Award season is finally upon us which means it’s time to get hyped, Meryl style.
The 94th annual Academy Awards will be taking place next month on March 27, so we’ve still got time to catch up on the Oscar-nominated flicks ahead of the big night. Leading this year’s nominees is The Power of the Dog with 12 noms, Dune with 10 and West Side Story with seven, and there’s plenty more critical darlings in the running to cosy up with this Feb.
From Best Cinematography to Best Original Song (Bruno is noticeably absent but we don’t talk about him) and of course the crème de la crème Best Picture, here’s 21 of the movies hoping to snag a statue at this year’s ceremony, many of which are already available for streaming. Lounge-friendly ball gowns at the ready!
1. Don’t Look Up
With an Oscar-ready cast, this star-studded satire was destined for big things. Two astronomers go on a media tour to warn humankind of an earth-destroying comet heading for the planet. The response from a distracted world? Meh.
Where to watch: Netflix
The cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, Jonah Hill, Cate Blanchett.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing.
2. Dune
Dennis Villaneuve’s adaptation of the legendary 1965 sci-fi novel of the same name by American author Frank Herbert.
Set on far away planets in the distant future, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding. He must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to safeguard the galaxy’s most valuable substance, and to ensure the future of his family and his people. Expect stunning visuals (and a stunning desert Chalamet to match).
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
The cast: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Sarah Ferguson.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Design, Best Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design.
3. Belfast
The semi-autobiographical black and white film from Sir Kenneth Branagh is about a working class family in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Google Play
The cast: Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds, Caitriona Balfe, Colin Morgan.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), Best Supporting Actor (Ciarán Hinds), Best Sound Design, Best Original Song (“Down to Joy” Van Morrison), Best Original Screenplay.
4. West Side Story
The classic Broadway musical has been adapted into a new film by Steven Spielberg. The 1961 version was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 10 including Best Picture, so if Oscars history means anything, it’s set to do well at this year’s awards.
This film made Steven Spielberg the only person in history to receive 11 nominations in the Academy’s top category.
Where to watch: Coming to Disney+ in March
The cast: Rachel Zelgar, Ansel Elgort, Ariana DeBose, Maddie Ziegler.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Ariana DeBose), Best Costume Design, Best Sound Design, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design.
5. CODA
A coming-of-age comedy-drama film based on the French film La Famille Bélier. The film follows 17-year-old Ruby, a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) and the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
CODA is the first Apple Original and the first feature led by a predominantly deaf cast to land a Best Picture nominee at the Oscars. Praise be.
Where to watch: Apple TV+
The cast: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Troy Kotsur), Best Adapted Screenplay.
6. Liquorice Pizza
It could be the movie that finally gets eight-time nominee Paul Thomas Anderson the win and tbf, it’s well overdue. Dubbed ‘a big cartwheel of a movie, free-spirited and fun as hell’ and ‘so buoyant and bubbly, it practically floats off the screen’ (Time Out), this is the anti-love story you need in your life.
Liquorice Pizza explores the pangs of first love and forbidden attraction against the backdrop of 1970s Fernando Valley. It’s the story of 25-year-old Alana Kane and 15-year-old Gary Valentine growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love.
Where to watch: currently not available to stream *Manifests its Netflix journey*
The cast: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director (Paul Thomas Anderson), Best Original Screenplay.
7. Nightmare Alley
Based on the 1946 novel from American author William Lindsay Gresham, Nightmare Alley is about an ambitious carny with a talent for manipulating people. Down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) endears himself to a clairvoyant and her mentalist husband at a travelling carnival. Using newly acquired knowledge, Carlisle crafts a golden ticket to success by swindling the elite and wealthy. Hoping for a big score, he soon hatches a scheme to con a dangerous tycoon with help from a mysterious psychiatrist who might be his most formidable opponent yet.
Where to watch: HBO Max and Hulu
The cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Costume Design, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design.
8. The Power of the Dog
Fancy an intense western psychological drama? A domineering but charismatic rancher wages a war of intimidation on his brother’s new wife and her teen son — until long-hidden secrets come to light.
Jane Campion is also making Oscars history as the first woman to have been nominated for Best Director twice. We’re rooting for you, JC!
Where to watch: Netflix
The cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director (Jane Campion), Best Supporting Actress (Kirsten Dunst), Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Supporting Actor (Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee), Best Sound Design, Best Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design.
9. King Richard
It’s a biographical drama about Richard Williams, the father and coach of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams. Armed with a clear vision and a brazen, 78-page plan, Richard Williams (Will Smith) is determined to write his two daughters into history. Training on tennis courts in Compton, California, Richard shapes the girls’ unyielding commitment and keen intuition. Together, the Williams family defies seemingly insurmountable odds and the prevailing expectations laid before them.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play
The cast: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actor (Will Smith), Best Supporting Actress (Aunjanue Ellis), Best Original Song (“Be Alive” Beyonce and Darius Scott), Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing.
10. Drive My Car
Two years after his wife’s unexpected death, Yusuke receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya at a theatre festival. As tensions mount amongst the cast and crew, Yusuke is forced to confront painful truths raised from his past with the help of Misaki, a young woman assigned to chauffeur him.
Where to watch: currently not available for streaming
The cast: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tôko Miura, Reika Kirishima.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director (Ryuske Hamaguchi), Best International Feature Film, Best Adapted Screenplay,
11. The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Jessica Chastain stars as the controversial real-life title character in an intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of media mogul Tammy Fake Bakker. In the 1970s, Tammy Faye Bakker and her husband, Jim, rise from humble beginnings to create the world’s largest religious broadcasting network and theme park. Tammy Faye becomes legendary for her eyelashes, her idiosyncratic singing, and her eagerness to embrace people from all walks of life. However, financial improprieties, scheming rivals and a scandal soon threaten to topple their carefully constructed empire…
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
The cast: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Cherry Jones.
Nominated for: Best Actress (Jessica Chastain), Best Makeup & Hairstyling.
12. The Lost Daughter
If you like a slow-cooker movie with 10/10 cinematography and casting chemistry, The Lost Daughter ticks every box. Alone on a vacation in Italy, a woman becomes obsessed with another woman and her daughter sharing the beach with her. Soon she begins confronting her own past and memories of early motherhood.
Where to watch: Netflix
The cast: Olivia Coleman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson.
Nominated for: Best Actress (Oliva Coleman), Best Supporting Actress (Jessie Buckley), Best Adapted Screenplay.
13. Parallel Mothers
Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, Parallel Mothers tells the moving story of two single women whose lives intertwine when they meet on a maternity ward. Accidental baby-swap drama ensues…
Where to watch: Netflix
The cast: Penelope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma.
Nominated for: Best Actress (Penelope Cruz), Best Original Score.
14. Being the Ricardos
In 1952, Hollywood power couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz face personal and professional obstacles that threaten their careers, their relationship, and their hit television show. Expect explosive romance, scandal and accusations aplenty.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
The cast: Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda.
Nominated for: Best Actor (Andrew Garfield), Best Actress (Nicole Kidman), Best Supporting Actor (J.K. Simmons).
15. Spencer
It’s Christmas and Diana Spencer must spend a torturous weekend at Sandringham with the royal in-laws. Tensions are high as she struggles with an eating disorder and the decision to end her marriage to Prince Charles.
Kristen Stewart gives the performance of her life with her haunting portrayal of the late Princess of Wales, earning the actress her first ever Oscar nomination.
Where to watch: Hulu
The cast: Kristen Stewart, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Richard Sammel, Jack Farthing, Stella Gonet.
Nominated for: Best Actress (Kristen Stewart).
16. Encanto
A 5* Disney movie with an earworm-worthy soundtrack to boot, Encanto follows the young Mirabel Madrigal (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz), who seems to be the only member of her family who doesn’t possess magical powers. But when her family members start to mysteriously lose their magic, she realises she might have to be the one to save them.
For those scratching their heads wondering why on earth “Bruno” isn’t in the running for Best Original Song, it couldn’t possibly have been nominated because it wasn’t submitted for the category! Disney predicted “Dos Oruguitas” would stand a better chance and put that forward instead.
Where to watch: Disney+
The cast: Voiced by Stephanie Beatriz, Maria Cecilia Botero and John Leguizamo.
Nominated for: Best Original Score, Best Original Song (“Dos Oruguitas” Lin-Manuel Miranda), Best Animated Feature Film.
17. No Time to Die
In Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond, 007 faces his most emotional adventure yet as he comes face to face with a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. Get the tissues ready!
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
The cast: Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Ana de Armas, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch.
Nominated for: Best Sound Design, Best Original Song (“No Time to Die” Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, Best Visual Effects.
18. Spider-Man: No Way Home
Your favourite neighbourhood webslinger is back at it, albeit not with quite the recognition he deserved. Best Picture nomination, where were you?
With Spider-Man’s secret identity now unmasked to the entire world, Peter Parker turns to Doctor Strange for help. When a spell goes wrong, dangerous villains from other worlds start to appear, forcing Peter to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
Where to watch: currently not available for streaming
The cast: Tom Holland, Peter Parker, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Garfield, Tobey McGuire.
Nominated for: Best Visual Effects.
19. Cruella
Set in London during the 1970s punk rock movement, Cruella follows a young, orphaned fashion designer called Estella Miller (Cruella de Vil) determined to make a name for herself with her iconic designs. When Estella befriends fashion legend Baroness von Hellman, she embraces her wicked side to become the raucous and revenge-bent Disney villain we know today.
Where to watch: Disney+
The cast: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, John McCrea.
Nominated for: Best Costume Design, Best Makeup & Hairstyling.
20. Flee
Amin Nawabi, a 36-year-old high-achieving academic, grapples with a painful secret he has kept hidden for 20 years, the story of his journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan. This traumatic past threatens to derail the life he has built for himself and his soon to be husband.
Where to watch: Hulu.
Directed by: Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Music by: Uno Helmersson.
Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature, Best Animated Feature, Best International Film.
21. House of Gucci
When Patrizia Reggiani marries into the powerful Gucci family, she desperately wants to make an impact on the famous fashion brand controlled by different members of the dysfunctional family.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
The cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons.
Nominated for: Best Makeup & Hairstyling.
