From ‘The Brutalist' to 'Wicked,' where to watch this year’s top awards movies

[February 08, 2025]  The 2025 movie awards season is in full swing but figuring out where to watch everything can be overwhelming. Are they streaming? For free? In theaters? Only in Los Angeles and New York?

Take one of the big winners of the Golden Globes, “The Brutalist,” a film that’s been dominating conversations since it premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September. You might be eager to see what all the fuss is about with Brady Corbet’s 215-minute postwar saga, which was nominated for 10 Oscars, including best picture. This weekend, it finally goes into wide release in North America. Leading nominee “Emilia Pérez” requires less of a trip. It’s streaming on Netflix.

The Associated Press has pulled together a guide for what you need to know about this season’s big contenders, and where to watch them.

“Emilia Pérez” (13 Oscar nominations): Streaming on Netflix
Jacques Audiard’s audacious musical crime thriller about a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender-affirming surgery is steamrolling awards season, with a leading 13 Oscar nominations, including best picture, SAG noms for Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoe Saldaña, who also won at the Globes, and a DGA nom. It also won the best musical/comedy Golden Globe, best original song (“El Mal”) and best picture not in the English language.

“The Brutalist” (10 Oscar nominations): In theaters
A major player, despite the lack of a SAG ensemble nomination, this film stars Adrien Brody as a noted architect and Holocaust survivor who attempts to start life anew in America and gets a life-changing commission from Guy Pearce’s wealthy industrialist. It won the Golden Globe for best director, best drama and best actor. Felicity Jones was also among its Oscar nominations.

“Wicked” (10 Oscar nominations): Available to rent or buy on video-on-demand
Jon M. Chu’s vibrant adaptation of the popular movie musical (well, the first half) was widely recognized by the academy, with nods for Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and best picture. It also snagged a coveted best ensemble nomination from SAG, as well as individual nods for Erivo, Grande and Jonathan Bailey.

“A Complete Unknown” (8 Oscar nominations): In theaters
James Mangold’s acclaimed Bob Dylan biopic did well Oscar morning with best picture, best director, best actor for Timothée Chalamet, supporting actress for Monica Barbaro, who plays Joan Baez, and supporting actor for Edward Norton as Pete Seeger.

“Conclave” (8 Oscar nominations): Streaming on Peacock
This pulpy, smart thriller about the selection of a new pope got a DGA nom for director Edward Berger and a SAG nod for Ralph Fiennes’ lead performance. It also won the best screenplay Golden Globe. Berger was not nominated for a best director Oscar, but Isabella Rossellini got in for supporting actress.

“Anora” (6 Oscar nominations): VOD
Sean Baker’sPalme d’Or winner about a New York stripper’s rollercoaster romance with a Russian oligarch’s son may not have won big (or at all) at the Golden Globes, but the shine is still there — especially after Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild nominations for Mikey Madison and Yura Borisov, and their respective Oscar nominations.

“Dune: Part Two” (5 Oscar nominations): Streaming on Max
The first “Dune” got a best picture nomination but Denis Villeneuve was snubbed for a directing nod — and the same thing happened with “Part Two.” He was also left off the Directors Guild of America list.

“The Substance” (5 Oscar nominations): Streaming on Mubi
Demi Moore’s turn as an aging actor who goes to extremes to preserve her looks in Coralie Fargeat’s body horror already won her a Golden Globe, got her a SAG nomination and an Oscar nod. It was also nominated for best picture and best director.

“Nosferatu” (4 Oscar nominations): VOD
Robert Eggers’ remake of the 1922 silent vampire classic starring Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgård was recognized for crafts and cinematography.

“I’m Still Here” (3 Oscar nominations): In limited theaters
This Brazilian film from Walter Salles stars Fernanda Torres (who won the Golden Globe) as Eunice Paiva, the wife of Rubens Paiva, a former leftist Brazilian congressman who was taken and not returned during the country’s military dictatorship. It made best picture, best actress and best international feature.

“Sing Sing” (3 Oscar nominations): VOD
Colman Domingo has received a lot of recognition for his performance as an incarcerated man who helps lead a theater program for others at Sing Sing, including from the actors guild. Domingo, the screenplay and the music were recognized by the academy.

“The Wild Robot” (3 Oscar nominations): Streaming on Peacock
Chris Sanders’ charming adaptation of Peter Brown’s book about a smart robot who gets stranded in the wilderness and becomes caretaker to a young gosling is in the animated feature discussion.

“The Apprentice” (2 Oscar nominations): VOD
Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong got Oscar nominations for portraying Donald Trump and his lawyer Roy Cohn in this film about the future U.S. president.

“Flow” (2 Oscar nominations): VOD, streaming Feb. 14 on Max
This wordless Latvian film about a cat escaping a great flood has become a favorite in the animation category. It won the animation Golden Globe and was nominated for an animation and international feature Oscar.

“Nickel Boys” (2 Oscar nominations): In very limited theaters, streaming Feb. 28 on MGM+
RaMell Ross used first-person POV to adapt Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about an abusive reform school in the Jim Crow South and for it got a best first feature nomination from the DGA.

“A Real Pain” (2 Oscar nominations): Streaming on Hulu
After a Globes win, an Oscar and SAG nom, Kieran Culkin is quickly becoming the supporting actor favorite in the awards race for playing the chaotic, charismatic Benji in Jesse Eisenberg’s tragicomic film about odd couple cousins on a Holocaust tour in Poland. Eisenberg was nominated for original screenplay.

“Black Box Diaries” (1 Oscar nomination): Streaming on Paramount+
Shiori Itō made this documentary investigating her own sexual assault case in Japan.

“A Different Man” (1 Oscar nomination): Streaming on Max
Sebastian Stan won a Golden Globe for his performance as an aspiring actor who drastically changes his face in this psychological thriller. It was only recognized for makeup and hairstyling.

“The Girl with the Needle” (1 Oscar nomination): Streaming on Mubi
A young factory worker struggles to survive in post-World War I Copenhagen in this black-and-white psychological horror, which is up for best international film.

“Gladiator II” (1 Oscar nomination): Streaming on Paramount+
Denzel Washington did not get the one nomination. That went to the costume design team.

“Inside Out 2” (1 Oscar nomination): Streaming on Disney+
This Disney sequel about the emotions of a young girl is now the highest-grossing animated film of all time, not accounting for inflation.

“Memoir of a Snail” (1 Oscar nomination): Streaming on AMC+
This animated feature nominee is not for young kids. Rated R, this stop-motion charmer is about a young misfit named Grace (Sarah Snook) who must find her way after being separated from her twin brother.

“No Other Land” (1 Oscar nomination): In limited theaters
A Palestinian-Israeli collective is behind this acclaimed documentary about the systemic demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank. Shot between 2019 and 2023, producers opted for self-distribution after the film could not find a home with a major theatrical distributor or U.S. streamer.

“Porcelain War” (1 Oscar nomination): In limited theaters
This documentary film about life during wartime focuses on Slava Leontyev, a Ukrainian ceramicist, his wife Anya Stasenko, and their friend painter/filmmaker Andrey Stefanov.

“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (1 Oscar nomination): In very limited theaters, on VOD on Feb. 18
Widely considered one of the best films of the year, this Cannes gem (and Germany’s Oscar submission) is a political thriller and domestic drama about Iran’s authoritarian regime.

“September 5” (1 Oscar nomination): In theaters
This film is a tick-tock account of how the sports reporters at ABC covered the Munich Olympics hostage crisis live in 1972. It got an original screenplay nod.

“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” (1 Oscar nomination): Streaming on Kanopy
This documentary nominee looks at the situation around the 1961 assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.

“Sugarcane” (1 Oscar nomination): Streaming on Hulu and Disney+
Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie directed this documentary investigation into an Indian residential school, and reports of historic abuses, missing and dead children, has a profound impact on a community reckoning with the trauma.

“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” (1 Oscar nomination): Streaming on Netflix
An animated contender, this is only the second feature-length Wallace & Gromit film, and brings back favorite Feathers McGraw.

“The Last Showgirl” (0 Oscar nominations): In theaters
Pamela Anderson got a SAG nomination for her portrayal of an aging Vegas performer in Gia Coppola’s film, but no such luck at the Oscars.

“The Piano Lesson” (O Oscar nominations): Streaming on Netflix
Danielle Deadwyler got a supporting actress nod from SAG for her performance in Malcolm Washington’s August Wilson adaptation. The movie was shut out at the Oscars.

“Queer” (0 Oscar nominations): On VOD
Daniel Craig picked up a SAG nomination for his performance as a junkie expat infatuated with a young man in postwar Mexico in Luca Guadagnino’s William S. Burroughs adaptation.

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