Looking ahead at the Oscars

By Reed Ripley

With the Golden Globes coming this Sunday night and the Oscars a little more than two months out, now is the time of year where many (me included) find themselves catching up on the movies in the thick of the awards race. So, for anyone asking ‘what do I need to watch’ ahead of the Oscars, here is a short list of movies that will help get you in the know and hopefully make January and February a little less dreary.

One Battle After Another

• Action/Comedy/Thriller | R | 2 hr 41 min
• Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
• Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor
• Where to Watch: HBO Max

Paul Thomas Anderson is widely considered one of the best, if not the best, American filmmakers of the past 30 years, and yet One Battle After Another is his first big-budget studio epic. Throw in Leo, and you’ve got yourself a no-brainer classic. Watch the trailer. 

Sinners

• Horror/Drama/Period | R | 2 hr 17 min
• Directed by: Ryan Coogler
• Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton
• Where to Watch: HBO Max

No movie in 2025 better captured the thrill of the theatrical experience more than Sinners.

It’s a big, loud, beautiful, original vampire flick with a lot to say underneath the splashy violence, and hopefully its box office success tells the studios you don’t need to throw an Avenger in your movie to make it successful (apologies to Spider-Man). Watch the trailer. 

Marty Supreme

• Sport/Drama/Period | R | 2 hr 29 min
• Directed by: Josh Safdie
• Starring: Timothèe Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion
• Where to Watch: In Theaters

With Marty Supreme, Timothèe Chalamet keeps pushing the envelope of how niche a starring role he can take and still open it at the box office. This is a period movie about a ping pong player with a dream, and yet here it is in its second week pushing past $70 million globally. Chalamet’s pushing for his Oscar, and he very well might get it. Watch the trailer. 

Hamnet

• Drama/Period | PG-13 | 2 hr 5 min
• Directed by: Chloé Zhao
• Starring: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal
• Where to Watch: In Theaters

This is Chloé Zhao’s return to grounded drama following 2021’s disastrous Eternals, and it’s a welcome sight. Zhao directing Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal in a period drama about William Shakespeare’s writing of Hamlet following the death of his son, Hamnet? That’s more like it. Watch the trailer. 

Frankenstein

• Fantasy/Horror | R | 2 hr 29 min
• Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
• Starring: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi
• Where to Watch: Netflix

It’s honestly surprising that famed monster movie maker Guillermo del Toro had never played with one of the classic Universal monsters until now. Whether or not del Toro’s adaption of Frankenstein is a bit too good of a match for him, but his films never lack for image making, and this one’s no different. Watch the trailer. 

Sentimental Value

• Drama | R | 2 hr 13 min
• Directed by: Joachim Trier
• Starring: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Elle Fanning
• Where to Watch: Available to Rent/Buy

This is Trier’s first film since 2021’s The Worst Person in the World, which found its way to many a top 10 list that year. He’s back with his same lead, Renate Reinsve, and this time, he’s got Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning to play with, too, in an exploration of complicated inter-generational family relationships. Watch the trailer. 

Train Dreams

• Drama/Period | PG-13 | 1 hr 42 min
• Directed by: Clint Bentley
• Starring: Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones
• Where to Watch: Netflix

Train Dreams is probably the least likely on this list to make a true splash this awards season, but it’s also probably my favorite film of the year. To hear my broader thoughts, check out my review, but in short, it’s one of the most deeply beautiful films about experiencing life I’ve ever seen. If you’re looking for inspiration to accept things as they come this year, here’s a movie for you. Watch the trailer.