The highly anticipated 96th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 10. Until then, there’s plenty of time to catch up and enjoy the Best Picture nominees.
From The Holdovers to Killers of the Flower Moon, via Poor Things and Oppenheimer, most of the Best Picture nominees can be watched on different streaming platforms such as Netflix, Peacock, Max, and Prime Video. Here’s everything you need to know to watch the big favorites from the comfort of your home.
OPPENHEIMER (Universal Pictures)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Producers: Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, Christopher Nolan
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Rami Malek, Florence Pugh
Genre: Drama, History, Biography
Oppenheimer is a film by Christopher Nolan that follows theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man behind the atomic bomb. Inspired by the book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the drama stars Cillian Murphy.
According to the official synopsis:
“During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world’s first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history.”
The heavy favorite at the 96th Hollywood Academy Awards, Oppenheimer delves into the devastating consequences of the creation of the atomic bomb and its lasting impact on the world. Notably, Christopher Nolan’s films, including Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet, Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy, have grossed more than $5 billion at the worldwide box office and have garnered 11 Oscars and 36 nominations.
Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Christopher Nolan), Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design, Sound, Original Score, Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design, and Film Editing.
Oppenheimer is available streaming on Peacock. Available for a fee on YouTube, Apple TV, Prime Video, Vudu, iTunes, Google Play and other sites.
BARBIE (Warner Bros)
Director: Greta Gerwig
Producers: David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Robbie Brenner
Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, Ariana Greenblatt, Helen Mirren, Nicola Coughlan, John Cena, Will Ferrell, Ritu Arya, Michael Cera, America Ferrera, Alexandra Shipp, Kate McKinnon
Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Fantasy
The film follows America’s most iconic doll as she leaves behind her sheltered life in “Barbie Land” and enters the real world. There, Barbie becomes increasingly involved in the complexity of human problems and Ken becomes educated about patriarchy. “Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence,” the official website states.
Director Greta Gerwig strives to exploit the complexity of the Barbie doll, while keeping everything smart, funny and colorful. This musical fantasy comedy starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling uses its pink, utopian setting to point out all the things we need to improve in the real world.
Barbie is both a commercial blockbuster and an interesting meditation on human existence.
Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling), Best Supporting Actress (America Ferrera), Adapted Screenplay, Original Song (two nominations), Costume Design, and Production Design.
Barbie is available for streaming on Max.
POOR THINGS (Searchlight Pictures)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Producers: Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone
Cast: Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
Poor Things is a romantic sci-fi film from the director of The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos. Based on the 1992 novel of the same name written by Alasdair Gray, the story follows Bella Baxter after a scientist brings her back to life.
According to the official synopsis:
“Poor Things centers on the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation”.
In Poor Things, Emma Stone does some of the best work of her career as Bella Baxter, a grown woman with the brains (literally) of a baby.
Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Yorgos Lanthimos), Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design, Original Score, Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design, and Film Editing.
Poor Things is now available in theaters. It will eventually stream on Hulu.
PAST LIVES (A24)
Director: Celine Song
Producers: David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler
Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
Genre: Drama, Romance
Teo Yoo and Greta Lee star in A24’s Past Lives, one of the great favorites of the season. Past Lives is a story about first love, the one from childhood, the one that becomes entrenched deep inside and unwittingly seeks ways to be reborn.
Korean-Canadian director Celine Song draws on autobiographical experiences to tell the story of the fated and impossible, Nora and Hae Sung.
“Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are torn apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance” states the film’s website.
As you might expect, the meeting between Nora and Hae Sung is an overwhelming emotional shock for both of them.
Past lives is a sensitive, exquisite and personal debut feature. Director, screenwriter and playwright Celine Song gives us a story about interrupted love and the vagaries of fate.
Oscar nominations: Best Picture and Original Screenplay.
Past lives is available for streaming on Paramount+.
MAESTRO (Netflix)
Director: Bradley Cooper
Producers: Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning, Kristie Macosko Krieger
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Maya Hawke, Sarah Silverman, Matt Bomer
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Maestro is a biographical drama about the famous composer Leonard Bernstein. Bradley Cooper plays Leonard Bernstein and also writes and directs the film.
Maestro tells the love story between Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre. While Bernstein was a renowned musical director thanks to his work with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Montealegre was an actress with Costa Rican roots, also known for her social activism. The couple married in 1951 and remained together until 1976, when the bisexual orchestral conductor had a relationship with musician Tom Cothran.
According to the synopsis revealed by Netflix, Maestro is “an emotionally epic portrait of family and love”.
Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor (Bradley Cooper), Best Actress (Carey Mulligan), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound, and Makeup and Hairstyling.
Maestro is available on Netflix.
THE ZONE OF INTEREST (A24)
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Producer: James Wilson.
Cast: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Ralph Herforth, Luis Noah Witte, Johann Karthaus
Genre: Drama, History, War
Written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, the film is loosely based on Martin Amis’ 2014 novel of the same title.
The Zone of Interest focuses on the daily routine of Auschwitz camp commandant Rudolf Höss and his family, who live alongside the infamous concentration camp, which was used to systematically exterminate Jews and other enemies, housing them in some of the most horrific conditions in modern history.
Jonathan Glazer’s idea is to show an intimate juxtaposition between the horrors of the extermination camp and the daily lives of the followers of the Nazi regime of World War II.
“The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp” states the synopsis. The film suggests that Rudolf Höss and his family are representative of the millions of ordinary Germans who chatted over breakfast while their neighbors were massacred.
Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Glazer), Adapted Screenplay, Sound, and International Feature Film.
The Zone of Interest is available in theaters. It will eventually stream on Max.
AMERICAN FICTION (MGM)
Director: Cord Jefferson
Producers: Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson
Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz , Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Keith David, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett, American Fiction is a dramatic film starring Jeffrey Wright as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, an academic and novelist who has failed to achieve stardom in the publishing world.
The synopsis for the film reads:
“American Fiction is Cord Jefferson’s hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.”
American Fiction is a smart and funny satire of race, artists, the media, and even Hollywood. Cord Jefferson former journalist and television screenwriter has made an amazing directorial debut.
Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor (Jeffrey Wright), Best Supporting Actor (Sterling K. Brown), Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score.
American Fiction is available in theaters. Available for a fee on Amazon, iTunes and Google Play.
ANATOMY OF A FALL (Neon)
Director: Justine Triet
Producers: Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
Cast: Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado-Graner, Antoine Reinartz, Samuel Theis, Jehnny Beth, Saadia Bentaieb, Camille Rutherford, Anne Rotger, Sophie Fillières
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Sandra Hüller stars in Anatomy of a Fall as a writer trying to prove her innocence when she is accused of murdering her husband. Director Justine Triet’s third film is a twisted family drama based on true crimes.
According to Neon Cinema’s synopsis:
“Sandra, her husband Samuel, and their son Daniel live a secluded life in a remote town in the French Alps. When Samuel is found dead, the police question if he was murdered or committed suicide and Sandra becomes the main suspect.”
Accused of killing her husband and on trial for his death, the protagonist must face public scrutiny while defending herself.
Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning film is a raw and intoxicating legal thriller.
Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Justine Triet), Best Actress (Sandra Hüller), Original Screenplay, and Film Editing.
Anatomy of a Fall is available to rent on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and YouTube.
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Producers: Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese, Daniel Lupi
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Louis Cancelmi, Jillian Dion, Scott Shepherd, Jesse Plemons, JaNae Collins, Robert De Niro, Jason Isbell, Cara Jade Myers, Lily Gladstone
Genre: History, Drama, Crime
The new epic from acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese is an adaptation of David Grann’s non-fiction book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. The three-and-a-half hour film is equal parts romance, crime thriller and bloody lesson in unbridled ambition.
The story centers on the Osage Nation, Oklahoma, from the late 1910s to the mid 1920s.
“When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one-until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery,” expresses the synopsis.
Like other Scorsese films, such as Goodfellas, Mean Streets, Casino, Raging Bull, The Irishman, Killers of the Flower Moon is also a gangster film that dramatizes the spread of greed and corruption. In the spirit of David Grann’s book, the film seeks to acknowledge and correct the silencing of past crimes.
Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Martin Scorsese), Best Actress (Lily Gladstone), Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro), Cinematography, Original Song, Costume Design, Original Score, Production Design, and Film Editing.
Killers of the Flower Moon is available for streaming on Apple TV+.
THE HOLDOVERS (Focus Features)
Director: Alexander Payne
Producer: Mark Johnson
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Holiday
The Holdovers is a comedy-drama starring Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham, an academy teacher disowned by both his peers and his students.
The synopsis for the film reads:
“A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker, and with the school’s head cook, a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War”.
Paul Giamatti gets his richest role in years as Paul Hunham, a brutal teacher at the prestigious Barton Academy in the early 1970s. The Holdovers is a smart and funny film about makeshift families and unexpected friendships.
Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor (Paul Giamatti), Best Supporting Actress (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), Original Screenplay, and Film Editing.
The Holdovers is available for streaming on Peacock. It is also available for purchase on platforms such as Prime Video, Vudu and Apple TV.