​With the 2026 Oscar nominations now confirmed and the nominations record broken by Sinners, it’s time to buckle down and get ready for the big event on March 15. Some will host parties, some will make it a quiet night in, and others will venture out to the bars and restaurants that occupy film’s hallowed grounds to see which films take home the gold and which go home empty-handed. It’s easy enough to guess which films are likely to win that coveted statue if one follows the races closely enough, but what about what deserves to win? How can one make an informed decision on their favorite nominees if seeing them in the first place is half the battle? That’s the question that we at The Friendly Film Fan are here to help answer. We’ll take you through film by film (in alphabetical order) on a guided journey towards nominee completion, so that you can best your friends and neighbors, impressing everyone with your ballot knowledge. Let’s get started.

​The Alabama Solution
Nominated For: Best Documentary Feature
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
 
All the Empty Rooms
Nominated For: Best Documentary Short
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
 
Arco
Nominated For: Best Animated Feature
Where to Watch: In Select Theaters Jan. 30
 
Armed with Only a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Nominated For: Best Documentary Short
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
 
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Nominated For: Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects
Where to Watch: In Theaters Nationwide
 
Blue Moon
Nominated For: Best Actor (Ethan Hawke), Best Original Screenplay
Where to Watch: Available on Digital, On Blu-Ray Jan. 27
 
Bugonia
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score
Where to Watch: Available on 4K, Blu-Ray, and Digital, and Streaming on Peacock
 
Butcher’s Stain
Nominated For: Best Live-Action Short
Where to Watch: In Theaters March 13-15
 
Butterfly
Nominated For: Best Animated Short
Where to Watch: Streaming on YouTube and In Theaters March 13-15
 
Children No More: “Were and Are Gone”
Nominated For: Best Documentary Short
Where to Watch: In Select Theaters
 
Come See Me in the Good Light
Nominated For: Best Documentary Feature
Where to Watch: Streaming on Apple TV+
 
Cutting Through Rocks
Nominated For: Best Documentary Feature
Where to Watch: In Select Theaters
 
The Devil Is Busy
Nominated For: Best Documentary Short
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
 
Diane Warren: Relentless
Nominated For: Best Original Song – “Dear Me”
Where to Watch: Available on DVD and Digital
 
Elio
Nominated For: Best Animated Feature
Where to Watch: Available on 4K, Blu-Ray, and Digital, and Streaming on Disney+
 
F1
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound
Where to Watch: Available on 4K, Blu-Ray, and Digital, and Streaming on Apple TV+
 
Forevergreen
Nominated For: Best Animated Short
Where to Watch: In Theaters March 13-15
 
Frankenstein
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Jacob Elordi), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Sound
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
 
A Friend of Dorothy
Nominated For: Best Live-Action Short
Where to Watch: In Theaters March 13-15, Available on Disney+ Europe via VPN
 
The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Nominated For: Best Animated Short
Where to Watch: In Theaters March 13-15, Available on NFB.ca via VPN
 
Hamnet
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Director (Chloé Zhao), Best Actress (Jessie Buckley), Best Casting, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score
Where to Watch: In Theaters Nationwide
 
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Nominated For: Best Actress (Rose Byrne)
Where to Watch: Available on Blu-Ray and Digital
 
It Was Just an Accident
Nominated For: Best International Feature (France), Best Original Screenplay
Where to Watch: Available on Digital
 
Jane Austen’s Period Drama
Nominated For: Best Live-Action Short
Where to Watch: Available on Kanopy with a Library Card or University Code
 
Jurassic World Rebirth
Nominated For: Best Visual Effects
Where to Watch: On 4K, Blu-Ray, and Digital, and Streaming on Peacock
 
KPop Demon Hunters
Nominated For: Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song – “Golden”
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
 
Kokuho
Nominated For: Best Makeup & Hairstyling
Where to Watch: In Select Theaters Feb. 6, In Theaters Nationwide Feb. 20
 
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Nominated For: Best Animated Feature
Where to Watch: Available on Digital, On Blu-Ray March 10
 
The Lost Bus
Nominated For: Best Visual Effects
Where to Watch: Streaming on Apple TV+
 
Marty Supreme
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Director (Josh Safdie), Best Actor (Timothée Chalamet), Best Casting, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design
Where to Watch: In Theaters Nationwide
 
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Nominated For: Best Documentary Feature
Where to Watch: Available on Digital
 
One Battle After Another
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Director (Paul Thomas Anderson), Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actress (Teyana Taylor) Best Supporting Actor x2 (Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn), Best Casting, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Sound
Where to Watch: Available on 4K, Blu-Ray, and Digital, and Streaming on HBO Max
 
The Perfect Neighbor
Nominated For: Best Documentary Feature
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
 
Perfectly a Strangeness
Nominated For: Best Documentary Short
Where to Watch: In Theaters March 13-15
 
Retirement Plan
Nominated For: Best Animated Short
Where to Watch: Streaming on YouTube
 
The Secret Agent
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Actor (Wagner Moura), Best Casting, Best International Feature (Brazil)
Where to Watch: In Theaters March 9-15
 
Sentimental Value
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Director (Joachim Trier), Best Actress (Renate Reinsve), Best Supporting Actress x2 (Elle Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), Best Supporting Actor (Stellan Skarsgård), Best International Feature (Norway), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing
Where to Watch: Available on Digital
 
The Singers
Nominated For: Best Live-Action Short
Where to Watch: In Theaters March 13-15
 
Sinners
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Director (Ryan Coogler), Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Best Supporting Actress (Wunmi Mosaku), Best Supporting Actor (Delroy Lindo), Best Casting, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Original Song – “I Lied to You,” Best Visual Effects, Best Sound
Where to Watch: Available on 4K, Blu-Ray, and Digital, and Streaming on HBO Max
 
Sirāt
Nominated For: Best International Feature (Spain), Best Sound
Where to Watch: In Select Theaters
 
The Smashing Machine
Nominated For: Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Where to Watch: Available on 4K, Blu-Ray, and Digital, and Streaming on HBO Max
 
Song Sung Blue
Nominated For: Best Actress (Kate Hudson)
Where to Watch: In Theaters Now, On Blu-Ray Feb. 17
 
The Three Sisters
Nominated For: Best Animated Short
Where to Watch: Streaming on YouTube
 
Train Dreams
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Song – “Train Dreams”
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
 
Two People Exchanging Saliva
Nominated For: Best Live-Action Short
Where to Watch: Streaming on YouTube
 
The Ugly Stepsister
Nominated For: Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Where to Watch: Available on Digital and Streaming on Shudder
 
Viva Verdi!
Nominated For: Best Original Song – “Sweet Dreams of Joy”
Where to Watch: In Select Theaters
 
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Nominated For: Best International Feature (Tunisia)
Where to Watch: In Select Theaters, Available on Digital Mar. 3
 
Weapons
Nominated For: Best Supporting Actress (Amy Madigan)
Where to Watch: Available on 4K, Blu-Ray, and Digital, and Streaming on HBO Max
 
Zootopia 2
Nominated For: Best Animated Feature
Where to Watch: In Theaters Now

​And that is everything that’s nominated for an Oscar this year! Hopefully you found this guide helpful for organizing your watch time. If you’d rather knock out a few films at a time without switching apps or having to search around, here’s a similar handy little guide for you to reference.

Netflix: All the Empty Rooms, Frankenstein, KPop Demon Hunters, The Perfect Neighbor, Train Dreams

HBO Max: The Alabama Solution, Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud, The Devil Is Busy, One Battle After Another, Sinners, The Smashing Machine, Weapons

Disney+: Elio

Apple TV+: Come See Me in the Good Light, F1, The Lost Bus​

Peacock: Bugonia, Jurassic World Rebirth

Shudder: The Ugly Stepsister

YouTube: Butterfly, Retirement Plan, The Three Sisters, Two People Exchanging Saliva
​
Digital: Blue Moon, Diane Warren: Relentless, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, It Was Just an Accident, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, Sentimental Value

How many of these films have you seen? Anything you’re excited to check out or discover? Let us know in the comments section below, and if you find yourself struggling to get through them all, don’t sweat it; we’ll be updating this list as things become more widely available. All of the Best Picture nominees, as well as the nominated Live-Action and Animated short films will also be shown in theaters from March 9-15 for Oscar Week, so be sure to check and see if your local theater is participating! Thanks for reading!
 
- The Friendly Film Fan

​This piece was last updated on 1/24/26. It was originally posted on 1/24/26.

If there’s one thing Steven Soderbergh knows how to do, it’s put in the work. The visionary director has already cranked out one film this year with Presence, and is releasing his second this weekend with Black Bag, a British spy thriller which sees Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett’s marriage tested as Kathryn (Blanchett) is among a group of agents suspected of leaking classified MI6 intel to a foreign government. The test for George (Fassbender) is one of loyalty – will it be to country or to spouse? And if it does turn out that Kathryn is guilty of treason, will he be able to do what it takes to rectify the situation, or will he be too late to do anything about it?
 
To a certain extent, Soderbergh’s filmography to this point has been all about what the audience is expected to bring to it and what he is expected to unveil to them over the course of each story: a workmanlike director for a working public. The catch is that on occasion he can get in his own way, and in more formal settings such as the one in which Black Bag finds itself, it can be a bit wearisome for him to get out of the way. Mercifully, Soderbergh’s plot doesn’t overstay its welcome, as the film clocks in at only an hour and thirty-three minutes, but getting to its end does require jumping through a few hoops without quite being able to see the ground beneath. It’s not so much a matter of format or styling; Presence is the experimental release this time around, whereas this film is significantly more straightforward. It’s simply that the film plays into its own nature too much for the audience to buy in when it wants them to, unless they’ve already decided to before the Focus Features logo shows up. The script, which is penned by David Koepp, is naturally secretive with certain details, but could be considered so secretive as to be overly complicated in a way that thinks it’s serving the story, when it’s only made more confusing by refusing to reveal key information to the audience that they would need to know in order to follow the story properly.
 
Luckily, Soderbergh’s more straightforward films usually come gift wrapped with a game ensemble of character actors and some of the world’s finest performers from sea to shining sea, Black Bag being no different as every famous British supporting actor from Regé-Jean Page to Marisa Abela to Naomie Harris, Tom Burke, and even Pierce Brosnan show up to play their part in some of the most immaculate costuming a spy thriller has had outside of the Bond franchise (thank you, Ellen Mirojnick). To the degree that any of them can clarify what’s going on in the admittedly vague script, they do so with a stylish aplomb, none more so than Blanchett – who unfortunately is less central to driving the story than the marketing would have one believe – and Fassbender, the clear lead of the film by the time the ball gets rolling. It’s their relationship as a married couple that offers the film its sleekness, its sex appeal, and yet so much time is spent with other characters and other relationships away from the two of them that it seems the script is more interested in the idea of their monogamous loyalty than in the characters themselves. There’s fun to be had with that course of action, to be sure, particularly in the exploration of how infidelity infects relationships built on careers made entirely of secrets and lies, but it does leave some room for error with the film’s adherence to a plot that’s simultaneously too unfocused to the audience and narratively complex to its characters.
 
The saving grace of every Soderbergh film akin to this one is the third act reveal, the info-dump that reveals which characters have known what’s been going on the whole time and why they know it; to its credit, Black Bag does pay off in a largely satisfying way, but one can’t help but imagine what that reveal might have been like if the audience were shown certain pieces of the puzzle being solved beforehand instead of just being told about them all at the same moment. Truthfully, there’s only one or two scenes that reveal information critical to the plot’s changing over the course of the film, but neither gets the audience closer to the truth along with the characters; the third act reveal has to catch viewers up itself, and by that time one begins to wonder if anyone was supposed to know where this was all meant to be going or get clued in by any earlier information.
 
All that said, there is some satisfaction to be had in watching this ensemble throw their weight around on what amounts to a Sunday matinee type of project, and it’s far from outright boring despite the presence of a few scenes that could easily be sent to the cutting room floor; in that sense, it’s more of a showcase for each actor’s greater range of skill, allowing the audience to watch these famous people do what they do best: look great while delivering vague dialogue in a medium close-up shot. With that alone, there’s enough to recommend it as a positive moviegoing experience – including some rather sleek editing choices and Michael Fassbender in some truly well-fitting black turtlenecks which indicate someone clearly watched X-Men: First Class recently and finally answered the question "why isn't he wearing those all the time?” – but not quite enough to hail it as one of the best movies of the year to date. And if one is looking for an access point to understanding Soderbergh as a filmmaker, this isn’t likely to be the starting point I’d choose. Still, for this early in the year, one could do significantly worse.
 
I’m giving “Black Bag” a 6.8/10
 
- The Friendly Film Fan

The act of adaptation can be a particularly tricky line to walk; stray too far from the source material one is adapting, and your product is either regarded as a failure by those familiar with such material, or a triumph by those who deemed it too bland to be interesting on its own. On the other hand, stay too faithful to the story being told, and the adaptation becomes traditionally boring, wherein the lack of alterations to a tale whose origins are mediocre at best then reinforce that mediocrity as it appears on screen. The most audacious adaptations – The Godfather, Arrival, No Country for Old Men, Killers of the Flower Moon, etc. – elevate their source material (regardless of how good it already was on its own) to new heights by switching up approaches, changing plot details so as to make them more accessible to a wider range of people, and filtering all of the character details found in book pages through exceptional performances by remarkably skillful actors and masterful direction. But not every adaptation can reach the same heights, and sometimes all one needs for an adaptation to be successful is a faithful approach to quality source material. This is where Conclave comfortably sits.
 
Based on the book of the same name by Thomas Harris, Conclave’s story finds its center in Ralph Fiennes’ Cardinal Lawrence, who – in the wake of the Pope’s unfortunate death – is charged with running a new Conclave in which all eligible Cardinals will vote to select the Holy Father’s successor. Once one Cardinal receives a two-thirds majority of the vote, that person will become the new Pope, and the face of universal church. Sometimes these elections can take mere hours; sometimes they take days, and with no less than three front-runners making plays for the throne, anything can happen. With the world and the church’s place in it on the brink of total collapse, it is imperative that the Conclave swiftly and decisively select the right representative, both for God, and for the millions of faithful around the globe. This film also stars Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini.
 
How films like Conclave land for someone is all about the approach to watching it. If you go in blind, you’re likely to have a greater reaction to its myriad of plot turns and twists, but you’re also less likely to forgive how the film essentially skips getting to know its characters on a personal level, apart from their individual interactions with Cardinal Lawrence, whom the film is content to have the audience become familiar with through Ralph Fiennes’ layered, deeply understated performance. Having finished Harris’ book mere hours before seeing the film for the first time, I was able to pinpoint in Fiennes’ eyes where all of the character’s internal thoughts came through in the story as outlined in the original text, but for those who haven’t read it, I would imagine that this is a difficult element to understand without any sort of clue given by the film itself. Fiennes is such a skilled actor that in order to play this part right, it requires an almost anti-theatricality, and he nails every beat perfectly, if one knows where to look for them. The same could be applied to both John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci’s characters as well, although we do get to know them more thoroughly through conversations, whereas with Lawrence, the audience is left to simply accept whatever it is about him they can glean from his subtler demeanor. As for Rossellini, while she does feature in one terrific scene towards the third act of the film, the rest of her performance is largely hidden by the needs of the plot, relegating her to more of a background character than a genuine supporting player most of the time.
 
To assuage any doubts that may have arisen: Conclave is a good movie. It’s well-mounted, the no-frills approach to adapting the book works, and all of the performances are played at exactly the right pitch for the story being told. While some of its production elements can feel a tad formulaic at times, they serve their respective purposes in making the story feel coherent, dramatic, and occasionally quite funny, and there are moments of genuine greatness among them, particularly in the cinematography and the costume designs. But herein lies my question: is Conclave a good movie only because the book it’s based on is a good story? Berger’s approach to viewing the Conclave less like the most important thing that could ever occur in a religious sector of the world and more like an overly gossipy workplace meeting that we seem to be in on imbues the film with a sense of fun it may otherwise have lacked, but given its near one-to-one translation from the source material, how much of that credit can be truly given to Berger, and how much goes to Harris’ original text? For me, most of it goes to Harris. Berger is a skilled filmmaker, as evidence by Netflix’s adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front in 2022, but if one is going to adapt books as famous as those Berger has helmed thus far, every production element needs to be firing on all cylinders in order to elevate the director above the material he chooses.
 
As it stands, Conclave is the sort of movie I wish we had twenty of every year. A gripping mystery, told by skilled filmmakers, with some of the best performers in the world chewing the scenery as though they’d not eaten since their last screen test. Even without the level of craftsmanship it would need to be truly competitive in most awards categories (and with one book scene missing that I feel would have elevated it beyond just being very good), it’s a delightfully fun time at the movies, and it’s nice to see that the mid-budget thriller driven by dialogue and character, rather than spectacle, is making a handsome comeback.
 
I’m giving “Conclave” a 7.8/10
 
- The Friendly Film Fan

The Bikeriders was written and directed by Jeff Nichols, and is based on the 1967 photobook of the same name. It takes place between 1965 and 1973, as Kathy (Jodie Comer) recounts the early days of the Outlaws MC (or the Vandals) – an old-school biker club from the streets of McCook, Illinois – to Danny Lyons (Mike Faist), who would go on to eventually author said photobook. From her first day, meeting Benny (Austin Butler) and Johnny (Tom Hardy), to her marriage to Benny, to club picnics and rides across the American Midwest, to meeting members of other clubs, to the introduction of new members of the crew and the departures of longstanding friends, to the eventual evolution of the club into a proper gang, Kathy helps Danny to assemble a portrait of an American society which has since faded into relative obscurity, and hopefully, give their legacy one last good ride. The film also stars Emory Cohen, Boyd Holdbrook, Damon Harriman, Michael Shannon, and Nordman Reedus.  
 
It’s been nine years since writer and director Jeff Nichols last released a feature film, and the movie world as a whole has felt his absence. Since Loving was released in 2016 to very little fanfare (which it ultimately deserved to have), few filmmakers have been able to replicate or even approximate what Nichols brought to the table as an artist. Here was one of the few filmmakers left making mid-budget films for adults that were centered around movie stars but didn’t seem to be especially interested in whatever awards contention they could possibly be slated for along the way – the kinds of movies summers and falls were chock-full of and used to be built around. (Midnight Special is the sci-fi exception.) There are still a select few who do this kind of work – hell, Richard Linklater, who released Hit Man this year – is one of them, but they’re becoming fewer and fewer as studios seem increasingly to only be interested in pushing large-budget projects for large box office returns. (Disney even ultimately let this movie go after removing it from the schedule following the SAG-AFTRA strike of last summer; originally produced under the 20th Century Studios banner, the film is now distributed under Focus Features, one of the few major studios left that seems genuinely interested in these kinds of projects beyond their awards prospects.) Now, Nichols has returned to the silver screen to deliver not only one of the best movie of the year, but exactly the kind of film that movie fans like me have been craving to return to theaters for a long time.
 
There will be inevitable comparisons to Goodfellas based on the earlier stylization of The Bikeriders, especially in the first act, and they wouldn’t be unfair comparisons, generally speaking. The overall edit and – to put it simply – “vibe” of the film feels very much like the Scorsese epic of 1990, complete with freeze-frame title cards, voice-over narration, and a soundtrack reminiscent of the time in which the film takes place. But Nichols is no Scorsese (who are we kidding, no one is), so as much as the film initially attempts to replicate or otherwise embody those stylistic choices, it can’t stop itself from moving too fast at points, which ends up leaving the first act as a whole somewhat of a mess; not one that can’t be cleaned up, and it’s only a spill really, but somewhat of a mess, nonetheless. That said, the film does eventually settle into its own groove, a thoroughly masculine endeavor of honor, legacy, loyalty, brotherhood, etc, without ever feeling as though it’s obsessed with the masculinity it offers. And who better to carry that cool masculinity than one of the biggest movie stars of the moment, Austin Butler.
 
The Bikeriders has other stars doing good performance work – Jodie Comer in particular is quite underrated here as she gets to be the emotional core of the film – and of course there’s a bit of bizarre vocal experimentation (we will never know what Tom Hardy truly sounds like and while Comer’s accent does eventually stop being as distracting, it takes a minute for it to get there), but none of them come close to replicating the true “movie star” power that Austin Butler has in holding the camera’s gaze. He has a presence on screen that’s difficult to quantity exactly, but can only remind the viewer of someone like a Brad Pitt or Robert Redford to Glen Powell’s Clooney or Paul Newman. Audiences may see the film for all sorts of reasons, whether they’re Jeff Nichols fans, Tom Hardy fans, Mike Faist fans, or otherwise, but they’ll leave talking about Austin Butler. It’s his effortless cool that lets the engine of the movie come roaring to life, and it’s his scenes in the movie that keep it from losing focus too often to recover.
 
All that said, this isn’t a perfect movie, and just as the first act feels a little bit too fast for all the stylization it offers, the third act is perhaps a little bit too slow and lacking in some much-needed stylistic adrenaline. That’s not to say the ending isn’t good – that’s in safe hands – but from the break into act three almost until the ending itself, the film sort of feels like it doesn’t know how to end the story it’s telling, as if it’s simply waiting for the credits to eventually fade in and let us know it’s over. Even as much as we enjoy hanging out with all the guys in the club (the original ones, anyway), we know that the journey has to end, but we’re made to wait too long for that ending to get started, which only serves to feed the slight-but-noticeable pacing problem the film occasionally falls back into. Still, even with a few minor complaints like light pacing issues and strange accents, there’s little that can damper the movie’s “good hang” time.
 
My biggest hope for this movie, even if it is a stretch, is that audiences will turn out for it enough so that studios get the message that these kinds of movies are wanted in theatrical spaces, and that we want to see movie stars looking cool with great screen presence in a movie about dudes just rocking so hard. Maybe that’s a pipe dream, but it’s a dream film fans need to keep alive, and it’s a dream quite clearly that filmmakers like Jeff Nichols believe in as much as we do. I’ve waited for a long time for a film like The Bikeriders to come back to the silver screen (even Hit Man didn’t get that opportunity properly) and I’m happy to say that, at least for me, it was well worth the wait.
 
I’m giving “The Bikeriders” an 8.2/10
 
- The Friendly Film Fan