With the Oscar nominations rolling in last week, this year’s batch features quite a few noticeable entries that stand out as untypical Oscar fare, which, based on plot and content alone (i.e. excluding buzz and praise), you wouldn’t immediately think the Oscars would be interest in. There are a huge number of indies in this year’s mix, and the nominations very closely reflect those of the Independent Spirit awards. The diversity in this year’s nominees shows an Academy that is progressing with the times, and slowly ripping down its own prejudices against certain types of film (post coming soon regarding prejudices against types of people). Here are some of the more noteworthy inclusions (and exclusions), that play against the historical Oscar rulebook.

One of the biggest stories, and the film most recognisable to more casual cinema-goers, is Get Out’s triumph. With four nominations, all of which in major categories, it has proven that the Academy doesn’t necessarily hold all of the prejudices fans were worried would tamper with Get Out’s chances at this year’s ceremony. In terms of genre, horror has been notoriously overlooked, frequently dismissed as a more trivial and less skilled genre of filmmaking, and thus has been shut out of even garnering nominations most of the time. The Silence of the Lambs is so far the only horror to win Best Picture in all 90 years of the Oscars, and only a handful of others have been nominated. Get Out quashed that trend this year, indicating some alieviation in the Academy’s bias. However, this could be put down to the fact that Get Out has been received more as, as Jordan Peele has coined it, a ‘social thriller’. Regardless, its inclusion is definitely a step in the right direction. Similarly, the representation of black people in front of and behind the camera on this film, plus the fact that the film is built around an African-American man’s perspective and experience, also marks a huge step forward in diversity getting more recognition. The film isn’t coy about the state of race-relations either, making its inclusion all the more important. It was arguably the film of last year, having caught fire in the cultural zeitgeist and promoted numerous topics of conversation. It is a rare occasion where Academy opinion aligns with the masses.

In similar triumphs, other genres have also made a splash that historically are overlooked. Lady Bird racked up nominations in almost all of the Big 5 categories as well, extremely unsual for a film about teenagers. Similarly to Get Out, the film features now Oscar-nominated female talent behind the camera, something that rarely gets recognised, and is an all too rare feat in the industry itself. The Shape of Water also lead the charge with the most number of nominations, despite being a fantasy film chronicling the romance between a mute woman and amphibian man. From its plot synopsis, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Academy would steer clear, but with the talent involved, and the cinematic magic that was produced, it was forced to overcome the barrier of the fantasy genre. Likewise, despite the fact we have been inundated with a ridiculous amount of superhero films over the last decade, they rarely receive Oscar attention (the snubbing of The Dark Knight back in 2009 was so controversial that it even became the catalyst for the Academy doubling its number of Best Picture slots), so Logan’s inclusion in Adapted Screenplay is a rare feat. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri too, despite not necessarily being in a particularly ignored genre, is something of a renegade film that plays in a moral grey area, something that perhaps in the past would have been deemed too risky or controversial for the Academy to honour, but not this year.

The inclusion of these types of films has lead to a decrease in the number of traditional Oscar films (or Oscar bait, if you will) appearing on the list. The Post, for example, only garnered two nominations, despite being probably the most ‘Oscar movie’ you could get considering the pedigree of the iconic multiple-time Oscar winners in front of and behind the camera, the fact it is a true story, and its message targeting Trump’s era of ‘fake news’ and ‘alternate facts’. For this example, however, perhaps it was its insanely quick turnaround from announcement to cinema release that hurt its chances, but it does say something against the idea of Academy favourites. Similarly films such as Darkest Hour seemed to get some obligatory nods, but don’t seem to be in the conversation to win many (aside from Best Actor). Whether Oscar bait or Oscar films even really exist is a whole other conversation, but this year certainly brings some evidence for the argument against it.

Finally, a big, modern leap that seems to have occurred comes in the form of Mudbound’s numerous nominations. With the Academy’s recognition, this is a big step forward in overcoming awards prejudice to straight-to-streaming films (for example the battle between Netflix and Cannes). It seems to be a milestone that will legitimize the platform for some, indicating that it still produces world-class cinema, even if they don’t get much of a release in actual cinemas (Mudbound had an extremely limited theatrical release to qualify for awards). It shows an Academy moving with the times, and assures filmmakers that films are films, whether their main release method is in cinemas or in homes.

Overall, this year’s batch of nominations affirms an exciting change in the Academy (perhaps down to its new membership, or a renewed attitude), something that has been beginning to trend over the last few years, although this year may just be the most prominent example of it.