The 2024 Oscar nominations have been announced and here are the top 10 nominated movies you should see before tuning into the awards show on March 10.
10. The Zone of Interest
Nominated for Best Picture, The Zone of Interest examines how ordinary people live next to horrific crimes yet continue to live life normally. This film is meant to be an uncomfortable watch – calling out the audience on what happens when people choose silence in the face of injustice. The movie is inspired by the life of Nazi officer Rudolf Höss who builds a “dream life” for his family next to the Auschwitz camp.
9. Past Lives
For audiences who love second-chance romance, lost loves, and tear-jerking movies, Past Lives is the film to watch. Director Celine Song, a first-time filmmaker, is inspiring more bilingual people in the industry to get into filmmaking. Nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, this film captures a love story through the lens of an immigrant.
8. Maestro
This film is a love story surrounding the lifelong relationship between acclaimed conductor Leonard Bernstein and the actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan star in this film as they capture the complex and accomplished lives of their characters, with both Cooper and Mulligan competing for the title of Best Actor and Best Actress for their roles.
7. The Holdovers
In this holiday comedy, Paul Giamatti plays a New England prep school teacher forced to stay on campus during Christmas, where he forms an unlikely bond with one of the students who also stays. This feel good and heart-warming film is competing for the spot of Best Picture, with four other nominations.
6. To Kill a Tiger
To Kill a Tiger, nominated for Documentary Feature Film and directed by Nisha Pahuja, documents the fight of an angry father who is demanding justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the survivor of a sexual assault. Pahuja hopes that this emotional and important true story – where a father’s love breaks societal boundaries – will bring awareness to the injustice happening in India.
5. American Fiction
Nominated for Best Picture, American Fiction is a movie that holds a mirror to society about the portrayal and obsession of Black trauma in the media. A novelist, played by Jeffrey Wright, is tired of the reductive narratives forced onto people in society and decides to use a pen name to write the most stereotypical Black book out of spite, only for it to be loved by his editors and the public.
4. Robot Dreams
This film about a deep friendship between a dog and his android companion, based on a graphic novel by Sara Varon, is nominated for Animated Feature Film. Directed by Spanish writer, Pablo Berger, Robot Dreams follows the misfortunes and adventures of Dog and Robot in 1980s New York City, and beautifully depicts the ups and downs of moving onto different phases of life.
3. Killers of the Flower Moon
This movie received 10 Oscar nominations, one of which includes Lily Gladstone, the first Native American to be nominated in the Best Actress category. This movie tells the story of the Osage people protecting their land after oil is discovered there. Described as “a haunting examination of entitlement and colonization” by critic Alonso Duralde, this movie will show you the hardships Native Americans face in America.
2. The Boy and the Heron
The Boy and the Heron is nominated for Animated Feature Film by well-known animator of many Studio Ghilbi films, Hayao Miyazaki. When Mahito, a young 12-year-old boy, flees 1940s Tokyo after the death of his mother, he encounters a talking heron who takes him on a magical journey. The revered director never fails to deliver a creative and fantastical world to his audience.
1. The Society of the Snow
When a flight of Uruguayan rugby players crashes onto a glacier, the passengers who survive must face the unforgiving weather of the Andes mountains. With no food or water they are forced to make tough decisions to make it out alive. The Society of the Snow is based on the true story of the survivors and is nominated for International Feature Film, and an award for Makeup and Hairstyling.
The Oscars Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 10, giving you plenty of time to catch up on the top movies of the year and see if your favourite movie, actor, or director took home an award.
