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Will Smith and Chris Rock weren’t the only ones who made Oscars history last night. During the 94th Academy Awards, CODA won the coveted award for Best Picture, making it the first movie released by a streaming service to ever win this honor. And with that, Apple TV+ has won yet another battle in the streaming wars, besting Netflix at the game they’ve tried so hard to win.
This year, three of the 10 nominees for Best Picture came from streaming services. In addition to Apple TV+’s CODA, Netflix’s The Power of the Dog and Don’t Look Up were also nominated. But it was CODA who took home the Oscar, making Apple TV+ the first streaming service to win Best Picture. Not only that, but this win marks the first time a majority deaf cast has won an Academy Award.
“It hasn’t been an easy ride,” producer Philippe Rousselet said as he accepted the award.
When it comes to the Oscars, it seems as though Netflix always comes up short. During the 2016 Oscars, its critically acclaimed Beasts of No Nation was passed over by the Academy. A year later Amazon made history with Manchester by the Sea, the first streaming movie to be nominated by the Oscars. Manchester wasn’t just nominated; it was nominated for Best Picture and took home awards for Best Actor (Casey Affleck) and Best Original Screenplay.
Since then, Netflix has been a near constant presence when it comes to the Best Picture category. In 2019, Roma was nominated for the award. Marriage Story was nominated in 2020, and both Mank and The Trial of the Chicago 7 were nominated in 2021. Despite these strong entries, Netflix has never taken home the coveted award. Conversely, CODA marks Apple TV+’s first nomination in the category as well as its first win.
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This also isn’t the first time Apple TV+ has made awards history. Last year, Ted Lasso won the Emmy for Best Comedy, making Apple TV+ the first streaming service in history to win in a program category in its first two years of eligibility. Whatever Apple’s doing, it’s working. And whatever Netflix is doing? Apparently not.
Written and directed by Sian Heder, CODA is a remake of the 2014 French film La Famille Bélier. It stars Emilia Jones as the titular child of two deaf parents (CODA) and the only hearing member of a deaf family. As she juggles her family’s business, Ruby (Jones) also has to juggle her singing aspirations. Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, and Marlee Matlin also star in supporting roles.
In addition to Best Picture, the movie won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor for Kotsur’s performance as well as Best Adapted Screenplay. If you’re wondering how you can watch this history-making film, we have you covered.
