Emma – The Sleep Company analyzed and ranked this year’s Oscar-nominated movies for Best Picture based on the amount of screen time dedicated to bedroom scenes.
The nominations in the category are American Fiction, The Holdovers, The Zone of Interest, Past Lives, Oppenheimer, Anatomy of a Fall, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Barbie, and Poor Things.
In total, two hours 15 minutes of Best Picture nominees were filmed in a bedroom, which was 8.7% of the total movies’ time of 23 hours and four minutes.
Poor Things had the greatest amount of bedroom time (34 minutes or 25%). This movie is also the one that depicts the greatest number of sexual references and scenes. Past Lives came in second, with almost 22 minutes (19%) of the movie filmed in a bedroom, and Killers of the Flower Moon, the longest nominated movie, came in third with 12% of its total duration spent in a bedroom (almost 26 minutes). This was more time than Past Lives but less when comparing each of the total movie’s duration.
At the other end of the scale, American Fiction had the least bedroom footage, with less than two minutes of it. Oppenheimer followed closely, with a little over four minutes of bedroom footage during its three-hour runtime.
The sleep experts saw the following major activities inside a bedroom, ranked from most to least occurring:
- Having important conversations – 51 minutes
- Fighting and crying – 25 minutes
- Sleeping and relaxing – 22 minutes
- Engaging in sexual activities – 19 minutes
- Being sick (and getting better again) – 16 minutes
- Cuddling and hugging – nine minutes
- Packing, tidying up, and getting ready – nine minutes
- Dying or dealing with death – five minutes
The bedroom was a clear favorite when it came to a location to have heartfelt conversations, as it was observed in every movie for 51 minutes in total. Since important talks sometimes lead to big emotions, it’s no surprise that fighting and crying in the bedroom were also very common, and moments like these took 25 minutes of the total movies’ time.
Additionally, most movies also chose the bedroom for their quieter scenes, and sleeping and relaxing took 22 minutes of the total movies. Emma’s sleep experts advise that the bedroom should be for sleep and sex only, and Oppenheimer and Poor Things were quite good at reflecting this, with a total of 19 minutes of sexual scenes.
The sleep company also observed a pillow appear on-screen about 202 times, which was almost nine pillows per hour. The movie Poor Things won the prize for most pillow reveals with 48 filmed pillows. Oppenheimer had the least pillow reveals with about four filmed pillows.
Beds appeared on screen about 129 times, which was close to six beds per hour. Surprisingly, single beds were more prevalent than couple beds. The movie Zone of Interest only used single beds and filmed them 23 times. Interestingly, single beds are a tool that film producers use to represent the coldness and discomfort of a character and lack of intimacy of a marriage with no sensuality. In contrast, the movie Maestro only filmed double beds, about five times.
“As we can see from the Oscar-nominated films, sleep is an essential part of our lives. And the same goes for our heroes on the big screen. Where and how we sleep is not secondary, but has a direct effect on our well-being, our health, and our ability to do our best the next day—or even save the world as a superhero,” says Theresa Schnorbach, psychologist and sleep scientist at Emma – The Sleep Company, in a release
Time spent in the bedroom for the best picture nominees, ranked from most to least is as follows:
- Poor Things – 25%
- Past Lives – 19%
- Killers of the Flower Moon – 12%
- The Zone of Interest – 10%
- The Holdovers – 8%
- Anatomy of a Fall – 7%
- Maestro – 7%
- Barbie – 6%
- Oppenheimer – 3%
- American Fiction – 1%
Photo 84970353 © James Kirkikis | Dreamstime.com
