History YMMV / ZeroDarkThirty

** Kathryn Bigelow's omission as a Best Director nominee at the Oscars [[http://www.ibtimes.com/kathryn-bigelow-oscar-snub-does-academy-hate-female-directors-1006772 is widely seen as this.]]
** As well the film losing in nearly every other category it was nominated for, with the exception of a win (shared with ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'') in the decidedly minor category of Sound Editing. This is especially glaring considering that it was a very strong contender in all categories before losing steam in the wake of controversy over its torture scenes--in particular, Creator/JessicaChastain went from being a certainty for Best Actress when the film was first released to a long shot by the time the awards ceremony rolled around.

** The scene where Dan strips a Muslim man naked in front of Maya to humiliate him is even more disturbing after Muslim torture victims revealed that they considered forced nudity to be worse than any of the other torture methods.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: While Dan is obviously supposed to a morally grey figure, the fact that he receives no punishment or even criticism for being a ruthless TortureTechnician (a job he clearly chose because he’s good at it) besides losing his pet monkeys makes it difficult to feel bad for him or even feel good about him leaving his job, since it has nothing to do with morality. It can be kinda hard to feel for someone you just watched humiliate and torture a man who could be innocent.

* UnfortunateImplications: Many critics [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2013/jan/25/zero-dark-thirty-reel-history accused]] the film of endorsing torture. Considering the film claims that “enhanced interrogations” led to the killing of Bin Ladin, when it was eventually discovered that this was a lie, it’s not hard to see why.

* UnfortunateImplications: Many critics [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2013/jan/25/zero-dark-thirty-reel-history accused]] the film of endorsing torture.

* AnticlimaxBoss: [[spoiler: Osama bin Laden gets nailed through the head as soon as he opens the door. Justified, since he is an unarmed old man going up against a team of Navy SEALS, defended by only two of his goons and that's more or less exactly what happened in real life.]]

* [[Main/{{Shipping}} Shipping]]: Recently, a lot of fans of the film have taken to shipping Maya with Dan.

* AwardSnub: Kathryn Bigelow's omission as a Best Director nominee at the Oscars [[http://www.ibtimes.com/kathryn-bigelow-oscar-snub-does-academy-hate-female-directors-1006772 is widely seen as this.]]

* GeniusBonus: The film relies on people being familiar with Pakistan's ISI [[note]]their notoriously corrupt intelligence service[[/note]], who James Gandolfini is playing [[note]]then-CIA head Leon Panetta[[/note]], and so forth. Heck, the film's poster image only makes sense to those who know that it is a satellite image of OBL's estate.

* HarsherInHindsight: The film used consultants from the CIA that said the use of Enhanced Interrogation had led to Osama Bin Laden, but in 2014 a Democrat led committee released the CIA's reports on the Enhanced Interrogations (Torture) of accused Terrorists, and the reports showed that at no time had the CIA been able to use any information gained through torture, which makes the opening scenes where torture only leaves a prisoner broken and screaming all the more resonant.

* UnfortunateImplications: Many critics [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2013/jan/25/zero-dark-thirty-reel-history accused]] the film of endorsing torture.

* UnfortunateImplications: Many critics [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2013/jan/25/zero-dark-thirty-reel-history accused]] the film of endorsing torture.
* WTHCastingAgency: Of the two big real-world figures named, James Gandolfini looks very close to Leon Panetta. Stephen Dillane as John Brennan, not so much.

* AnticlimaxBoss: Osama bin Laden gets nailed through the head as soon as he opens the door. Justified, since he is an unarmed old man going up against a team of Navy SEALS, defended by only two of his goons and that's more or less exactly what happened in real life.

* AnticlimaxBoss: Osama bin Laden gets nailed through the head as soon as he opens the door. Justified, since he is an unarmed old man going up against a team of Navy SEALS, defended by only three of his goons and that's more or less exactly what happened in real life.

* SanitySlippage: Not explored in depth, but it's clear that Maya loses it over the course of the film.

* MagnumOpus: A fair number of viewers and critics found the film to be this for Kathryn Bigelow. The film was also easily one of the most critically-acclaimed features of 2012.