Will Sinners be another great horror film snubbed at award season? Probably.

Horror films have long been a proving ground for bold storytelling, innovative filmmaking, and raw emotional impact. In recent years, the genre has experienced a renaissance, delivering critically acclaimed works that push boundaries and resonate with audiences. Films like Sinners (2025), Midsommar (2019), The Witch (2015), Barbarian (2022), and Talk to Me (2023) have redefined horror, blending psychological depth, social commentary, and visceral terror. Yet, despite this surge in quality, major awards shows like the Oscars, Golden Globes, and BAFTAs continue to overlook horror, relegating it to a cinematic ghetto unworthy of serious recognition. This article explores the reasons behind this persistent snub, examining the genre’s stigma, the biases of awards voters, the exceptional horror films of recent years, and the rare exceptions that highlight the industry’s double standards. It delves into why horror’s excellence is ignored and what this reveals about the cultural gatekeeping of prestige.

TALK TO ME

The Horror Renaissance: A Golden Age Ignored

The past decade has birthed a horror renaissance, driven by filmmakers who elevate the genre beyond jump scares and gore. Ari Aster’s Hereditary stunned audiences with its harrowing portrayal of grief, earning a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score and praise for Toni Collette’s gut-wrenching performance. Midsommar followed, a daylight nightmare exploring toxic relationships, lauded for Florence Pugh’s raw vulnerability. Robert Eggers’ The Witch wove Puritan dread into a feminist fable, while Zach Cregger’s Barbarian shocked with its narrative twists and social critique of urban decay. The Australian hit Talk to Me, directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, tackled addiction and trauma through demonic possession, grossing $92 million on a $4.5 million budget. These films, often from A24 or indie studios, combine auteur vision with commercial success, proving horror’s artistic and financial viability.

Critics have embraced this wave. A 2023 Variety article called 2010s horror “a new golden age,” citing films like Get Out (2017) and Us (2019) for their incisive commentary on race. X posts from 2025 reflect fan enthusiasm, with users hailing Longlegs (2024) for Nicolas Cage’s unhinged performance and Smile 2 (2024) for its psychological depth. Yet, awards shows remain stubbornly dismissive. The 2024 Oscars ignored Barbarian and Nope, despite their critical acclaim (93% and 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively). Talk to Me was snubbed at the 2024 BAFTAs, even as it dominated Australian film awards. This pattern—critical love, awards neglect—underscores a deep-seated bias against horror.

MIDSOMMAR

The Stigma of Horror: A “Low” Genre

Horror’s awards snub stems from a century-old stigma branding it as lowbrow. Since the 1930s, when Universal’s monster movies were seen as populist thrills, horror has been stereotyped as cheap, exploitative, and lacking artistic merit. A 2021 Film Stories study noted that horror films are rarely nominated for major Oscars, with only six Best Picture nominees in history: The Exorcist (1973), Jaws (1975), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Get Out (2017), A Quiet Place (2018), and Parasite (2019). Only The Silence of the Lambs won, a film often debated as a thriller, not horror, to justify its prestige.

This stigma persists in awards voters’ biases. Academy members, predominantly older and conservative in taste, favor dramas, biopics, or epics that signal “seriousness.” Horror’s visceral elements—gore, screams, monsters—clash with this aesthetic, even when used to explore grief (Hereditary), misogyny (Midsommar), or systemic injustice (Get Out). A 2023 Reddit thread argued that voters dismiss horror as “juvenile,” citing the 2019 Oscars’ snub of Hereditary despite Collette’s performance rivaling Best Actress winner Olivia Colman. The genre’s fanbase, often younger and diverse, is disconnected from the Academy’s elite, widening the gap.

PEARL

Exceptional Performances Overlooked

Horror thrives on powerhouse performances, yet its actors are routinely ignored. Toni Collette’s unraveling in Hereditary was called “one of the greatest performances of the decade” by Vulture, yet she was snubbed for a 2019 Oscar nomination. Florence Pugh’s anguished portrayal in Midsommar earned a Golden Globe nod for drama, but horror’s stigma likely cost her a win. Lupita Nyong’o’s dual role in Us, switching between warmth and menace, was hailed by The New Yorker as “Oscar-worthy,” yet she was overlooked in 2020. In 2024, Mia Goth’s unhinged turn in MaXXXine and Sophie Wilde’s raw intensity in Talk to Me were ignored by major awards, despite critical buzz.

Male actors fare no better. Nicolas Cage’s chilling performance in Longlegs (2024), blending camp and terror, was a fan favorite on X, yet it failed to crack Oscar shortlists. Ethan Hawke’s sinister pastor in The Black Phone (2022) was another snub, despite his career-best work. These oversights reflect a bias that horror performances, often heightened or physical, are less “serious” than restrained dramatic roles. A 2022 IndieWire article noted that horror actors must “transcend the genre” to be noticed, a hurdle rarely faced by drama stars.

Technical Excellence Dismissed

Horror’s technical achievements—cinematography, sound design, editing—are equally sidelined. The Witch’s stark visuals, shot in natural light, earned praise from Cinematographer magazine, yet it was ignored for a 2016 Oscar. Hereditary’s sound design, with its eerie clicks and whispers, was snubbed in 2019, as was Midsommar’s vibrant yet unsettling palette. Nope’s innovative IMAX cinematography, capturing UFOs in daylight, was a 2023 Oscars omission, despite technical nominations for Top Gun: Maverick. Even Get Out’s chilling score by Michael Abels was overlooked in 2018, though it won Best Original Screenplay.

This neglect stems from a perception that horror’s craft serves shock, not art. Yet, films like Talk to Me use tight editing to amplify dread, while Barbarian’s audacious cuts create narrative whiplash. A 2024 Screen Daily piece argued that horror’s technical innovation—often on modest budgets—outshines bloated blockbusters, yet awards voters prioritize scale over ingenuity. The Academy’s genre bias is evident in its rare technical nods, like Jaws’ sound win in 1976, which came only because it transcended horror into “event cinema.”

SMILE

Rare Exceptions and Double Standards

When horror does break through, it’s often framed as an exception, not the rule. The Silence of the Lambs swept the 1992 Oscars, but its thriller label helped it dodge horror’s stigma. Get Out’s 2018 Best Original Screenplay win was a milestone, yet Jordan Peele had to pitch it as a “social thriller” to gain traction, per a 2017 Variety interview. Parasite (2019), another genre-blender, won Best Picture, but its social satire overshadowed its horror elements. These wins required horror to “elevate” itself, a standard rarely applied to dramas or comedies.

Even exceptions reveal bias. Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor for Joker (2020), a psychological horror film, but it was marketed as a character study to appeal to voters. Meanwhile, Mia Goth’s similar intensity in Pearl (2022) was ignored, suggesting a gender gap in horror recognition. A 2023 X post noted that horror films need “prestige co-signs” (e.g., A24’s arthouse cred) to be considered, a hurdle indies like Smile (2022) can’t clear despite $217 million box office.

Nope

Cultural Gatekeeping and the Future

The snub of horror reflects cultural gatekeeping, where awards shows uphold a hierarchy valuing “high” art over genre. Horror’s accessibility—its appeal to mass audiences—works against it, as elitist voters favor niche dramas. A 2021 Journal of Cinema and Media Studies article argued that the Academy’s bias preserves a white, male, upper-class worldview, marginalizing genres like horror that often amplify diverse voices (e.g., Peele’s Black-led Us). Horror’s younger, more inclusive fanbase, active on X and Reddit, clashes with the Academy’s older demographic, per a 2024 membership report showing 81% of voters are over 50.

Change is slow but possible. The Academy’s diversification efforts, adding younger and minority voters, could shift tastes. Peele’s influence as a producer on Nope and Monkey Man (2024) elevates horror’s profile. Fan campaigns on X, like those for Goth in 2025, pressure awards bodies. Satellite awards, like the Saturns, honor horror, suggesting mainstream shows could follow. But until voters shed their biases, horror’s excellence—Collette’s screams, Eggers’ visuals, Peele’s satire—will remain unjustly ignored, a testament to the industry’s failure to embrace one of cinema’s most vital genre

Final Verdict: Horror Isn’t the Problem—The System Is

Sinners might be the next horror film to blow audiences away and get ghosted come award season. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less vital.

In fact, the constant dismissal of horror reveals more about the industry than it does about the genre. Horror isn’t broken—it’s thriving. It’s the tastemakers who need to evolve.

Because until they recognize that horror is where some of the most daring, innovative, and emotionally resonant storytelling lives, they’ll keep missing the mark.

And horror fans? We’ll keep screaming—not just in fear, but in protest.