This year's Academy Award nominations and ceremony featured many usual faces like The Post's Steven Spielberg and Phantom Thread's Paul Thomas Anderson, but also brought attention to inspiring new voices with Get Out's Jordan Peele and Lady Bird's Greta Gerwig each receiving Best Director and Best Original Screenplay nominations in their feature film debuts.

Visionary director Christopher Nolan finally received a Best Director nod for his war thriller Dunkirk, while arguably the greatest cinematographer of all time, Roger Deakins, was honored with Best Cinematographer for his work on the neo-noir science fiction sequel Blade Runner 2049.

Perhaps the most important thing to take away from this year's Oscars was the wide presence of art films and the acknowledgement of writer-directors, or auteurs, who seek to wholly express their artistic vision through all formal aspects of a film.

With uncertainty looming around the future of cinema, this year's ceremony is reassuring that art cinema will continue to have its place among film lovers and give an important medium of expression to filmmakers with profound things to say.

This year's nominees for Best Picture featured strong minority characters in prominent roles, and addressed important themes such as racism, feminism, and corruption of authority, and their recognition will ensure that these thought-provoking films will continue to be made.

With that being said, as 2017 was a heyday for art cinema, there were more than a few gems the Oscars didn't recognize. Here are 5 outstanding films the Academy overlooked that you need to watch.

1. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos)

Words cannot express the artistry and thematic depth at work in this psychological thriller which likely did not receive the attention it deserved due to it's label as a horror film. The Killing of a Sacred Deer, among many other things, is a nuanced commentary on modern religion and fate at the hands of a cruel God whose intentions we are never able to understand.

The film's use of distant and often overhead wide shots create an unsettling atmosphere that keeps the audience not entirely sure of what's going on. While this film is certainly in line with Yorgos Lanthimos' idiosyncratic style, it is one of the most thought-provoking films of the year for those who can bear with it.

2. Good Time (The Safdie Brothers)

Little must be said about this film. It's 101 minutes of neon, action, and pure adrenaline rush all grounded around a young man's unwavering compassion for his brother who is subject to mistreatment in the poor mental health system.

Good Time combines elements of traditional action films with neo-noir crime, and is bound together by perhaps Robert Pattinson's best performance yet. Whether you're a lover of straight action, or just one for a good story, Good Time is a film that has something for everyone.

3. Mother! (Darren Aronofsky)

Darren Aronofsky is a master of using allegory and intricately woven metaphors to make a broader commentary on the real world and life itself.

While his work has sometimes been acclaimed for its perceptive psychological nature, and other times has been unable to be appreciated for being cold and distant, Mother! is a unique horror film that speaks on environmentalism, an issue whose importance Aronofsky has spoken of. Like all of his films, Mother! isn't for everyone, but is a great watch for lovers of psychological films.

4. A Ghost Story (David Lowery)

Returning to art film after his big-budget adventure Pete's Dragon, David Lowery creates a beautiful and soulful meditation on attachment and existence in this film. Making many unconventional choices, Lowery takes the innocuous childhood icon of a ghost sheet and to it attaches serious undertones.

A Ghost Story is a spiritual reflection on the mortality of our lives in the eternity of the universe, and the uncomfortable truth that most of our legacies are drowned by the passage of time. For anyone who has ever pondered on the what came in the eons before we were born, and what is to come in the forever after we pass, this film is sure to deliver.

5. The Florida Project (Sean Baker)

While Willem Dafoe did effectively rejuvenate his career with a deserved nomination for Best Supporting Actor, this film deserved much more than that. Sean Baker's keen insight into the struggles of living in Middle America.

The film reminds us of the innocence of childhood and shows the hardships of poverty from the nascent perspective of children. Reminiscent of Pather Panchali's slow, episodic narrative that evokes sympathy and concern for those living in our own country whom we neglect to think about, The Florida Project is a film that is full of heart and a must-watch.

Beyond this list, 2017 saw the release of many more great films, both in commercial and art cinema. Films like It and Thor: Ragnarok reassure that creativity and bold storytelling are far from dead in film, and the future is promising. Perhaps the attachment of film to the traditional theatrical experience may not last forever, but film and cinematic entertainment are here to stay in our society.