Since the Oscars’ inception, only three films have won the big five award categories, but they don’t all rank the same, looking back at them nowadays. Every year, fans wait with bated breath to find out if their favorite films will land nominations and awards at the Oscars. With the 2025 Oscars on the horizon, it’s a great time to look back at movies that made Oscars history. Over the past 95 years, only three films have ever won all five of the big Oscar categories – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Although Wicked and A Complete Unknown were shortlisted for the awards, no films were eligible to join their ranks after the announcement of the 2025 Oscar nominations. The three films set a level of excellence that’s difficult to achieve. The Library of Congress selected all three films for preservation in the US National Film Registry, and they appear in the list of the American Film Insтιтute’s 100 Best Movies. Still, although they’re all three brilliant films, they aren’t all equal in terms of how they’ve aged, their impact on their genres, and their lasting legacies.

3

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

Based On The 1988 Book The Silence Of The Lambs By Thomas Harris

Like the other films that gained the 5 big Oscars, The Silence of the Lambs had a prolific effect on its genre. The film blends together horror and thriller in a way later movies and TV shows would replicate, with serial killers becoming a staple in both. There’s no doubt that Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins deserved their Oscars, providing career-best performances as Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

Since then, Lecter has become known as one of the best movie villains of all time, even though he was only onscreen for 16 minutes. Hopkins reprised the role in Hannibal (2001) and Red Dragon (2002), and other actors have portrayed the character in later films and TV shows. If looking solely at the characters, The Silence of the Lambs would surpᴀss both It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Unfortunately, one part of The Silence of the Lambs has created controversy. The Silence of the Lambs includes the serial killer Buffalo Bill – a character that falls into the “killer crossdresser” trope, which perpetuates the stigma towards trans people, especially trans women. Even though Lecter says that Buffalo Bill isn’t a “real tranSєxual,” he also confirms that he applied for “reᴀssignment surgery.” The drive to kidnap and murder women is to create a woman skin suit. Ultimately, The Silence of the Lambs is an instance where an incredible movie also does immense harm. Both things can be true at once.

2

It Happened One Night (1934)

Based On The 1933 Short Story “Night Bus” By Samuel Hopkins Adams

The first movie to ever sweep the Oscars is It Happened One Night, a pre-Code rom-com that’s still praised today. Because the movie came out before the Hays Code, It Happened One Night includes multiple mentions of Sєx, a risque scene of Claudette Colbert lifting up her skirt, and a scene of Clark Gable barechested. The Frank Capra film is one of the best romantic comedies of all time and remains a blueprint for the genre. Most major tropes in modern rom-coms can be traced back to It Happened One Night, including, but not limited to, these:

• Enemies-to-lovers
• Will-they-won’t-they
• The fake relationship
• The musical moment
• The hitchhiking scene
• The rom-com road trip
• Runaway bride
• The reporter looking for a scoop

The story of It Happened One Night took daring moves by making progressive commentary on social, economic, and gender issues that were ahead of its time. Screenwriter Robert Riskin also swapped some of the power dynamics typical of films at the time by making the woman a wealthy socialite and the man a working-class person rather than the other way around. Additionally, instead of him changing her, she changes him. This commentary is made even better thanks to the electric chemistry between Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.

Despite pushing boundaries, It Happened One Night is far from perfect by modern standards. The film makes a few jokes about domestic violence, which might have been acceptable at the time but are uncomfortable to watch now. The film only includes one named woman character, and the surrounding men constantly infantilize her. However, the film doesn’t have a problematic legacy, which sets it apart from The Silence of the Lambs.

1

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Based On The 1962 Book One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest By Ken Kesey

The best movie that won all five major Oscars is the 1975 psychological dramedy One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The performances by Jack Nicholson and the late Louise Fletcher showed incredible nuance and acting range, making their Best Actor and Actress Oscars well deserved. The film has a clear vision and message that’s strengthened by the cinematography and score.

Viewers who go into the film expecting a straightforward story of good and evil will be sorely disappointed. The main character is a deeply unsympathetic anti-hero who’s difficult to root for, and the villain is highly morally ambiguous. However, that’s part of the brilliance of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Even though society dubs the people with mental illness as “disturbed,” the actual troubled people in this film are the man who fakes mental illness to get out of prison and the people working at the psychiatric facility.

The dramedy flips the script, which furthers the messages about authoritarian oppression, the mistreatment of people with mental illnesses, and the dehumanization of vulnerable communities. Although many things have improved about the way society treats mental illness, these messages still resonate with audiences, as there’s still a long way to go. Ultimately, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’s profound impact on society sets it above the other movies that won all the big five Oscars, making it the best of all three.