The Hollywood awards season has officially kicked off, and here are six Oscar-buzz movies that you can stream now.
1. SOCIETY OF THE SNOW
J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow is among the 15 shortlisted foreign films in the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
The Spanish survival thriller is based on the chilling true events of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash in 1972, where only 16 of the 45 passengers survived. While chartering a rugby team to Chile, the plane slammed violently into the hostile Andes mountains, forcing the survivors into harrowing circumstances. The film’s treatment of their grisly ordeal is not for the faint of heart.
Trapped for 72 days in one of the harshest, most inaccessible corners of the planet, the passengers take on extraordinary measures to survive. The horror-drama then becomes a case study of human resilience. (On Netflix)
2. RUSTIN
Colman Domingo is the lure in Rustin, a biographical drama about the life of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.
His performance as a 1980s civil-rights influencer and a gay man criticized for his sexuality has earned Domingo a bunch of nominations, including Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture–Drama at the Golden Globes, though he lost to Cillian Murphy of Oppenheimer.
The 54-year-old actor, with a strong Broadway background (he has already won a Tony and an Olivier) is still up for the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) awards, competing against Bradley Cooper for Maestro, Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers, Jeffrey Wright for American Fiction and Murphy for Oppenheimer. He will mostly likely receive a nomination from the Oscars.
If he’s familiar, you probably remember Domingo in awards-season films of the past, such as Lincoln (2012), Selma (2014), If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020). (On Netflix)
3. MAESTRO
The multitalented Bradley Cooper is behind Maestro, the fact-based complex love story between the bisexual American composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre.
He co-wrote and directed this visually stylish film lensed by celebrated Filipino cinematographer Matthew Libatique — and starred as Bernstein himself complete with a prosthetic nose.
Cooper and Carey Mulligan (who plays Montealegre) are circulating the major award-giving bodies for their performances, nabbing nominations from the Globes and the SAG — and quite possibly an Oscar, too, when the announcement drops on 23 January. (On Netflix)
4.OPPENHEIMER
Oppenheimer swept the Golden Globes with five awards: Best Motion Picture–Drama, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey, Jr., Best Original Score for Ludwig Göransson and Best Director for Christopher Nolan.
The DGAs (Directors Guild of America) recently announced its nominations list and Nolan earned an unsurprising slot. Oppenheimer is known for using practical effects over CGI, giving the movie a more organic, filmic texture.
The movie is truly made for IMAX, but you can still marvel at the visually stunning biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb on your home TV, as you immerse yourself in the film’s masterful technical craft. (On Apple TV, Google Play)
5.BARBIE
Blockbuster darling Barbie recently won two Golden Globe awards — the newly created category of box office and cinematic achievement and original song (“What Was I Made For” by Billie Eilish and FINNEAS).
It landed four SAG nominations last Wednesday, pitting it against its rival Oppenheimer ahead of the Oscars. Greta Gerwig’s subversive and preachy melodrama has earned SAG nods for Best Cast in a Motion Picture, Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role for Ryan Gosling, Best Female Actor in a Leading Role for Margot Robbie, and Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture. (On HBO Go)
6. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Martin Scorsese’s epic drama based on David Grann’s best-selling book about serial murders in the wealthy Osage tribe, known as the Reign of Terror, is earning nomination spots in major Hollywood award-giving bodies.
Lily Gladstone, who plays opposite Leonardo Di Caprio as his wife, made history as the first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress. This is a good enough reason to stream this visually opulent piece of cinema, which runs 3.5 hours.
The SAG Awards also recognized Gladstone, nominating her for Female Actor in a Leading Role alongside Annette Bening for Nyad, Carey Mulligan for Maestro, Margot Robbie for Barbie and Emma Stone for Poor Things. (On Apple TV, Google Play)