Divisive Oscar best picture winner is now streaming for free in the UK

Divisive Oscar best picture winner is now streaming for free in the UK Tom Percival Published March 1, 2026 6:00pm Updated March 1, 2026 8:17pm Share this article via whatsappShare this article via xCopy the link to this article.Link is copiedShare this article via facebook Comment now Comments We’ve got good news and bad news… (Picture: Universal Pictures via AP)

There have been many contenders for the title of ‘worst Best Picture winner of all time’.

Afterall, in the century or so the Academy has been giving out Oscar statues, they’ve occasionally picked some real stinkers.

I’m thinking of movies like Crash, Driving Miss Daisy, and The Greatest Show on Earth, all of which have had scorn poured on them by film fans and critics alike.

However, the BBC has recently added 2019’s controversial Green Book to iPlayer, which has been called one of the worst Best Picture winners of all time.

Inspired by a true story, Green Book follows African-American pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) as he tours the Deep South of America with his driver and bodyguard, Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen).

The film was an awards darling on release and scooped up several major prizes, including the aforementioned Academy Award for Best Picture, the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Green Book was a controversial winner (Picture: Patti Perret/Universal Pictures via AP)

The National Board of Review even named it the best film of 2018, and it’s got a respectable 77% on Rotten Tomatoes.

So why was it such a controversial pick for the Best Picture Oscar? Well, there were accusations that the film perpetuated racial stereotypes

In his LA Times piece titled, ‘Green Book’ is the worst best picture winner since ‘Crash’, journalist Justin Chang laid out the argument.

He called the film a ‘palatable brand of godawful’, adding that all ‘Green Book serves up [is] bald-faced clichés and stereotypes’.

The film was accused of perpetuating racial stereotypes (Picture: Universal Pictures via AP)

Justin argues that the film cluelessly embodies the white-supremacist attitudes it decries by filtering Shirley’s experiences through Vallelonga’s.

He finished by saying: ‘It reduces the long, barbaric and ongoing history of American racism to a problem, a formula, a dramatic equation that can be balanced and solved. Green Book is an embarrassment; the film industry’s unquestioning embrace of it is another.’

Justin’s piece may have been the most scathing, but he was hardly the only person shocked at Green Book’s win.

Still, it was well received by award bodies (Picture: Universal Pictures via AP)

Spike Lee, whose film BlacKKKlansman was up against Green Book for the Best Picture gong, infamously attempted to walk out of the Oscars ceremony when he lost and turned his back during the acceptance speech.

It’s not just filmmakers and critics who dislike Green Book, either.

On Reddit in a post titled ‘Green Book is the worst choice for Best Picture in the past 10 years, ‘ user Badlands51 wrote he still can’t understand how it won.

‘I don’t always agree with what wins for Best Picture (very rare, in fact) every year, but I can at least make justifications for all of them,’ they explained. ‘I can usually see why the Academy makes its choice.

‘It wasn’t even all that enjoyable to watch. Green Book is, by far, the worst choice for Best Picture in the past 10 years.’

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Another user (who’s since deleted their account) agreed, adding: ‘Green Book was the least deserving and reminded everyone of films like Crash or Driving Miss Daisy. Safe, digestible, non-confrontational films about racism that blame individuals for racism and not systems.’

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However, it’s worth saying that there are those who think Green Book is overhated (although they still don’t think it deserved an Oscar).

‘I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as many claim it to be (I love the performances),’ added amazonfan1972. ‘But it shouldn’t have won. The biggest issue with it is that it’s a film about race told from the white perspective.’

If you’re interested in finding out for yourself what you make of Green Book, why not check it out on iPlayer?

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