With the 10 Best Picture nominees grossing more than $2.5 billion combined, the 2024 Oscars are set up to be the most populist in years—you have to go back to The Return of the King in 2004 to find a winner with anything like the box office of Oppenheimer, which, with a leading 13 nominations, now seems like the overwhelming favorite. If you’re a cinephile, you’ve already seen many of the likely winners. But if you’re still catching up and want to make sure you’re not interrupting the Oscar broadcast on March 10 with cries of “Who’s that?,” we’ve put together a handy guide to the favorites, the dark horses, and the great movies that, in a truly historic year, are likely to walk away empty-handed.
Must Watch
Barbenheimer
I mean, you’ve seen them, right? Barbie and Oppenheimer, the 2023 box-office champs that are also some of the year’s most acclaimed, most entertaining, and now most nominated movies? If not, throw on something pink, grab the nearest pork pie hat, and start streaming. Oppenheimer’s Best Picture triumph is all but a done deal, and although Barbie’s hopes were dimmed after a few misses in top categories—Margot Robbie in Best Actress, Greta Gerwig in Best Director—it’s still the defining movie of the year, the one that not only brought audiences back to theaters but revived the sense that going to a movie could be an event. If you’ve somehow avoided watching either or both and still care about the Oscars, the time to catch up is now. Oppenheimer is available for digital rental and begins streaming on Peacock Feb. 16. Barbie is streaming on Max and available for digital rental.
Poor Things
The second-most-nominated movie, with 11 nominations to Oppenheimer’s 13, isn’t likely to take home nearly as many Oscars, but especially after a few noteworthy stumbles for Killers of the Flower Moon—no nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay or for supporting actor Leonardo DiCaprio—Emma Stone’s chances of winning Best Actress seem more assured than ever. The academy clearly loves the elaborate artifice of Yorgos Lanthimos’ sexy spin on the Frankenstein legend, and the three-way showdown with Barbie and Oppenheimer for Best Adapted Screenplay is one of the toughest races to call. Now playing in theaters.
Anatomy of a Fall
Although it was passed over as the French submission for international film—a widely criticized decision that seems even more ill-advised after the lovely but much more traditionalist choice The Taste of Things couldn’t even score a nomination—the widespread support for Justine Triet’s who-if-anyone-dunit was one of the biggest surprises. It was nominated not only for Best Picture but Best Director (with Triet beating out Barbie’s Gerwig for directing), Best Actress (for Sandra Hüller), and Best Original Screenplay. Perhaps no movie of last year started so many arguments, so see it with someone you love, and be prepared for a postfilm discussion. Available for digital rental.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Scorsese’s epic tale of American genocide missed in a few surprising categories, but it still scored 10 nominations, and Lily Gladstone’s for Best Actress, the first for a Native American actor, is truly historic. A win would be certain to produce a moment we’ll be talking about for years. Streaming on Apple TV+.
The Holdovers
Oppenheimer’s haul makes Cillian Murphy the Best Actor favorite, but the too-often-overlooked Paul Giamatti has vaulted into at least a close second. Da’Vine Joy Randolph is a virtual lock in Best Supporting Actress, and the resolutely nonflashy movie’s nomination for editing indicates widespread support that could pay off elsewhere, especially in Best Original Screenplay. Streaming on Peacock.
The Zone of Interest
Beaten out by Anatomy of a Fall for Cannes’ Palme d’Or, Jonathan Glazer’s Holocaust drama has been a tough sell in awards season, but with Anatomy out of international film, Zone—also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Sound—should coast to an easy win. Now playing in theaters.
20 Days in Mariupol
Although many pundits don’t even bother to predict the category, some of the biggest surprises came in Best Documentary, with thought-to-be sure things American Symphony, a portrait of the Grammy-winning Jon Batiste, and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie both getting passed over by the doc branch. If you’re counting on affection for an American celebrity to propel your movie to a nom, the increasingly internationalized academy, with members from 93 countries, evidently has other ideas. That leaves 20 Days in Mariupol, a decidedly less glamorous portrait of front-line journalists in Ukraine, out in front (although every movie in the category is very much worth watching, especially The Eternal Memory). Available for digital rental.
Covering the Bases
American Fiction
It didn’t come entirely out of nowhere, but the widespread love for Cord Jefferson’s satire of racial politics is the nominations’ biggest surprise, with five nods, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The nominations are all it’s likely to get, but seeing the great Jeffrey Wright get some long-overdue recognition, and for a meaty lead that shows off all of his talents, is one of the most pleasant surprises. Now playing in theaters.
Maestro
The most conventionally Oscar-baity of the year’s contenders seems likely to lose all its major categories, including picture, actor, actress, and screenplay, although Bradley Cooper’s much-mocked prosthetic schnoz could pull off a win in hair and makeup. But Cooper has put so much effort into his awards campaign it feels a little mean not to watch it at all. Give the guy a break, willya? Streaming on Netflix.
Just Because
Past Lives
Celine Song’s story of a unconsummated romance stretching across decades is one of the year’s best movies (even if much of Slate’s Movie Club begged to differ) and a double nominee for picture and screenplay. It’s the quietest and gentlest of the Best Picture crowd, the ideal palate cleanser after you’ve watched Oppenheimer destroy his worlds. Available for digital purchase.
The Color Purple
The movie of the musical of Alice Walker’s book did better with audiences than with critics or awards voters, notching a single nomination for Danielle Brooks’ reprisal of her Broadway performance. But that titanic turn itself is reason enough to watch. Available for digital rental.
Rustin
“OK movie, amazing performance” goes for Colman Domingo’s nominated turn as civil rights leader Bayard Rustin. He’s a long shot to win but a lock for best red carpet look, a category he’s been slaying all season. Streaming on Netflix.
Saltburn
It’s not nominated for anything, but if Jimmy Kimmel doesn’t make at least one joke about Barry Keoghan’s nude scene, I’ll eat dirt. Streaming on Prime Video.
