30 Movies Nominated for Oscars in 2022 (and Where to Stream Them)
Reading Time: 8 minutesYou can now watch every Best Picture nominee without leaving your house.
There was a time—and not so long ago—when catching all the movies vying for Academy Awards before the statues were handed out basically necessitated living in a big city rife with art house theaters and spending a small fortune on tickets. But no more: Thanks to the rise of streaming and the effects of COVID, windows of theatrical exclusivity, already shrinking, have closed almost completely.
A few days before the ceremony, every major 2022 Oscar contender is already available for home viewing in one form or another—either free to subscribers of a particular streaming service, or as a digital rental.
Returning to the Dolby Theatre after last year’s trip to the train station, the 94th Academy Awards ceremony air on Sunday, March 27, which means you still have just enough time to watch all 10 Best Picture nominees (combined running time: 1,386 minutes, or just about 23 hours). Here’s where to catch them all.
The single most nominated film at this year’s Oscars is Jane Campion’s revisionist, slow-burn western The Power of the Dog. Though it’s probably not the most viewed of the Academy Award contenders, it’s been a critical favorite thanks in part to Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance and the effective score from Jonny Greenwood. The nomination for Campion as director makes her the only woman in Academy history to be nominated twice in that category (the last time was for 1993’s The Piano).
It’s an easy one to catch if you’re a Netflix subscriber: following a run at film festivals last year and a very limited theatrical release, the movie premiered on the streaming platform back in December.
Nominations (12): Best Picture, Best Director (Jane Campion), Best Lead Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Supporting Actor (Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee), Best Supporting Actress (Kirsten Dunst), Best Adapted Screenplay (Jane Campion), Best Cinematography, Best Original Score (Jonny Greenwood), Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Production Design
Where to stream: Netflix
It’s still slightly surprising when a science fiction or fantasy film garners significant Oscar attention, but Dune isn’t as much an outlier as you’d expect. Some of the credit for that goes to director, Denis Villeneuve, whose mind-bending movie Arrival received a number of 2017 Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. As with Arrival, most of Dune‘s noms are in technical categories—and the director was snubbed—but with 10 overall, and a shot at Best Picture, Villeneuve and company should be quite pleased.
Nominations (10): Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth), Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score (Hans Zimmer), Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects
Where to stream: HBO Max
Spielberg’s lush remake of the 1961 classic didn’t do much business at the box office—whether because of Covid or because people just aren’t feeling this type of thing is hard to say—but to be fair, none of the contenders are exactly blockbusters (it’s among the lowest-grossing slates in Oscar history). Still, the people who did see it overwhelmingly enjoyed it and the critics were enthusiastic. Spielberg’s director nod here means that he’s received nominations for six decades running.
Nominations (7): Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Supporting Actress (Ariana DeBose), Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Production Design
Where to stream: Disney+, HBO Max
An early Oscar favorite, Belfast didn’t do quite as well as The Power of the Dog or Dune for overall number of nominations, but I suspect Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical film is still an incredibly strong contender for the big prizes. Win or not, the awards love represents a milestone for the actor/director: given his earlier nominations for Best Actor, Supporting Actor, Live-Action Short, and Adapted Screenplay, he’s now the first person in Oscar history to receive a nomination in seven different categories.
Nominations (7): Best Picture, Best Director (Kenneth Branagh), Best Supporting Actor (Ciarán Hinds), Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), Best Original Screenplay (Kenneth Branagh), Best Sound, Best Original Song (Van Morrison)
Where to stream: Digital rental (currently $5.99 on most platforms)
Will Smith plays Richard Williams, father of tennis legends Venus and Serena, earning himself another acting Oscar nomination—his first in 15 years. King Richard has also garnered Beyoncé her very first Oscar nomination for Best Song (a category in which she must surely be the frontrunner). The movie was briefly available in theaters and on HBO Max in December, but currently it’s only available via a slightly pricy rental. It didn’t make much of an impact in ticket sales (around $14 million), which is a shame; it’s the kind of crowd-pleaser that would have been a $150 million hit a few years ago. But I’m still not counting out Will Smith for Best Actor.
Nominations (6): Best Picture, Best Lead Actor (Will Smith), Best Supporting Actress (Aunjanue Ellis), Best Original Screenplay (Zach Baylin), Best Original Song (‘Be Alive’), Best Film Editing
Where to stream: Digital rental (currently $5.99 on most platforms), though it should be back on HBO Max within a few months
This Apple TV+ original film received acclaim not just for being a compelling tear-jerker about the hearing daughter of deaf parents who dreams of becoming a musician, but for its casting, which places deaf and non-hearing actors in deaf and non-hearing roles. Which, you know…what a concept. Troy Kotsur becomes only the second nominated deaf actor in Oscar history, following his CODA co-star Marlee Matlin, who took home an award way back in 1986 for Children of a Lesser God.
Nominations (3): Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Troy Kotsur), Best Adapted Screenplay (Siân Heder)
Where to stream: Apple TV+
They don’t come much darker than Guillermo del Toro’s noir remake of Nightmare Alley, which might be part of the reason why it didn’t do tremendous business at the box office. Too bad, really, because it really is the kind of feel-bad-and-love-it movie they don’t make anymore, and it goes down easier with a star like Bradley Cooper at its center.
Nominations (4): Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design
Where to stream: HBO Max, Hulu
It hasn’t done huge box office (other than Spider-Man, not much has lately), but Licorice Pizza is still something of a crowd-pleaser, especially within the angular, somewhat obtuse filmography of its writer-director, Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master, Inherent Vice, Phantom Thread). It’s a quirky, funny, offbeat visit to decades past and a rather perfect antidote to our incredibly fraught present day.
Nominations (3): Best Picture, Best Director (Paul Thomas Anderson), Best Original Screenplay (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Where to stream: Digital rental (currently $5.99 on most platforms)
For a movie that’s received very mixed reviews from critics and audiences, Don’t Look Up has done very well in this year’s award nominations. Some viewers found its end of the world climate satire overly broad, while others felt that it hit just right—and it seems that Oscar voters fell much more into the second camp (though the presence of a ridiculous number of big stars probably helped there, not to mention Hollywood seems to adore director Adam McKay—this is his third film running to vie for Best Picture). It has certainly made a splash on Netflix, and its reportedly the platform’s second-most viewed original film ever, which will certainly help its name recognition.
Nominations (4): Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay (Adam McKay; story by Adam McKay and David Sirota), Best Original Score, Best Film Editing
Where to stream: Netflix
This three-hour Japanese import will almost inevitably become the butt of jokes about being the movie that nobody’s seen (not helped by the fact that there’s no streaming option yet), but critics and viewers have invariably had nothing but love for the quiet, emotional film about grief and art. The Oscars remain rather shockingly un-diverse, but there’s been a new openness to foreign films over the past few years, particularly in the Best Director category, and it’s nice to see Hamaguchi’s film in contention.
Nominations (4): Best Picture, Best Director (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi), Best Adapted Screenplay (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe), Best International Feature Film
Where to stream: HBO Max
The buzz from the early trailers was that Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem were miscast as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, that their impressions of the beloved sitcom legends weren’t nearly on-the-nose enough. But those sour grapes were quickly smashed (references!)—everyone’s great here, top to bottom, particularly when playing their characters when they’re not on TV. The writing’s usually the first thing that comes to mind when we’re talking about an Aaron Sorkin project, but here it’s the performances that stand out.
Nominations (3): Best Lead Actress (Nicole Kidman), Best Lead Actor (Javier Bardem), Best Supporting Actor (J.K. Simmons)
Where to stream: Prime Video
This Joel Coen Shakespeare adaptation probably would have made my own personal Best Picture list, but it’s still nice to see Denzel Washington receive recognition for his impressive performance in a role that really allows him to show off his range. It’s his tenth nomination.
Nominations (3): Best Lead Actor (Denzel Washington), Best Cinematography, Best Production Design
Where to stream: Apple TV+
There was a bit of talk this year about Spider-Man: No Way Home as a possible Oscar contender, which is, of course, patently ridiculous (the Oscars aren’t yet that chill). Into the Spider-Verse is the only Spider-Man worthy of Oscars anyway. Still, a good year for Andrew Garfield—he’s in one of the most successful box office movies ever and he got a deserved Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Rent creator Jonathan Larson in this Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed stage-to-screen adaptation/biopic, propelling him to godlike status among high school theater geeks everywhere in the bargain.
Nominations (2): Best Lead Actor (Andrew Garfield), Best Film Editing
Where to stream: Netflix
The campy biopic received a fairly mixed reception overall, but there’s no question Jessica Chastain is doing the Lord’s work in her performance as the infamous character from a real-life scandal. It’s also impossible to quibble with the movie’s Makeup and Hairstyling nomination.
Nominations (2): Best Lead Actress (Jessica Chastain), Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Where to stream: HBO Max
The Greek-mythology-inspired psychological drama was probably never destined to be a crowd-pleaser, but it’s a genuinely confident, bold debut from writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal. The Jessie Buckley nomination is an unexpected surprise, and we should probably just save Olivia Colman a spot on the ballot every year from now on.
Nominations (3): Best Lead Actress (Olivia Colman), Best Supporting Actress (Jessie Buckley), Best Adapted Screenplay (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
Where to stream: Netflix
As with The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Spencer received a more mixed reception than some of the other nominated films, but no one should be even remotely surprised that Kristen Stewart’s powerhouse lead performance got a nomination. She’s come a long way from the sparkly vampire years.
Nominations (1): Best Lead Actress (Kristen Stewart)
Where to stream: Hulu
A strong field of animated features this year, with (not really surprisingly) the lion’s share of nominations going to Disney productions. In an Oscar first, Flee is also nominated in the Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature categories.
- Encanto (also nominated for Best Original Song for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘Dos Oruguitas’), Luca, and Raya and the Last Dragon can all be streamed on Disney+.
- Flee is streaming on Hulu.
- The Mitchells vs. the Machines can be streamed on Netflix.
Again, this is a strong field of documentaries, in terms of breadth of subject matter, but also in terms of quality and just pure watchability. It’s hard to pick a frontrunner.
- Ascension can be streamed on Paramount+
- Attica can be streamed on Prime Video, Fubo, and Showtime.
- Flee, again, can be streamed on Hulu.
- Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) can be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu.
- Writing With Fire can rented for $3.99 on YouTube and Google Play.
The lines separating the Best International Feature category from others has broken down over the last few years—during the 2019 Oscars, Parasite won (among its other awards) Best Picture and Best International Picture, a feat which seemed like it might make this category meaningless. It’s still here, though, and we’re seeing something similar with Drive My Car, nominated in both categories, as well as with Flee, which is nominated for Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and here. I’m not sure that we’ll see the kind of upset we saw in 2019, but
- Drive My Car (Japan) is available on HBO Max.
- The Worst Person in the World (Norway) is available for digital rental starting at $4.99.
- Flee (Denmark) can be streamed on Hulu.
- The Hand of God (Italy) can be streamed on Netflix
- Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan) can be rented via Spectrum TV.
This article was originally published on Feb. 9, 2022 and updated on March 23, 2022 with up-to-date streaming locations and a new intro and header image.