Here’s a guide for what you need to know about this year’s big Oscar-nominated films, and where to watch them.
The 2025 movie awards season is currently underway, and the Oscar nominations have been revealed. However, finding out where to watch all the nominated films can be a daunting task. Are they available for streaming, free of charge, or only in theaters?
One of the major successes at the Golden Globes is “The Brutalist,” a movie that has captured audiences’ attention since its debut at the Venice Film Festival in September. If you are curious to see why this Brady Corbet 215-minute post-war epic has been generating so much buzz, you may have initially faced limited options.
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.
Among the nominees for Best Picture are films like “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Emilia Pérez,” “I’m Still Here,” “Nickel Boys,” “The Substance,” and “Wicked.” The Oscars ceremony is scheduled to take place on March 2 in Los Angeles.
Oscars 2025 best picture nominees: Where to watch and stream
Where to watch “Anora”
Sean Baker’sPalme d’Or winner about a New York stripper’s (Mikey Madison) 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 Director and Screen Actor guilds nominations for Madison and Yura Borisov.
Where to watch “The Brutalist”
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.
Where to watch “A Complete Unknown”
James Mangold’s acclaimed Bob Dylan biopic is rising with nominations from the DGA and SAG, including for Timothée Chalamet, Monica Barbaro, who plays Joan Baez, and Edward Norton as Pete Seeger.
Where to watch “Conclave”
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.
Where to watch “Dune: Part Two”
“Dune” got a best picture nomination but Denis Villeneuve was snubbed for a directing nod, which may unfortunately repeat itself for “Part Two” after he was left off the Directors Guild of America list.
Where to watch “Emilia Pérez”
Jacques Audiard’s audacious musical crime thriller about a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender affirming surgery is steamrolling through awards season with SAG noms for Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoë 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.
Where to watch “I’m Still Here.”
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.
Where to watch “Nickel Boys”
RaMell Ross utilized 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.
Where to watch “The Substance”
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 and got her a SAG nomination.
It’s available for streaming on Mubi.
Where to watch “Wicked”
Jon M. Chu’s vibrant adaptation of the popular movie musical (well, the first half) might not have resonated with Globes voters, but it snagged a coveted best ensemble nomination from SAG, as well as individual nods for Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey.
Where to watch more of this year’s top awards movies
Payal Kapdia’sluminous portrait of three women in Mumbai won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and is one of the season’s most acclaimed films, but curiously was not selected by India to represent the country at the Oscars (it could still be nominated in other categories).
Jeremy Strong got a SAG nomination for his portrayal of Donald Trump lawyer Roy Cohn in this film about the future U.S. President.
Nicole Kidman has been widely praised for her portrayal of a married, high powered CEO who begins a dangerous affair with a young intern played by Harris Dickinson. It won her a top prize at the Venice Film Festival, but she was curiously left out when SAG’s nominations were announced.
This unconventional biopic about the British pop star Robbie Williams has a CGI monkey playing him.
Steve McQueen’s smartly crafted World War II film about London during the German bombing raid has dropped out of most awards conversations, but there’s always a chance.
Another one that isn’t at the top of any prediction lists, except perhaps for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ synthy score (which won a Golden Globe), but this tennis menage a trois with Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor is great fun anyway.
Sebastian Stan won a Golden Globe for his peformance as an aspiring actor who drastically changes his face in this psychological thriller.
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.
It’s probably most likely a crafts-only contender, but you never know: Denzel Washington might sneak in with a nomination.
Filmmaker Mike Leigh reunites with his “Secrets & Lies” star Marianne Jean-Baptiste to dive into the life of the perpetually angry and sharp tongued London woman Pansy. It is widely considered one of the best performances of the year.
This Disney sequel about the emotions of a young girl is now the highest-grossing animated film of all time, not accounting for inflation.
Pamela Anderson continues to rack up nominations for her portrayal of an aging Vegas performer in Gia Coppola’s film.
Angelina Jolie portrays opera legend Maria Callas in filmmaker Pablo Larraín’s (“Spencer,” “Jackie”) experimental look at her last days, in Paris. She was not nominated by the actors guild.
Danielle Deadwyler got a supporting actress nod from SAG for her performance in Malcolm Washington’s August Wilson adaptation.
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.
After a Globes win and a 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 tragi-comic film about odd couple cousins on a Holocaust tour in Poland.
Pedro Almodóvar’s English language film about assisted suicide starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Widely considered one of the best films of the year, this Cannes gem (and German’s Oscar submission) is a political thriller and domestic drama about Iran’s authoritarian regime.
A sneakily strong contender, this film is a tick-tock account of how the sports reporters at ABC covered the Munich Olympics hostage crisis live in 1972.
Colman Domingo has gotten 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.
An animated contender, this is only the second feature-length Wallace & Gromit film, and brings back favorite Feathers McGraw.
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.
