A sentiment I’m seeing often, and personally share, on social media these days is that talking about movies right now feels weird when so much is happening in our very real lives. But going to work and paying bills and making plans and, honestly, taking a deep breath and letting my mind wander for a few minutes also feel weird.

It may sound trite, but I say it with complete sincerity: Sometimes letting yourself be enveloped by art made by your fellow human beings is an act of resistance in and of itself. Connecting with your humanity, and the humanity of people whose lived experiences may be totally different from yours, weaves another thread into the invisible emotional ties that bind us to each other. Those threads give us something to hold onto as we continue to persist in the face of such horrors. We persist for each other.

Disclaimer on my writing style: I refuse to let ChatGPT and its revolting, earth-destroying, brain-rotting ilk take my em dashes away from me. Please know I would never and will never use generative AI. My brain works just fine, great even! I don’t need a machine to think or write for me. I refuse to capitulate to the robots and let them take away my favorite punctuation. Now, let’s get into the thick emotional stew that is the 2026 Academy Award nominees!

THE 2026 NOMINEES

Of the 10 films nominated for Best Picture, I’ve been able to watch eight of them. The Secret Agent unfortunately only came to a theater relatively near me too late in the week to see before writing this article, and F1 is simply too long. One-hundred fifty-five minutes for a car movie?! Top Gun: Maverick wasn’t even that long, so I’m convinced Joseph Kosinski is just trying to see how much we’ll put up with, and I have to draw the line.

There are 50 different titles nominated in at least one category at this year’s Oscars. Of that 50, I’ve watched 21 so far, and 13 are currently unavailable, which means I’ve watched more than half of the films available for my eyeballs. Since nominations came out a week-and-a-half ago and I have a non-entertainment job, I’d say that’s not too shabby. Of those 21, there are a good number I really loved.

The Great

Hamnet. Just wow. I can’t say enough good things about this book-to-screen adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel of the same name. Jessie Buckley gives the performance of her lifetime, to date, in breathing life and anger and love and grief into Agnes, a free-spirited forest witch who happens to also become the wife of William Shakespeare. For the most part, Hamnet has gotten rave reviews. The few negative reviews I’ve come across critique the movie for pornographizing Agnes’s grief by forcing the camera’s lens to consume her sorrow and emotionally manipulating the audience. I could not disagree more vehemently.

Agnes’ screams in the throes of a challenging childbirth and her desperation for the comfort of her mother when her physical body is ripping apart may make people uncomfortable. Her guttural scream of raw agony at the moment of her child’s death may make viewers turn away. But the camera doesn’t flinch. Agnes is not ashamed of her pain or her sorrow, and neither is director Chloé Zhao. So often we turn away when something is too real or too raw or makes us feel like we are seeing something we shouldn’t see. We must not shrink from bearing witness to the pain of our fellow humans, especially women—whose pain has been and continues to be ignored. It’s an honor to be in that moment with Agnes. To, even if for only a moment, understand that when a historical document says a woman had 10 children and six died that it isn’t just historical trivia; those numbers represent the pain and sorrow and suffering and joy and real lives of real people.

Jessie Buckley (Agnes Hathaway), Paul Mescal (William Shakespeare), Jacobi Jupe (Hamnet Shakespeare), Chloé Zhao, and all of the artists who worked on this film are begging us to not turn away from our fellow humans. Don’t try to over-intellectualize the Shakespeare of it all and instead lean in to how it makes you feel. I implore you to let this movie overwhelm you—and bring a ton of tissues.

Another movie firmly in the “great” category is Sinners. A masterpiece of writing, design, composition, music, and cinematography, Ryan Coogler made something that will be talked about for decades. Racism is such a difficult beast to get your arms around and squeeze the life out of in just one film. Through the lens of a vampire tale, Coogler manages to tackle race and class from multiple angles and brings out of his actors truly captivating performances, like that of Michael B. Jordan, who plays not one but two characters, and Wunmi Mosaku, who brings a tender strength to the adversity they face. Sinners broke the record for most nominations and deserves every accolade it receives. I’m rooting for it to take the top spot on Oscar night.

My final “great” film is the study of one man and his steadfast resilience in Train Dreams. Joel Edgerton was by far my biggest nominations snub because this movie would quite literally be a blank 100 minutes without him. He exhibits both intense emotion and epic restraint in playing a character who could so easily be inscrutable. Instead, the smallest facial expression chosen by Edgerton tells you something new about his character Robert Grainier and how he’s feeling deep inside. Set in the American West in the early 20th century, both natural disaster and technological advance ravage the landscape and force Grainier to constantly evolve to survive. This film is a reminder that no matter how solipsistic life can feel at times, at our cores, we are all interwoven with the living things around us.

.The Good

Where Train Dreams left me feeling sad yet hopeful, Bugonia shocked me with sensory overload. At first, I didn’t think I liked it. The more I sat with it and couldn’t get it out of my head, the more I realized it’s my favorite entry in the Yorgos Lanthimos oeuvre (which honestly is not a high bar since I’ve hated every other movie of his I’ve seen). While I’m still unsure what the ultimate message of the film is, and I can’t tell you my two theories without spoiling the ending, neither option takes away from how interesting it is to watch. The score in particular is really weird and deftly clues you in on the characters’ internal monologues—listen to this song and picture a man riding a bicycle (I’m serious). I’m very surprised Jesse Plemmons didn’t get noticed for this extremely off-putting and committed performance and similarly surprised Emma Stone did, although she could probably get nominated for breathing at this point. She’s great, but leave some room for other talents, people! If you like a sci-fi thriller and are good with some gore and torture, give Bugonia a try.

Staying on the gore train, Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was a worthy use of 150 minutes (still 5 minutes shorter than F1 but who’s counting … ). Jacob Elordi literally disappears into The Creature yet brings a softness that is essential to build sympathy and understanding. The production design on this film is nothing short of spectacular, with each setting beautifully crafted. While nothing in this movie is earth-shattering, it is an example of fine craftsmanship in a classic story begging to be seen on a big screen. I saw it in the theater and am so glad I did. I was already a fan of del Toro’s movies and vibe with his sensibility, but my love grew three sizes the day he professed his hatred of AI. We love our craftsman filmmaker king who would “rather die” than use AI. I’ll certainly die on that hill proudly with you, sir.

Because I’m now all in my feels, it’s only appropriate to discuss my final movie in this category, Sentimental Value. While the Academy clearly loved this movie by giving it nine Oscar nominations, those I’ve talked to have been more mixed to negative. I, however, really locked onto this quiet Norwegian gem. The core issue is between a father and a daughter who don’t understand each other, trust each other, or know how to communicate with one another. Both are invested in their work, and both work in the entertainment industry; the father in film and the daughter on stage. While his younger daughter Agnes (big year for the name Agnes at the Oscars!) has seemingly come to terms with who her father is, eldest daughter Nora has buried the pain associated with her childhood. Most of the film is set in a home the family has lived in for generations. The echoes of persistent memory haunt the silent house, further deepening the chasm between father and daughter. Eventually, the characters recognize that when conversation fails them, they can find connection through their art. Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård’s navigation of repressed emotionality was a welcome contrast to how love is portrayed in the other Best Picture contenders.

The Meh

I know it’s going to win, and Paul Thomas Anderson absolutely deserves the Best Director Oscar coming his way like a Nissan charging down the highway in a car chase, but One Battle After Another left me cold. Teyana Taylor as Perfidia Beverly Hills was by far the standout performance, and I was bereft after she was off-screen. Leonardo DiCaprio brought some levity to the story (the phone scene is quite inspired), but I was ultimately pretty bored by him, and maybe that was the point—white saviors are boring and inept. There have been criticisms of the film being made by a white man about a biracial young woman and relying on stereotypes of Black women without actually subverting them. On this issue, I defer to people of color to be the final arbiter, but I tend to agree with the critics. While the film was undeniably well-shot and well-acted, it left me feeling confused, and that confusion has not yet eased.

The Not-for-Me

Oh, Timmy. You are one of my favorite young actors working today, and I tried so hard to like Marty Supreme, but I just did not at all. Marty Mauser is an incredibly unlikeable character, but that’s not a deal-breaker for me as long as the plot puts them in their place. Writer-director Josh Safdie did not do that in his screenplay. Instead, he wrote a Holocaust joke that only a middle school edgelord would make and still wanted us to sympathize with its teller. Marty is insufferable; he hurts his friends, his family, strangers, and even an innocent animal, yet is still painted as the anti-hero. I think he needed some more aggressive paddle spanking because clearly, it did not have the desired effect. Hot take, Benny Safdie’s 2025 movie—The Smashing Machine—was better than his brother’s.

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BOOKS AT THE MOVIES

As per usual in the modern media landscape, some of the films will be released on DVD and available at public libraries, and others will be gatekept by the streaming corporations. Bugonia, F1, One Battle After Another, and Sinners are all available for checkout at my library, and I expect a boost after we make our annual Oscars display. I’m sad it will take years to get a Criterion release of Netflix’s Frankenstein and Train Dreams since both are book-to-movie adaptations and would have made for lovely promotion and displays this time of year. I have seen a spike in circulation for the book Hamnet and will be eagerly awaiting its DVD release.

CLOSING RECOMMENDATIONS

There are a few last non-Best-Picture-nominated films that I’d highly recommend as worthy watches. If you’re a horror or thriller fan, Weapons is unique, enjoyable, scary, and cathartic. Amy Madigan deserves every accolade for her bonkers yet terrifying performance as Aunt Gladys (who is now the namesake of one of my cats).

KPop Demon Hunters is full of absolute bangers, and I can’t wait to cry with EJAE when she wins Best Original Song for “Golden.”

The following shorts are available online and are incredibly worth your time: Butterfly (free on YouTube), Retirement Plan (free on YouTube), Jane Austen’s Period Drama (free with your library card if your library has Kanopy!), The Devil Is Busy (HBO Max), and All the Empty Rooms (HBO Max). Get ready to laugh and cry.

Finally, I always like to highlight a few films from the previous year that didn’t receive any Oscar attention but certainly got my attention. The Ballad of Wallis Island is about a musician former couple who are being forcibly reunited by their number-one fan. Hilarity and heartfeltness ensues. Eternity poses the question of how you would want to spend your afterlife—with the one you spent your life with or the one who got away. Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary made me smile, sing, and dance, and it is still alive and well in my playlist rotation in 2026. Last but certainly not least is Sorry, Baby. Eva Victor’s freshman directorial masterpiece featured the best closing monologue of the year. “I’m sorry. That bad things are going to happen to you. I hope they don’t … But sometimes bad stuff happens … let me know, if there’s anything I can do. Like listen or get you a sandwich or something.” Sometimes, all we need is someone to listen and get us a sandwich and sit in the bad with us until it’s not quite as bad anymore. Eva Victor gets it.

THE END

The nominees this year did exactly what they are supposed to do—they got me to watch movies I either hadn’t made time for or hadn’t heard of. A win for cinema!

Last year’s ceremony was emotionally charged by the fires in Los Angeles. This year’s ceremony will be layered with grief for our democracy and those we have lost at the hands of our own government. How many names will be added to that horrific list before the ceremony on March 15? I hope none. However, there are not thick enough rose-colored lenses in the world to make me think that will be true.

If you’re paying attention, and by god, I hope you are, things are and feel really bad right now. A thick blanket of doom lays on top of the pedantic motions of daily life. I encourage you to use Oscar season as an excuse to delve into stories. Throw yourself into the art. Let it overwhelm your senses and offer you an opportunity for catharsis. Talking about movies can feel trivial, but it can also be healing. Keep your heart open, as Hamnet beseeches us, and let’s be brave together.

Movie posters are from imdb.com.

Where to Find Every Feature Film, Documentary, Animated, International, and Short Nominated in Any Category at the 98th Oscars 

FF = feature film; SF = short film; D = documentary; DS = documentary short;

I = international feature film; AF = animated film; AS = animated short

Check out the companion conversation to this article between the author and ITI NewsBreaks editor in chief Brandi Scardilli about all things Oscar 2026 on page 2.