Streaming history has finally been made at the Oscars — just not by Netflix.
The Apple TV+ film CODA won Best Picture at Sunday's Academy Awards, beating Netflix's The Power of the Dog and marking the first time a movie released by a streaming service won the top Oscar. CODA also became the first Best Picture winner featuring a predominantly deaf cast.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The historic win for Apple is a symbolic moment pointing to streaming's growing dominance in the entertainment industry. But it's also a major blow to Netflix, which has been trying to win Best Picture for years. In 2019, Netflix's Roma was the frontrunner but came up short to Green Book, and pundits speculated voters may have been reluctant to award Hollywood's top honor to a streaming movie.
Clearly, the Academy didn't feel the same way this year, considering an Apple TV+ film won, yet Netflix was still unable to pull off the victory. This time, the loss could have more to do with voters gravitating toward a feel-good crowd-pleaser like CODA over The Power of the Dog, a film detractors have called somewhat cold. In the end, The Power of the Dog only won a single Oscar for Best Director.
It's surely inevitable that Netflix will win Best Picture eventually. But the streamer will no longer get to boast that it was the first one there — and it's all thanks to Apple TV+, a service that, when Netflix lost Best Picture for the first time in 2019, didn't even exist yet.
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
And the Oscar goes to … no one in particular: Movies made with AI can now win awardsUnder the radar Generative AI is no longer a barrier to acclaim
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
Oscars 2025: Anora’s Cinderella triumphFeature The film about a stripper who elopes with the son of a Russian oligarch takes home four Oscars
-
The best body horror movies of the last half-centuryThe Week Recommends If 'The Substance' piqued your interest, these other films will likely be your speed
-
Why Japanese residents can't watch their country's Oscar-nominated #MeToo documentaryTHE EXPLAINER Shiori Ito became one of the faces of Japan's #MeToo movement
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
