The 2025 Oscars are less than a week away, which means you have just a few days to catch up on the 2025 Oscar-nominated films. You don’t want to be the only one at your Oscars watch party on Sunday night that isn’t laughing at host Conan O’brien’s no-doubt hilarious monologue.
But let’s be realistic: There are way too many 2025 Oscars movies to watch in just one week. For those of us with jobs, families, and lives, it’s nearly impossible. Thankfully, in the era of streaming, it’s easier and cheaper than ever to watch Oscar-nominated movies. The movie with the most nominations this year, for example, Emilia Perez, is streaming on Netflix.
In an effort to help you cut through the noise, Decider has assembled a list of the 2025 Oscar movies to watch on streaming, and the 2025 Oscar movies available to buy and rent on digital. If you’re hoping to do a last-minute Oscars cram session, you’ve come to right place.
Read on for a list of the 2025 Oscars movies you can watch on streaming, listed by what order you should watch them in.
Oscar-winner Demi Moore, let’s go! We’re manifesting that for this Sunday, and Moore’s chances look good. (She just won the SAG award last weekend!) The Substance is an absurd, gross-out horror film written and directed by French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat, in which Moore plays an aging Hollywood star who uses an experimental black market drug to create a younger, hotter clone of herself (played by Margaret Qualley). It’s a taxing, brave role for the 62-year-old actor, requiring not just nudity, but a whole host of disturbing, horrific prosthetics. But clearly, the big swing paid off. The prominence of a wacky, body-horror flick in this year’s award circuit proves the Academy has come a long way. And you can watch it at home for free, with Mubi’s 7-day free trial.
Streaming on: Mubi, and available to buy or rent on digital
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Demi Moore), Best Original Screenplay, Best Makeup and Hairstyling
It’s looking good for Kieran Culkin to win Best Supporting Actor for this one, after the Succession star took home the SAG award this weekend. Written, directed, and produced by Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain is a light drama that tells the story of two very different cousins (played by Eisenberg and Culkin) who take a tour of Poland in honor of their late grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. The uptight David (Eisenberg) finds it his free-spirited and emotional cousin Benji (Culkin) to be, well, a real pain. But as they navigate their shared generational trauma and Jewish heritage, these two cousins find a way to better understand each other. It’s a small, moving story with a raw performance from Culkin, and it’s an easy, breezy 90-minute watch that’s streaming on Hulu.
Streaming on: Hulu, and available to buy and rent on digital
Nominated for: Best Supporting Actor (Kieran Culkin), Best Original Screenplay
Every year, without fail, there is an Oscar “villain” that is hated by critics and cinephiles, but doted on by the Academy. This year that honor goes to Emilia Pérez, Netflix’s Spanish-language, musical crime comedy. Written and directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez nabbed more Oscar nominations than any other movie this year. The story follows Mexican named lawyer, Rita (Zoe Saldaña), who agrees to help a notorious drug cartel leader named Manitas (Karla Sofía Gascón) secretly transition to a new life as a woman named Emilia (also Gascón, who is a trans woman). Gascón’s chances at an Oscar are pretty much dead, thanks to some offensive tweets, but it looks like Saldaña might take home her first-over Oscar.
Streaming on: Netflix
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best International Feature Film, Best Director, Best Actress (Karla Sofía Gascón), Best Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldaña), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Original Song
Fair warning: this Best Picture nominee is not quite as juicy as gay film Twitter would have you believe. But it’s still very entertaining, and more than that, it might have a chance at a Best Picture upset on Sunday. Directed by German filmmaker Edward Berger—who recently won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film for his 2022 film All Quiet on the Western Front—with a screenplay by Peter Straughan, Conclave is a mystery-thriller based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Robert Harris. Ralph Fiennes stars as a Cardinal who must organize the election of the next pope, after the previous pope dies. But in the process, he finds the now-deceased pope was hiding a dark secret (or two!) that involves his potential successors.
Streaming on: Peacock, and available to buy and rent on digital
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Best Supporting Actress (Isabella Rossellini), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design
Let’s not forget about animated films. It’s going to be a close race between The Wild Robot and Flow for Best Animated Feature, and both films are available to stream. The Wild Robot is written and directed by Chris Sanders (also known for writing and directing Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon), animated family film, book series of the same name by Peter Brown. Lupita Nyong’o stars as the voice of Roz, a robot who is abandoned in the woods and must learn how to live in a new environment. This could be the 16th Oscar win for DreamWorks Animation… unless the little indie animated film from Latvia, Flow, nabs the prize.
Streaming on: Peacock, and available to buy and rent on digital
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score, Best Sound
This gorgeous, dialogue-less animated film might just win Best Animated Feature on Sunday, which would no doubt be a huge win for Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis, who also co-wrote the movie with Matiss Kaza. Who doesn’t love an underdog win? The fable-like story follows a cat and a host of other animal friends navigating a post-apocalyptic, post-human world, trying to survive as water levels rise. It’s rousing and bittersweet adventure that’s sure to tug on your heartstrings, and it’s streaming on Max.
Streaming on: Max, or available to buy and rent on digital
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature, Best International Feature Film
Even though Timothée Chalamet’s performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown is the bigger Oscar story, the young actor is, in fact, in another Oscar-nominated film this year: Dune Part 2. The sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel, Dune: Part Two has very little chance of winning Best Picture on Sunday, but that’s OK. It made a lot of money! Still, it has a decent shot at the technical categories, and it’s very accessible, streaming both on Netflix and Max.
Streaming on: Netflix, Max, and available to buy and rent on digital
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects
The Brutalist has won numerous awards over the last few months, including the Golden Globe for Best Picture, Drama last month. It’s a favorite for Best Picture at the upcoming 2025 Oscars, so if you care about the Academy Awards, you’ll want to carve out three-and-a-half hours in your schedule to watch it. Directed by Brady Corbet (Melancholia, Vox Lux), with a script co-written by Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist is a harrowing epic that follows the life of a Hungarian-born Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor, named László Tóth. Oscar winner Adrian Brody stars in the lead role, and may just get another Academy Award for his portrayal of an immigrant struggling to achieve the American Dream, who has his life turned around by a wealthy industrialist named Harrison Lee Van Buren (played by Guy Pearce).
Buy: $19.99 on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Apple TV, and more.
Rent: N/A
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Adrien Brody), Best Supporting Actor (Guy Pearce), Best Supporting Actress (Felicity Jones), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Production Design
After the cast of Anora took home the SAG award for Best Ensemble last week, there are rumblings that it might be a last-minute favorite for Best Picture this Sunday. A lot of SAG voters are also Academy voters, after all. Written and directed by Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project, Red Rocket), Anora has been one of the buzziest films of 2024 since it premiered at Cannes in May, to near-universal critical acclaim. Mikey Madison stars as Anora—or Ani, as she goes by—an exotic dancer tasked with taking care of the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch. What starts as a fairy tale romance devolves into a nightmare.
Buy: $19.99 on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Vudu, and more
Rent: $5.99 on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Vudu, and more
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Mikey Madison), Best Supporting Actor (Yura Borisov), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing
After a big SAG win, it looks like Timmy Chalamet is about to take home his first Oscar win for his portrayal of legendary folk singer Bob Dylan. Directed by James Mangold (Ford v. Ferrari, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), who also co-wrote the script with Jay Cocks, A Complete Unknown tells the story of Dylan’s early years in New York City in the 1960s. It all culminates in Dylan’s performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, which caused quite a controversy in the folk scene, when Dylan brought out an electric guitar. This one is for the boomers!
Buy: $29.99 on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, and more
Rent: $24.99 on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, and more
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Timothée Chalamet), Best Supporting Actor (Edward Norton), Best Supporting Actress (Monica Barbaro), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound, Best Costume Design
Before you buy Wicked on digital, you should know that the movie will begin streaming on Peacock on March 21. But if you’re determined to watch the movie before the Oscars on Sunday, then you’ll have to pay up. Directed by Jon M. Chu, this film adaptation of Stephen Schwartz’s Tony-winning musical was one of the highest-grossing films of 2024. Cynthia Erivo stars as Elphaba, aka the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, before she turned evil. Glinda the Good Witch, aka Galinda (played by Ariana Grande), is key to Elphaba’s villain origin story. Before they were enemies, they were the best of friends. Could this be Ariana Grande’s big Oscar moment? We’ll have to wait and see.
Buy: $19.99 on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Vudu, and more
Rent: N/A
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actress (Cynthia Erivo), Best Supporting Actress (Ariana Grande), Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, But Original Score, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects
Though it’s unlikely Nickel Boys will take home any hardware on Sunday, this unique film adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s 2019 novel is still worth watching. Directed by RaMell Ross, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Joslyn Barnes, Nickel Boys tells the harrowing true story of a Florida reform school for boys that was exposed for abusing students, including beatings, rapes, torture, and murder. The school operated for over 100 years, from 1900 to 2011, before it was finally shut down. The film is shot entirely in first-person point-of-view, forcing viewers to experience these horrors face-on.
Buy: $19.99 on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, and more
Rent: $5.99 on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, and more
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay
You’ll be able to stream this Colman Domingo drama on Max starting on March 21, but if you want to catch it before the Oscars, you can also buy or rent it online. Directed by Greg Kwedar, who also co-wrote the script with Clint Bentley, Sing Sing is based on the true story of a maximum security prison in New York that offers a program for incarcerated individuals to get involved in theater and music. Two of the men featured in the film, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin and Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, are real alumni of the program who play themselves. Colman Domingo stars as the lead, Divine G, an unjustly imprisoned man determined to prove his innocence, who also discovers his talent for theater. This is Domingo’s second nomination, and we’d love to see him win!
Buy: $19.99 on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Apple TV, and more.
Rent: $9.99 on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Apple TV, and more.
Nominated for: Best Actor (Colman Domingo), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song
Sebastian Stan probably won’t win for his portrayal of a young Donald Trump, but if you’re curious to check out the film, it’s cheap to buy or rent on digital. Directed by Ali Abbasi, with a script by Gabriel Sherman, The Apprentice stars Captain America‘s Sebastian Stan as a young Trump, following his early career as a businessman and New York celebrity in the ’70s and ’80s. It’s certainly not a pro-Trump movie, but we understand you might not be in the headspace to watch this one right now. If there are any Oscar movies it’s OK to skip, it’s this one!
Buy: $7.99 on Amazon Prime, Vudu, and more.
Rent: $5.99 on Amazon Prime, Vudu, and more.
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