The last two years, I saw all of the Best Picture Oscar nominees before the winner was announced. I seem to have made this a commitment, and set out to do it again this year.
In both 2024 and 2025, I had to watch most of the films between the nomination and awards – I even made an overnight trip to Manchester to be sure of seeing I’m Still Here.
From the 2026 list, I’d seen nine before the list of ten was announced. The only one missing was The Secret Agent, which was not released in the UK until a month after the list came out, and was showing in my town last night, the weekend of the Oscars ceremony. I had a fairly good hit rate of films I watched because they were said to be likely contenders – I don’t think I saw anything I hated that didn’t make the list.
Tomorrow the Oscar winner will be announced, but here is what I think of the nominees, along with links to my letterboxd reviews:
- Sinners (10/5/26) – My hyperbolic statement about Sinners is that it is the most exciting film I’ve seen since Star Wars. I stand by that. A lot of the joy was that this was a fantasy movie that did not rely on existing intellectual property, and used the fantastic elements to say interesting things. That one scene in the juke joint is as great as everyone says. I’d love to see this win the Oscar.
- I saw F1 (12/7/25) with James and Alex. This was very much an IP-based movie, with a clumsy plot and fast cars. The only moment I loved was that final lap, played in near silence. Maybe there is a great movie you could make about Formula One, but this wasn’t it. The worst thing was that the film hinted at more interesting stories then ignored them in favour of a generic sports-movie plot.
- One Battle After Another (18/10/25) is the big contender for this year’s Oscars. While I enjoyed moments of it, I wasn’t particularly blown away and I wish I’d liked it more. It felt flabby and I hated the sound track.
- Bugonia (24/11/25) was another cinema trip, and another film I’d not have seen without the Oscar buzz. I’ve never enjoyed a Lanthimos film, despite thinking I should. This one had an intense performance by Emma Stone and I’m not sure why she went to all that effort.
- del Torro’s Frankenstein (30/11/26) was getting a lot of buzz at the end of the year. I’d have probably skipped it as an adaptation except for the Oscar buzz. Comparing this to Emerald Fennel’s “Wuthering Heights”, the Bronte adaptation did something interesting with the source text, whereas Frankenstein was too faithful.
- I watched Marty Supreme (2/1/26) with Rosy at the cinema. It’s a brilliantly made film with some great performances but also felt slight. The film was guilty of showboating at times. I gave it 4 stars in my letterboxd review, which reflects how much I enjoyed it at the time – but it’s not lasted well in my memory.
- Sentimental Value (11/1/26) was another film that I would not have seen except for its likelihood of being nominated. Another movie about toxic male genius. I found myself wishing that the subtext was text, and this had actual ghosts in.
- The same week, I saw Hamnet (16/1/26), another film that I watched only for the list. This felt like a synthetic heritage-England sort of movie, with little to really say. Parts of it reminded me of Blackadder. I could tell how much everyone else in the cinema was loving this even as it left me cold. I’d like to read the book though.
- Train Dreams (19/1/26) was on Netflix. This was a beautiful, slow movie about a man’s life, watching it all unfold in a couple of hours. What would my life be like as a sequence like this, condensed down to something so short? This was a fantastic film and I hope more people watch it.
I saw The Secret Agent last night and I’m still considering it. The film is clever and beautifully constructed, with some great performances. I would definitely not have seen this without the nomination, but I’m glad I did.
As far as the winner goes, my heart says Sinners, but my head says One Battle After Another, which seems to have all the momentum from the BAFTAs. But the eventual winner doesn’t matter so much. I’ve seen ten interesting movies, some of which I would not have seen without following the Oscars discussions. I’ll be doing this again next year.