The race for the coveted Best Picture Oscar is officially underway as the 98th Academy Awards approach. Will One Battle After Another win this particular war? Does Frankenstein have all the right parts to win over the voters? Or has Marty Supreme got what it takes to bat away the competition?
We're now one step closer to knowing who will take that top prize, with the 10 nominees being revealed by Danielle Brooks and actor Lewis Pullman today.
How to watch Oscar nominated movies online from anywhere
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Bugonia
US: Watch now on Peacock
Worldwide: VOD
Watch Peacock abroad: NordVPN (Save 74%)
From the warped and wonderful mind of Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, The Favorite) comes a chamber piece starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. The former is a powerful CEO. The latter is a conspiracy theory-obsessed eco-activist who kidnaps her on the basis that he thinks she's an alien. So far, so Yorgos!
To say more risks giving too much away, but the drama relies on a whipsmart script that sees captive and captor go head-to-head and a narrative that always keeps the viewer on their toes. Having won twice before, Stone has picked up yet another Best Actress nomination for her work on Bugonia.
F1
Worldwide: Watch now on Apple TV (7-day free trial)
Perhaps the most surprising of this year's Best Picture nominees, Apple TV's F1 serves as a fantastic advert for the organization with which it's aligned. It brings all the power, grunt and LOUD NOISES of motor racing, and it's no great surprise to see it also nominated in categories for editing, sound and visual effects.
In terms of plot, it follows Brad Pitt's Sonny Hayes – a racing legend who is persuaded to come out of retirement to save the ailing fortunes of the struggling APXGP team. There, he forms a reluctant partnership with cocky rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris). And, for as long as Pitt walks the silver screen, there's sure to be a love interest; this time it's in the form of tam technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon). Expect, thrills, spills and some very powerful machinery.
Frankenstein
Worldwide: Watch now on Netflix
Free Netflix: Get Netflix free when you join Sky UK
Frankenstein is classic Guillermo del Toro territory and it's no surprise to discover it's a film the great Mexican director has always wanted to make (we rated it 5/5). More than simply a gothic retelling of Mary Shelley's seminal work of horror, it gets right to the crux of what it means to be alive.
Oscar Isaac takes up the role of Baron Victor Frankenstein here; a brilliant but arrogant surgeon with a demonic ambition to create life from death. Star on the rise Jacob Elordi (who has received his first Academy Award nomination) plays the awesome monster Frankenstein creates. Told in a dual narrative from the perspectives of creator and beast, del Toro perhaps delves further into Shelley's original text than any of the many other filmmakers who have adapted it before. Unlike the monster, it's a quite beautiful creation.
Hamnet
US: TBC. Expected on Peacock/Prime Video
Worldwide: Not yet streaming – theaters only
Jessie Buckley is overwhelmingly the favorite to win the Best Actress gong for her lead role as Agnes Shakespeare – wife of William – in Chloé Zhao's adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's popular historical novel Hamnet. Having already been nominated for 2021's The Lost Daughter, the Irish star has already picked up a Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Award for this role.
A story worthy of the great bard himself, it focusses on the pain and anguish suffered by matriarch of the Shakespeare family when it's rocked by the death of 11-year-old son Hamnet. Receiving wall-to-wall five-star reviews, it also features the talents of Paul Mescal (Normal People) as William.
Marty Supreme
US: TBC. Expected on HBO Max / Max via Prime Video)
Worldwide: Not yet streaming – theaters only
If you've as much as been on the internet over the last couple of months, you can't have failed to see Timothée Chalamet promoting Marty Supreme in one way, shape or form. The publicity campaign has been as frenetic as the movie itself – a story based loosely on the life of ping pong prodigy Marty Reisman.
But if you're expecting a straight sports biopic, then think again. This film dedicates as much time to shaggy dog stories around wealthy love interests (played by Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow, no less), get-rich-quick schemes and, yes, an actual shaggy dog, as it does to the noble art of table tennis. And in tone, it's far less Chariots of Fire and much more Uncut Gems – the previous film made by director Josh Safdie.
One Battle After Another
US: Watch now on HBO Max / Max via Prime Video
Canada: Watch now on Crave
UK: VOD
Australia: Watch now on HBO Max
Paul Thomas Anderson's synopsis-defying, generation-spanning adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's Vineland is by degrees action, thriller, heist movie and black comedy. The last of those descriptors should not be underestimated – this movie is genuinely funny, with supporting roles from Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn threatening to steal the spotlight from lead man Leonardo DiCaprio, and making stars of Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti in the process.
DiCaprio's former-revolutionary Bob/Pat has his life in witness protection (hence the dual identity) dramatically upended when an antagonist from his past comes back to haunt him and his daughter (Infiniti). Cat and mouse games, a shady organization called the Christmas Adventurers Club, and a very tense car chase across California are all squeezed into a running time that never once feels One Battle After Another's 2h 42m.
The Secret Agent
Worldwide: Not yet streaming – theaters only
Still in cinemas around the world, don't worry if you haven't already seen The Secret Agent – you're certainly not alone! Brazil's entry for Best International Feature Film has also crept into the list of Best Picture nominees.
You'll inevitably recognize lead actor Wagner Moura (also nominated for Best Actor) from his role as Pablo Escobar in Narcos or as an intrepid reporter in the dystopian Civil War. Much like last year's I'm Still Here, the action finds itself set during the Brazilian, as Moura's Armando attempts to escape persecution. Expect a lot of tension from a story with plenty of global resonance in 2026.
Sentimental Value
US: VOD (Prime Video $14.99)
Canada: VOD
Worldwide: Not yet streaming – theaters only
Since premiering at Cannes last year (and taking home the Grand Prix prize), Danish Sentimental Value has had an enchanted run of film festival and awards ceremony success. That's still unusual for a story largely told in a foreign language and is testament to a family drama that transcends borders.
At it's heart is the troubled relationships between Nora (Renate Reinsve), Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) and their estranged father Gustav (the always excellent Stellan Skarsgård, who looks like favorite to bag this year's Best Supporting Actor statue). There's a lot of water that's flowed under that familial bridge, and plenty more to come in the form of their tears. If you enjoyed Joachim Trier's last film, The Worst Person in the World, then you're in for a treat with this one.
Sinners
US: Watch now on HBO Max / Amazon Prime Video
Canada: Watch now on Crave
UK: Watch now on Sky Movies / Now
Australia: Watch now on HBO Max
Sinners may not be like any film you've seen before. Part period drama, part musical, part vampire flick, we'll have whatever Ryan Coogler was on as he wrote and directed this one. It's set in the Mississippi Delta of 1930s, meaning we're deep in Jim Crow territory, and race tensions are never far from boiling to the surface when a pair of criminal twin brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan) return to their hometown.
It's an exhilarating ride that's been an enormous success with critics and the movie-going public alike, grossing $368.3 million worldwide. And now it's an Academy Award record breaker, too, as the most nominated film in the 98-year history of the Oscars. It's 16 nods take in directing, acting, writing, music, costumes, makeup and more, including the newly created category of Best Casting.
Train Dreams
Worldwide: Watch now on Netflix
Last but by no means least on the list of 10 is the little movie that could win Best Picture at the 2026 Oscars – Train Dreams. This understated, emotional drama plays out over eight decades, spanning the life of Robert Grainier and his days on the railroad. As much about the changes to the protagonist in that time, the movie explores the America and world at large that unrecognizably alters at alarming pace around him.
In her review of Train Dreams, TechRadar's Streaming Staff Writer Jasmine Valentine described it as "near-perfect vehicle for a story about a life outside of conformity".
"While the meditating on the not-so-brilliant fruits of Grainier's life of labor, what we're seeing on screen aptly reflects that," she wrote. "Train Dreams' aesthetic is one shrouded in mist, keeping secrets of the past and future at bay while we get lost in the present."
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