This year, the Oscars will be celebrating its 95th milestone birthday. You can get ready by watching these hot contender films.
About the 95th Oscars
Academy CEO Bill Kramer said the event will honour both the year’s best films and this historic anniversary. “The energy around the show should feel like a massive celebration of cinema and the awards — our legacy, our artists, our movies, our future,” Bill said.
This year’s most nominated film is Everything Everywhere All at Once with 11 total nominations, including Best Picture, Best Directing, and four acting nominations. All Quiet on the Western Front and The Banshees of Inisherin follow with nine nominations apiece.
Winners will be announced during the 95th Oscars on Sunday 12 March 2023. Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the ceremony, which will be televised from the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and live on various television stations around the world.
Here is the complete list of nominees in the three favourite categories:
Best Picture
All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
All Quiet on the Western Front tells the gripping story of a young German soldier on the Western Front during the First World War. Paul (Felix Kammerer) and his comrades quickly feel the initial euphoria of war fade into horror, pain and fear as they fight desperately for their lives in the trenches. Malte Grunert, Producer.
Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century Studios)
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, “Avatar: The Way of Water” begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure. James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers.
The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)
Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, The Banshees of Inisherin follows lifelong friends Padraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), who find themselves at an impasse when Colm unexpectedly puts an end to their friendship. A stunned Padraic, aided by his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) and troubled young islander Dominic (Barry Keoghan), endeavours to repair the relationship, refusing to take no for an answer. But Padraic’s repeated efforts only strengthen his former friend’s resolve and when Colm delivers a desperate ultimatum, events swiftly escalate, with shocking consequences. Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers.
Elvis (Warner Bros)
A thoroughly cinematic drama, Elvis’s (Butler) story is seen through the lens of his complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Hanks). As told by Parker, the film delves into the complex dynamic between the two spanning over 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America. Central to that journey is one of the significant and influential people in Elvis’s life, Priscilla Presley (Olivia DeJonge). Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers. #ElvisMovie
Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels, the film is a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure about an exhausted Chinese American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who can’t seem to finish her taxes. Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers. #EverythingEverywhere
The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
A deeply personal portrait of a 20th-century American childhood, Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans is a cinematic memory of the forces, and family, that shaped the filmmaker’s life and career. A universal coming-of-age story about an isolated young man’s pursuit of his dreams, the film is an exploration of love, artistic ambition, sacrifice and the moments of discovery that allow us to see the truth about ourselves, and our parents, with clarity and compassion. Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers.
Tár (Focus Features)
From producer-writer-director Todd Field comes TÁR, starring Cate Blanchett as the iconic musician Lydia Tár. TÁR examines the changing nature of power, its impact and durability in our modern world. Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers.
Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.” Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it. Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers. #TopGunMaverick
Triangle of Sadness (NEON)
In Ruben Östlund’s wickedly funny Palme d’Or winner, social hierarchy is turned upside down, revealing the tawdry relationship between power and beauty. Celebrity model couple, Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged boat captain (Woody Harrelson). What first appeared instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island and fighting for survival. Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers.
Women Talking (United Artists Releasing/Orion Pictures)
In 2010, the women of an isolated religious community grapple with reconciling their reality with their faith. Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers. #WomenTalking
Actor in a Leading Role
Austin Butler in Elvis
Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser in The Whale
From Darren Aronofsky comes The Whale, the story of a reclusive English teacher who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter. Starring Brendan Fraser and based on the acclaimed play by Samuel D. Hunter. #TheWhale
Paul Mescal in Aftersun
At a fading vacation resort, 11-year-old Sophie treasures rare time together with her loving and idealistic father, Calum (Paul Mescal). As a world of adolescence creeps into view, beyond her eye Calum struggles under the weight of life outside of fatherhood. Twenty years later, Sophie’s tender recollections of their last holiday become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t, in Charlotte Wells’ superb and searingly emotional debut film.
Bill Nighy in Living
LIVING is the story of an ordinary man, reduced by years of oppressive office routine to a shadow existence, who at the eleventh hour makes a supreme effort to turn his dull life into something wonderful.
Actress in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett in Tár
Ana de Armas in Blonde
Discover a life both known and unknown in this boldly imaginative film from Writer and Director Andrew Dominik that explores the complicated life of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. Based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates.
Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie
Inspired by true events. A West Texas single mother wins the lottery and squanders it just as fast, leaving behind a world of heartbreak. Years later, with her charm running out and nowhere to go, she fights to rebuild her life and find redemption.
Michelle Williams in The Fabelmans
Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once
