Are you ready to return to the local picture palace – if you haven’t already – encouraged by low Covid-19 transmission and the fact that cinemas are well and truly open again? Or would you prefer to hang out in PJs at home (no judgment here) and keep your butt plonked on the couch?
Both options are available if you’re looking to get au fait with films nominated for best picture at this year’s Academy Awards, which take place on 26 April. Some are at cinemas; some are on streaming; one is available on both formats. Here’s my guide to every film nominated in this prestigious category (and where to watch them), ranked in reverse order of merit.
8. Mank
Watch it on Netflix
Everything about David Fincher’s navel-gazing hat-tip to old school Hollywood circa the 30s and 40s comes across as spit-polished and artificial – from its smoky monochrome veneer to dialogue so structured and finessed it feels almost symmetrical. The reliable Gary Oldman is predictably impressive as bleary-eyed screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, who wrote Citizen Kane after experiencing a nasty car accident and agreed not to take credit for the screenplay but changed his mind.
Working from a script written by his father, Jack, Fincher – whose films are usually much more captivating – directs Mank in an impersonal style, as if he intends it to be respected rather than enjoyed per se. The result is a formally fine but rigid work; I wanted to grab the frame and shake it to life. There are some briefly interesting moments inspired by history: scenes capturing life on the studio lot for instance, and Mankiewicz crashing a party hosted by William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper tycoon who inspired Citizen Kane.
7. The Father
Watch it in select cinemas
Director Florian Zeller’s chamber piece, starring Anthony Hopkins as an elderly man whose mind is dramatically deteriorating, is one of those films that’s convinced the best way to depict mental illness is by presenting hallucinations the protagonist shares with the audience, with a question mark over where reality begins and ends. That approach is visually and dramatically convenient but in some respects simple-minded; for examples of more captivating and multi-faceted ways to portray matters of the mind, check out the excellent Australian drama Wakefield.
Hopkins plays an 80-year-old living in a lavish London apartment, with his daughter (Olivia Colman), who believes he should be moved into a nursing home. Adapted by Zoller from his own play, with loads of well-written and stagey dialogue, the film is boosted immeasurably by Hopkins’ performance, as is every production starring the great actor. Is there such a thing as a little too good, a little too effortless? Hopkins seems to be able to do it all in his sleep.
6. Judas and the Black Messiah
Watch it in select cinemas
The most interesting character in Judas and the Black Messiah is clearly the charismatic and incendiary Black Panther leader Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), but Shaka King’s film has a habit of removing us a step or two from his story. The narrative is framed from the perspective of car thief-cum-police informant, William O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield), who makes a deal to rat on the Panthers in exchange for avoiding jail time, creating a moral crisis that never feels entirely explored. We understand the situation but don’t fully grasp the internal conflict inside him.
The Black Messiah is well produced but doesn’t have the electrical surge, the current, the pulse the material demands – despite an arresting performance from Kaluuya and, in fact, fine acting across the board. For recent and superior explorations of race relations in America, also inspired by historical circumstances, check out Regina King’s One Night in Miami (which would have made a better Best Picture nominee) and Spike Lee’s explosively good comedy-drama BlackKkKlansman.
5. Promising Young Woman
On digital release and in select cinemas
The reprehensible suggestion that intoxicated women are in some way responsible for predatory behaviour committed by men continues to slither around in public discourse. This issue is explored through the story of a woman (Carey Mulligan) who hangs out in bars feigning drunkenness, waiting for men to attempt to take advantage of her – before she delivers a powerful message to scare them out of doing it again.
Writer/director Emerald Fennell’s film is a thrilling and contemporary post-#MeToo update to the rape-revenge movie, a genre that historically has often involved a male star (like Bruce Willis or Liam Neeson) avenging their daughters. Carey Mulligan delivers an unforgettable lead performance and the gut-punching finale suggests justice is in the mail for certain kinds of men involved in predatory behaviour, while also making a point about the ongoing struggles of victims.
4. Minari
Watch it in select cinemas
From the opening scene – showing a Korean family in a car en route to a new home –writer/director Lee Isaac Chung’s elegantly made drama puts the audience in a gentle headspace, and then works its low-key magic. In the 1980s Jacob (Steven Yeun) and Monica (Han Ye-ri) and their kids Anne (Noel Cho) and David (Alan Kim) relocate from California to Arkansas, pursuing Jacob’s dream of running a farm and selling Korean vegetables.
Minari is a film of old-fashioned hopefulness, told with smooth edges. Inspired by his own upbringing, Chung avoids anything prickly or political – no messages about racism, for instance, or whether the folksy idea of the USA as a promised land is a reasonable interpretation of the contemporary American experience. I love the sense of space and location the central setting evokes: we will remember this family’s home, the creamy sky above them, the nearby creek, the green fields. At the film’s core is a simple but lovely message that places tell stories, and stories belong to places.
3. The Trial of the Chicago 7
Watch it on Netflix
Superstar playwright-cum-film-maker Aaron Sorkin introduces his highly entertaining drama about the titular court case by cutting between monologuing principal characters, maintaining the fluidity of the wordplay while jumping across locations and situations. Dialogue has been used as a form of editing: a very bold and effective technique, kicking off a film that combines Sorkin’s slick verbosity with cinematic flourishes.
It’s moreish historical confection: irresistibly produced rather than realistic per se, serving primarily to demonstrate the flashiness of the writing rather than drill down into what actually happened. The case took place in America during the late 60s and early 70s, with authorities going after protesters who disrupted the 1968 Democratic National Convention. This ragtag group of progressives are brought to life by a captivating cast including Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
2. Sound of Metal
Watch it on Prime Video and on digital release
We often see the camera being used to detail the point-of-view of a character; it’s much rarer for sound to be used for similar purposes – to convey somebody’s view of the world as absorbed through their eardrums. There are several impressive sound-of-view (to coin a phrase … might need workshopping) moments in writer/director Darius Marder’s terrific feature debut about a punk-metal drummer, Ruben (Riz Ahmed), who is going deaf.
Instructed by his doctor to immediately avoid loud noises, just as his band is taking off, I initially thought Sound of Metal would play out like Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, which stars Mickey Rourke as a self-destructive performer who can’t stop doing the only thing he’s good at. But Marder avoids obvious routes, building a character study that is sort of a contemplation of loss, sort of a redemption story, and entirely a film that doesn’t fit neatly into boxes. It’s beautifully acted and artfully made.
1. Nomadland
Watch it in select cinemas
Most films are emotional journeys, to varying degrees, but the exquisitely crafted Nomadland is something very special. It’s constructed by writer/director Chloé Zhao with an understanding that journeys can be simultaneously emotional (with people who move us), geographic (with settings that inspire us) and temporal (which involve the passing of time). The story follows Frances McDormand, one of the most captivating American actors, as Fern, who works menial jobs and comes to embrace the nomadic life by buying a van and living on the road.
Don’t expect an excessively romantic view of a “free spirit on wheels” lifestyle, nor a hard-hitting message cautioning against it. Zhao’s great film has a lovely, even-minded perspective that reflects the emotional and moral breadth of life itself: there is good, there is bad, there is happiness, there is sadness. A rich emotional tapestry. We become greatly invested in Fern’s journey, which feels like a shared experience: something to treasure and hold on to.
• The Oscars ceremony will take place at 10am on Monday 26 April, AEST
