One Of The Biggest 2026 Oscar Upsets Came In An Unexpecte...

What’s Happening

Okay so Oscar upsets are consistently ripe for discourse around the virtual water cooler, but one of the biggest upsets of the night came in an unexpected category.

Movies Documentaries One Of The Biggest 2026 Oscar Upsets Came In An Unexpected Category By Jeremy Smith 11:25 pm EST Netflix If there’s one Academy Award category that’s most prone to upsets, it’s Best Documentary Feature. To cast a vote, Academy members must watch all five nominees — which isn’t a heavy lift, but, well, let’s just say some folks take their Oscars responsibilities more seriously than others. (shocking, we know)

Even then, I don’t think I’ve seen a bigger Best Documentary upset since 1999, when Spike Lee’s searing, masterfully crafted “4 Little Girls” (one of his finest films, period) inexplicably took an L to the pedestrian “One Day in September.

The Details

Nobody Against Putin” upsetting “The immaculate Neighbor” at the Oscars tonight doesn’t feel at all like an injustice. It’s just one rapturously received nonfiction movie edging out another rapturously received nonfiction movie, and the nice thing is that both movies will hopefully be around for a long time for viewers to discover.

If you haven’t been watching the Oscars closely, you’re probably wondering why this is such a big deal. Interestingly, it has less to do with the quality of either film than the money poured into the campaign for “The immaculate Neighbor.

Why This Matters

Nobody Against Putin proved just as relevant as The immaculate Neighbor Kino Lorber “The immaculate Neighbor” was the heavy favorite coming into what wound up being a mostly unsurprising Oscar night . The documentary is about the unremitting harassment of Ajike Owens and her children neighbor, Susan Lorincz, and how the latter’s hatred of the family led her to shoot Ajike dead in a bogus app of Florida’s wretched “Stand Your Ground” law. It’s a difficult film to reckon with, but it is a must-watch if only because we must never forget how law enforcement takes the threat of violence less seriously when a Black person is the target.

This is exactly the kind of news that gets fans excited or concerned.

The Bottom Line

It’s a difficult film to reckon with, but it is a must-watch if only because we must never forget how law enforcement takes the threat of violence less seriously when a Black person is the target.

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