst Judas and the Black Messiah, One Night in Miami and Da 5 Bloods are all strong films, but may be too weighty in their themes for broad appeal. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Father are also more niche with their stagey roots. Soul is an exception here, as both a richly unique and auteur endeavour that thanks to being an animated offering from PIXAR is widely accessible, friendly and approachable.

Overall, every person is different and some parents are going to be super open to watching anything you show them. But demographic stereotypes exist for a reason, because the bulk of the people in a demographic tend to enjoy similar content. That’s why there are movies made and aimed at Dads, Mums, Teens and Kids. Movies are made for people as entertainment, by people as outlets of art, to people as presentations of truths and about people to connect them. 

Happy watching!