The film industry is gearing up for the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 2.
Stars will take to the red carpet and the iconic Oscar statuettes will be handed out to those deemed most deserving.
If you’re interested in seeing some of the year’s most-talked about films, then worry not – here’s a handy guide on where to watch the buzziest Oscar-nominated films.
1. Anora
American indie darling Sean Baker seems to have finally broken into the mainstream with Anora, having previously made waves with 2017’s The Florida Project.
Following the titular Anora (Mikey Madison) – a young sex worker who falls for the feckless son of a Russian oligarch – the film has been praised for its farcical humour and subversion of the expected Cinderella-story conventions.
Mikey Madison is a likely candidate for Best Actress at the Oscars, having already scooped the BAFTA and Independent Spirit Award.
The black comedy has also earned a Best Picture nomination, best director and original screenplay for Baker, and Best Supporting Actor for Yura Borisov, who plays the unexpectedly kind-hearted henchman Igor.
Where to watch: Rent on Youtube or Apple TV
2. The Brutalist
Coming in with a staggering three-hour and 35-minute runtime, The Brutalist marks a return to the historical Epic tradition, similar to last year’s nominee Killers of the Flower Moon.
The film chronicles the fictitious architect László Tóth (Adrien Brody) on a decade-spanning journey from Holocaust-torn Poland to America, where he makes a name for himself in the emerging Brutalist movement.
Adrien Brody’s leading performance has been widely acclaimed, earning him a Best Actor nomination, while Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce have been acknowledged for their supporting roles as Erzsébet, László’s wife, and Harrison Van Buren, a wealthy industrialist who both admires the architect and envies his talent.
The Brutalist totals 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Brady Corbet, and is sure to be remembered for its sheer length if not its fractured take on the American Dream.
Where to watch: Rent on YouTube and Apple TV, Screening at Broadway Cinema from March 15 to 18.
3. A Complete Unknown
Music biopics tend to follow a hit-or-miss formula, and while A Complete Unknown has attracted some mixed reviews from critics, its 8 Oscar nominations make it likely to pick up something at Sunday’s ceremony.
Timothee Chalamet plays a young Bob Dylan, trying to make it in the folk scene of early 1960s New York. His resemblance to the real Dylan is striking, and his win for Best Actor at the SAG awards has made him a favourite to snag the Academy’s equivalent.
A Complete Unknown has also received nods for supporting actors Edward Norton and Monica Barbaro, and a Best Sound nomination for its reconstruction of Dylan’s classic hits, including It Ain’t Me Babe and Like a Rolling Stone.
Where to watch: Screening in select cinemas and available to rent on Prime Video from February 25.
4. Conclave
Based on Robert Harris’s bestselling thriller, Conclave is a tense political drama exploring power dynamics, secrets, and how far people are willing to go to further their agenda.
When the Pope dies, a conclave is formed to decide who will replace him in leading the Catholic Church. Ralph Fiennes is up for Best Actor as Cardinal Lawrence, who finds incriminating information on several candidates and plays them against each other for his own gain.
Stanley Tucci impressed audiences as Cardinal Belleni, but missed out on a Supporting Actor nomination. Counting up an impressive 8 nominations, Conclave could win for Best Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, and Production Design.
Where to Watch: Rent on Apple TV and Amazon Prime, screening at Broadway Cinema from March 7 to 20.
5. Emilia Pérez
Emilia Pérez is arguably 2024’s most divisive film, but it’s also the most nominated at this year’s Oscars, with 13 potential wins.
Jacques Audiard’s French-Mexican musical follows a cartel kingpin (Karla Sofía Gascón) who seeks the help of a lawyer (Zoe Saldana) to transition to a woman and disappear from her life of crime.
While fans commended the soundtrack and visuals, Emilia Pérez has been criticised for its depictions of Mexicans, the drug cartel and the transgender community, and controversial online comments made by Gascón have cast doubt on her chance of winning Best Actress.
Whether the film will be remembered as an insensitive flop or an Academy champion remains to be seen.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
6. Nickel Boys
First gaining attention for its pioneering use of first-person shots, Nickel Boys has picked up nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s 2019 novel, newcomers Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson play Elwood and Turner, two African-American students at the Nickel Academy, a reform school based on the real life Florida School for Boys, which was closed in 2011 after decades of rumoured abuse and racism.
Nickel Boys shines a light on an often obscured part of American history, and is a favourite among indie fans to claim the Best Picture award.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Prime Video from February 27.
7. The Substance
It’s rare for horror movies to get any Oscar nominations at all – let alone five – but Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance has done just that.
It stars Demi Moore as a fading celebrity who takes an experimental drug to create a younger counterpart (Margaret Qualley), revitalising her career with some unexpected consequences.
The Substance takes the trappings of Sunset Boulevard and Death Becomes Her, and gives them a surrealist, body-horror makeover, exploring the fear of ageing and the mistreatment of older actresses, and women overall, in the film industry.
Case in point: Coralie Fargeat is the ninth woman to be nominated for Best Director in the Academy’s 97-year history, and will only be the fourth to win if she gets the award.
A contender for an underrepresented genre, The Substance has many horror fans hoping to see Demi Moore rewarded for her performance and for the film to bring home Best Picture.
Where to Watch: Stream on Prime Video Premium or rent on Apple TV.
8. I’m Still Here
The likely winner for this year’s Best International Feature award, I’m Still Here is a Brazilian political drama based on Marcelo Rubens Pavia’s account of his father’s disappearance during the country’s 21-year military dictatorship, in which hundreds of activists were abducted by the government.
Fernanda Torres is a contender for Best Actress, portraying human rights lawyer Eunice Paiva, who risked her life challenging the government in the face of her husband Marcelo’s (Guilherme Silveira) disappearance, and the eventual suspicion of his murder.
I’m Still Here is a rallying cry in a time when political tensions are running high across the world, and is the first Brazilian-produced film to be nominated for Best Picture.
Where to watch: Screening in select cinemas, including Broadway.
9. Sing Sing
I’ll admit that I’m biased here, but Colman Domingo is my personal favourite to win Best Actor for his performance in Sing Sing.
Domingo plays a man imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, who thrives while staging an original comedy with the prison’s theatre department. Alongside him are several formerly incarcerated actors who took part in the programme, including Clarence ‘Divine Eye’ Maclin and Jon Adrian Velazquez.
Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley’s screenplay is a testament to the redemptive power of theatre, and is beautifully brought to life by an ensemble who have experienced it first-hand.
Where to Watch: Rent on YouTube and Prime Video.
10. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
To round off the list, we have a competitor for Best Animated Feature. If you somehow didn’t watch it over the holidays, Vengeance Most Fowl is the latest instalment of Aardman’s beloved Wallace and Gromit series.
Wallace (Ben Whitehead) invents a handy garden gnome, Norbot (voiced by Inside No 9’s Reece Shearsmith), and becomes over reliant on the convenience of his new technology, much to Gromit’s annoyance.
Things go from bad to worse when an old nemesis, villainous penguin Feathers McGraw, breaks out of prison and programmes the Norbots to do his bidding.
Vengeance Most Fowl indulges in all the warm nostalgia and humour of its predecessors, whilst making some relevant commentary on our increasing dependence on AI.
Where to Watch: Streaming on BBC IPlayer.
Featured Image: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times