2026 Oscars’ Biggest Snub Isn’t Being Talked About Enough

The nominations for the upcoming 98th Academy Awards are officially out, and while many films celebrate their prized nominations, one highly decorated and praised movie was completely left out in what might be one of the biggest snubs of the year.

What is one of the 2026 Oscars’ biggest snubs?

Park Chan-wook‘s 2025 satirical dark comedy thriller No Other Choice, which released at the end of the year, is one of the biggest snubs of the year at the Oscars. The film, which follows the story of a desperate paper industry expert who goes to extreme lengths to try and find a new job for himself after being fired, is one of many movies that deserved recognition at the Oscars but didn’t get it.

However, No Other Choice was surprisingly left out of any nominations despite some notable praise beforehand.

At the recent 83rd Golden Globe Awards, No Other Choice was nominated for three awards, including Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Actor — Musical or Comedy, with Lee Byung-hun earning a nomination.

While this is not always an indicator of success, the film also earned massive praise from critics, currently sitting at a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 200 reviews, numbers similar to movies like One Battle After Another and Sinners, both of which earned many nominations.

While categories like Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor are usually very tight races, it’s most surprising that No Other Choice didn’t even garner a Best International Feature Film nomination. No Other Choice was shortlisted for a nomination, but once again fell short of making the final five. For Park, this makes the second straight movie of his that was shortlisted for the award but didn’t earn a nomination, joining 2023’s Decision to Leave, which itself was also notable for being snubbed of any Academy Awards despite its praise.

Although the movie may not have gotten any praise from the Academy, it did get recognition elsewhere. In a recent interview reacting to his own Best Actor nomination for Blue Moon, star Ethan Hawke threw some praise at the movie, noting that Lee Byung-hun was “staggeringly great” in the movie when asked about any potential snubs.

Unfortunately for Park and the cast behind No Other Choice, that is the only type of praise they’ll have for this major award season. For a legendary director like Park Chan-wook, it’s a second straight shocking snub, as both No Other Choice and Decision to Leave were some of the best movies of their respective years. Whenever the next movie from the iconic director releases, fans will no doubt once again be hoping for some major award buzz for his work.