A24’s 97% RT Masterpiece on HBO Max Is Shockingly Missing From the 2026 Oscars Race

 

Award Season Heats Up, But One Film Is Missing From the Conversation

With the 2025 Gotham Awards behind us and Golden Globe nominations days away, the 2026 Oscars race is taking shape. Campaigns are accelerating, studios are positioning their contenders, and the usual frontrunners are already dominating the spotlight.

But as always, awards season leaves casualties in its wake: brilliant films left behind, overlooked for reasons that often have nothing to do with merit. And this year, one of the most acclaimed releases of 2025 is shockingly being ignored.

A24’s Sorry, Baby, boasting a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score and glowing reviews across the board, should be in the center of every Oscars conversation. Instead, it's barely mentioned.

A Quiet, Powerful Story That Deserves a Larger Stage

Written, directed, and led by Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby follows Agnes, a New England academic living in the same home where she once shared life with her closest friend. Told in fragmented memories and gentle reflections, the film unspools the aftermath of surviving an attempted assault by a professor.

Through intimate framing, stillness, and moments of aching silence, the movie captures the nonlinear, messy, deeply human process of healing. Humor, both awkward and tender, helps Agnes navigate the emotional wreckage, and becomes one of Victor’s most disarming storytelling tools.

The film never sensationalizes trauma. Instead, it honors the emotional reality behind it: the triggers, the setbacks, the quiet victories, and the weight of relearning the world.

It’s warm, empathetic, and honest, the kind of intimate drama the Academy often celebrates. Which makes its awards invisibility baffling.

If Nominated, Eva Victor Would Break Academy History

In nearly a century of Academy Awards, only ten women have ever been nominated for Best Director, and no non-binary filmmaker, genderfluid creator, or trans director has ever made the lineup.

A nomination for Eva Victor would be historic.

And frankly, earned.

Their command of tone, visual storytelling, character work, and emotional precision places Sorry, Baby among the year’s most distinctive directorial achievements. It is patient, purposeful, and personal the exact type of film that should put a filmmaker on the Oscars map.

Critics and Audiences Are Unified, This Film Is Exceptional

Sorry, Baby has been showered with praise:

• 97% Rotten Tomatoes approval

• Independent Spirit Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay

• Strong audience support through HBO Max streaming

Despite a quiet box office run, the film has exploded online as viewers discover it at home, another sign of its deep emotional resonance.

Yet its awards campaign hasn’t gained traction. It’s a quiet drama in a loud awards season, and unfortunately, subtlety often loses steam in the Oscar race.

A24 Has the Power, but Will They Push It?

A24’s presence at the Oscars grows stronger every year. They’ve championed bold, unusual, deeply personal films and won big doing it.

In 2026, their focus appears locked on Marty Supreme and The Smashing Machine. Major contenders, yes. But their slate also includes smaller, emotionally daring titles like If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You and Sorry, Baby, the exact kind of films that define A24’s identity.

If the studio puts its full weight behind it, Sorry, Baby could still surge late in the season.

And frankly?
It deserves that shot.

Eva Victor’s debut is one of the year’s most humane, precise, and emotionally intelligent pieces of filmmaking. Awards attention shouldn’t just be likely; it should be inevitable.