Jack Wagner, Editor

The Oscar nominations for this year’s awards are out, and with them comes speculation and even a new record. “Sinners,” directed by Ryan Coogler, received 16 nominations, more than any other film in Academy Awards history. However, the recognition this film is receiving raises another question: as a horror film — a genre historically dismissed by the academy — how likely is it to win?

Horror movies have long been found almost exclusively in the technical categories of the awards. While Friedric March did win Best Actor for his starring role in 1932’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (jointly with Wallace Berry in “The Champ”), no horror film received a nomination for anything other than effects, cinematography or sound design until “Psycho” in 1960 – and no horror film won anything until “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” received an Oscar for best costume design in 1962. Horror movies have not had an Oscar drought that long; however, they are still frequently less popular with the Academy.

In the 96 years the Oscars have been running, only seven horror movies have ever been nominated for Best Picture: “The Exorcist” (1973), “Jaws” (1975), “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), “The Sixth Sense” (1999), “Black Swan” (2010), “Get Out” (2017), “The Substance” (2024), and now “Sinners” (2025). The Silence of the Lambs is the only one of these nominees to win as of now.

Saying these films only lost due to their genre would be unfair to their competitors, as they were up against stiff competition. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” the film that beat “Jaws” for Best Picture at the 1976 Oscars, is listed at #20 of the American Film Institute’s 100 greatest American Films of all time, for example. But, it is true that horror movies are rarely nominated for the biggest awards and are commonly snubbed.

Coogler is aware of the unpopular nature of the horror genre with the Academy, and did not expect as much recognition as “Sinners” received.

 “I did not have any expectations when it came to the recognition of what [the team] did,” Coogler said in a panel hosted by Deadline. “For me, people just showing up to the movies and having a good time, that would’ve been enough.”

He also said that the record-breaking number of nominations and the attention he saw the people who worked on the movie receiving was very rewarding.

Michael B. Jordan, who starred in “Sinners” as twin brothers Smoke and Stack and received his first-ever best Actor nomination for his performance, also spoke about how he felt. 

“I’ve been in this industry for a long time. I’ve admired and seen the Academy and the other actors in the movies and filmmakers that I’ve looked up to and been inspired by my whole life,” Jordan said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “To be in those conversations and in that company is a solidifying feeling.”

Jordan also expressed his support for his co-stars Wunmi Mosaku and Delroy Lundo, who received nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor, respectively.

However many Oscars “Sinners” leave the ceremony with, there are some clear takeaways: the film has left its mark on the industry, and perhaps horror is finally in with the Academy.