While there were many expected recognitions during the 2023 Oscar nominations reveal on Tuesday (looking at you Angela Bassett, Ruth Carter, Rihanna and Brian Tyree Henry), there were also a plethora of stunning upsets—chief among them, the lack of recognition for The Woman King.

In a shocking turn of events, there was not one single award nomination given to anyone from the Gina Prince-Bythewood-helmed film. Viola Davis, who is usually a shoe-in during awards season, saw no love in the Best Actress category despite previous nominations at the Golden Globes, SAG, NAACP Image, and AAFCA Awards. The whole squad of stellar supporting actresses and actors like Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, Adrienne Warren and John Boyega were also shut out. This is a frustrating trend that’s been popping up time and time again this awards season. Prince-Bythewood was also nowhere to be found in the Best Director category which honestly begs the question: did we all watch the same movie?

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