Awards season is underway – and in a year with few clear-cut front runners, and lots of the movies out late in the day in the UK, the race is looking pretty unpredictable.
Here’s a whistle-stop tour of some of the movies you’ll be hearing lots more about and where to watch them.
It’s 22 years since a musical took best picture at the Oscars but now, like buses, two come along at once.
First there’s Emilia Perez – a mostly Spanish musical from a French director about a Mexican drug lord who changes gender, played by trans actress Karla Sofia Gascon.
The most nominated foreign-language film in Oscar history with a whopping 13 nods – just one short of the all-time record – Gascon’s personal bid for Oscar glory has nose-dived after problematic tweets she sent resurfaced.
The movie also stars Zoe Saldana, who as a darling of blockbusters including Guardians Of The Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity War and the Avatar franchise, is taking a punt on a more unusual film this time around.
She told Sky News: “We understood the assignment. We felt like, OK, it’s the niche of the niche of the niche film.”
Demi Moore continues winning streak at Critics Choice Awards – as Zoe Saldana and Adrien Brody also take home top prizes
Emilia Perez breaks records as it leads Oscar nominations
The Brutalist director insists lead actors’ performances ‘their own’ after use of AI for Hungarian accents
Selena Gomez, who also stars, told Sky News that acting in Spanish was a joyful challenge: “Doing this movie has given me a little bit of a pat on the back and I felt encouraged,” she said.
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While the movie won four Golden Globes earlier this year, including best motion picture in the musical and comedy category, it’s proved divisive for some Mexican viewers who say it reduces them to crude stereotypes.
Large parts of the trans community have also said its treatment of transitioning feels regressive.
Plus, its reported use of AI to tweak some of Gascon’s high notes has not gone without comment.
Emilia Perez is available to view on Netflix.
Then there’s Wicked – the Wizard Of Oz prequel starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, whose press interviews were frequently emotional.
It’s been a box office hit, becoming the highest-grossing musical adaptation. But will it have the same magic touch at forthcoming awards?
It took one Golden Globe, in the shiny new category of cinematic and box office achievement, joining last year’s inaugural winner Barbie.
Wicked is available to rent or own on demand, including on Sky Store.
Chunky male-led dramas are awards season staples – and this year is no exception.
The Brutalist stars Adrien Brody as Hungarian architect Laszlo Toth, attempting to rebuild his life in the US after the Second World War.
You need staying power to sit through this one – it’s over three and a half hours long and even has its own interval.
Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones co-star, with Pearce crediting Brody’s achievement in the role, noting he is “almost intimidating he’s so good”.
Brody already has one best actor Oscar win under his belt – this might secure him a second.
The movie took best motion picture in the drama category at the Globes, as well as wins for Brody and its director Brady Corbet.
Meanwhile, a few eyebrows have been raised over the use of AI to “refine” the lead actors’ Hungarian accents.
The Brutalist is in cinemas now.
Conclave is all about choosing a new Pope – a papal X Factor if you will.
In the film, more than 100 high-ranking clergymen, each with their own chequered past, elect the next Catholic figurehead while sealed off from the public in the secretive voting process.
The most nominated film at this year’s BAFTAs, with plenty of star power and Ralph Fiennes at the helm, it’s a study of the Catholic Church – warts and all.
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But as Fiennes told Sky News: “It’s not a facile takedown of the Catholic Church. I think it approaches it with curiosity…
“There’s obviously corruption. There are all kinds of transgressions we know about that have taken place, but it exists because the Catholic Church also offers, I think, a sort of support to communities. It’s a foundational place to go where the community has a structure, so I think it’s a big thing to sort of open up and discuss.”
Conclave, which also stars Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini, is available to rent or own on demand, including on Sky Store.
Nickel Boys, about abuse at a US reform school in the 1960s, is the film with perhaps the most unique visual style, shot almost entirely from the two lead characters’ point of view.
It’s a disorientating drama that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
The film’s director, RaMell Ross, told Sky News it was a “multiple fold” movie, exploring the conventional representation of black people as victims in cinema as well as an expression of trauma.
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Ethan Herisse who plays Elwood, one of the film’s two leads, told Sky News: “While we were making it, it felt like we were doing something special and there was so much love from all the people that were working on that set. So, I was just hoping that it was able to come across when it was all said and done.”
Nickel Boys is in cinemas now.
We’ll call this the Timothée Chalamet section – flying the flag for two very different films.
Firstly, saving the universe in sci-fi sequel Dune: Part Two.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Chalamet steps back into the role of Paul Atreides, who, following the first movie, is now seeking revenge against those who decimated his family.
The third film is due out next year.
Villeneuve previously told Sky News he couldn’t have made the franchise without Chalamet’s talent.
Dune Two, which also stars Zendaya and Florence Pugh, is available to rent or own on demand, including on Sky Store.
Chalamet’s second punt in the awards offerings sees him pick up the guitar and give it some mumbling Bob Dylan energy in A Complete Unknown, playing the Nobel prize-winning folk hero regarded by many as a lyrical genius.
Chalamet spent five years working on his singing, harmonica and guitar skills. Will the awards reward him for his efforts? Or will he be on his bike?
A Complete Unknown is in cinemas now.
And then there’s the female-led movies – from gritty, to horror, to devastating real life.
Anora stars newcomer Mikey Madison as a sex worker from Brooklyn who marries into money.
Think Pretty Woman but without the sugar coating.
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Madison told Sky News she was “grateful” to have had the experience, adding that the “sex work community is amazing and I’ve made so many incredible friends”.
Anora is available to rent or own on demand, including on Sky Store.
I’m Still Here sees a mother of five fighting Brazil’s authoritarian military regime in the 1970s after her husband is forcibly “disappeared”, leaving her to search for the truth and rebuild her life.
Based on a true story, this Portuguese-language film is creating an unexpected buzz, with three Oscar nods and one Golden Globe win for its star, Fernanda Torres.
The Brazilian drama’s chances in the international category at the Oscars is better than fair.
I’m Still Here is due to go on limited release in cinemas on Friday 21 February.
Lastly, body horror movie The Substance has given its star Demi Moore a career reboot like no other.
The timely narrative about an older actress refusing to fade into obscurity, with horrifying consequences, is one voters are likely to lap up.
It saw Moore take best actress in a musical or comedy at the Golden Globes, and her acceptance speech in which she spoke about being written off as a “popcorn actress” early on in her career laid the ground for further wins including a Critics’ Choice gong.
Will Moore win best actress at the BAFTAs and Oscars? If the buzz is to be believed, she may well nab them.
The Substance, which also stars Margaret Qualley, is available to rent or own on demand, including on Sky Store.
The competition’s wide open – may the best movies win!
The BAFTA ceremony will be held at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday, 16 February.
The Academy Awards ceremony will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, 2 March.
