Eight years ago, Amy Adams delivered a fantastic performance in a critically acclaimed movie, but the Oscars snubbed her, not even awarding her a nomination. Throughout her career, Amy Adams has proven to be one of the best actresses working today, with six Oscar nominations, although she has yet to win an award.

Amy Adams had more success at the Golden Globes with two wins. She even earned a Golden Globe nomination for a sci-fi movie in 2017, which the Oscars also recognized with eight nominations. Shockingly, the Academy snubbed Adams and her fellow cast members for their performances in the film, which has only looked worse as time goes on.

Amy Adams Deserved A Best Actress Nomination For Arrival

In 2016, Amy Adams starred in the sci-fi drama movie Arrival. She took on the role of linguist Louise Banks, a woman called in to help decode an alien language and communicate with extraterrestrials who had arrived on Earth. As a result, Adams took on the most significant role in the film, but the Academy Awards didn’t recognize her performance.

The performances that year were strong, but Adams should have received a nomination. The nominees included winner Emma Stone (La La Land), as well as Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Ruth Negga (Loving), Natalie Portman (Jackie), and Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins).

It is not to say those women didn’t deserve a nomination, but Amy Adams definitely did. All five of those actresses received Golden Globe nominations, but there were two categories there (Drama, Musical or Comedy), so they added Adams as well. However, this snubbing did not go unnoticed as director Dennis Villeneuve spoke on it:

“That was a big disappointment. Amy had the whole weight of the movie on her shoulders. It’s not easy to act in a film like that, against a green screen or a tennis ball. She made it look effortless, and it’s a shame the Academy didn’t recognize that.”

This speaks volumes since Arrival received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and Villeneuve was nominated for Best Director.

Arrival’s Stock Has Grown Hugely Since 2016

While Arrival didn’t win any Oscars at all, it has stood the test of time as one of the best science fiction movies of the 21st century. The New York Times asked film professionals to rank the best movies released since 2000, and Arrival ranks in the top 100 of the 21st century.

The list includes masterpieces such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (7th). Children of Men (13th), and Her (24th). Arrival sits as the fourth-best movie on that list for the genre.

The film has also gained more popularity on streaming thanks to it being an early work of sci-fi by Denis Villeneuve, who has since gone on to direct Blade Runner 2049 and the new Dune franchise films. While Villeneuve is highly responsible for its greatness, the entire movie lived and died on the performance of Amy Adams.

The Oscars’ Anti-Sci-Fi Stance Backfired With Arrival

The Oscars have been accused of having a bias against genre films for years, specifically ignoring sci-fi and horror movies. While the Academy has lately been honoring more genre films with Best Picture nominations, such as Get Out and Arrival, the nominations for actors have been lacking, and winners are almost nonexistent.

It has been over 30 years since the Academy awarded The Silence of the Lambs with awards in every major category, and it was the only horror movie to win Best Picture. Only two sci-fi movies ever won Best Picture, with Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Shape of Water.

Michelle Yeoh was the first person to ever win Best Actress at the Oscars for a sci-fi movie performance, followed by Emma Stone for Poor Things. However, this has been due for years. Amy Adams not getting nominated sits up there with Sigourney Weaver’s Oscar snubbing for Aliens. It is an indictment against the Academy.

Amy Adams Has Endured A Disappointing Run At The Oscars

It seems that Amy Adams is becoming known as the bridesmaid at the Oscars, and it looks very similar to what happened to Al Pacino’s career. From 1973 to 1993, Pacino earned seven Oscar nominations before he finally won for Scent of a Woman. The complaint was that he didn’t deserve that win, but should have won years before.

Amy Adams is closing in on that number, as she has six Oscar nominations without a win since 2006. It is impressive that she has received six nominations in just 13 years, with her most recent one coming in 2019. However, the fact that she never won is a disappointment. Her roles in The Master and Doubt were strong enough to win.

She has hit a dry spell since 2019, with her only Golden Globes nomination coming in 2024 with Nightbitch, a movie the Oscars never would have recognized. However, with her talent, Amy Adams is likely to win an Oscar one day, but there is no doubt she should have at least had a chance with her performance in Arrival.