Forget the glitz. Forget the red carpet. Forget naked John Cena (if you can!). Because there wouldn't be an Academy Awards without the movies themselves. And while the shimmer on those glad statuettes may burnish and dampen, the 10 Best Picture nominated movies of the 2024 Oscars will always be available to watch in celluloid perfection.
It was the year where Oppenheimer swept the board, Poor Things' Emma Stone was preferred to Killers of the Flower Moon's Lily Gladstone and low-budget Godzilla Minus One surprised much bigger beasts for best visual effects.
Barbie may have suffered some high profile snubs, but the most watched movie of 2023 still held a place in the Best Picture category, alongside the likes of The Holdovers, American Fiction and Maestro, with plenty of foreign language representation from Anatomy of a Fall, Past Lives and The Zone of Interest.
So make a claim on the TV remote, grab the popcorn and prepare to watch Oscars 2024 Best Picture Nominees online, no matter where you are in the world.
How to watch Oppenheimer online
Stars: Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt | Director: Christopher Nolan | 180 mins | Oscar nominations: 13
Christopher Nolan's epic biopic of the 'father of the atomic bomb' J. Robert Oppenheimer leads this year's nomination tally and, with big wins under its belt at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards, is the favorite to take the top prize at the 96th Academy Awards. In addition to Cillian Murphy's career-best performance as the eponymous scientist, claustrophobic narrative and jaw-dropping cinematography, the movie boasts an ensemble cast at the top of their game including Matt Damon, Jason Clarke, Alden Ehrenreich, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Best Supporting Actor shoe-in Robert Downey Jr and Emily Blunt who finally landed her first Oscar nomination.
- US: Stream on Peacock now
- UK: Stream on Sky Cinema (from Apr. 12)
- Canada: Stream on Amazon Prime Video now
- Global: VOD platforms (e.g. Vudu in US)
- Watch anywhere with a VPN
How to watch Poor Things online
Stars: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe | Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | 141 mins | Oscar nominations: 11
Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite, The Lobster) is known for his luminous, ominous, downright ludicrous movies, and Poor Things is no exception. Emma Stone's Bella Baxter is a 30-year-old with a three-year-old's brain, and little more than an ethics-skirting experiment of crazy scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). When she breaks free of her birdcage to go gallivanting around the globe with the rakish Duncan Wedderburn (a deliciously devious Mark Ruffalo) she discovers a whole world of literature, philosophy, female empowerment and sex. Lots and lots of sex.
- US: stream now on Hulu and Disney Plus Bundle
- Global: stream on Disney Plus now
- Global: VOD platforms (e.g. Vudu in US)
How to watch Killers of the Flower Moon online
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Robert De Niro | Director: Martin Scorsese | 206 mins | Oscar nominations: 10
Scorsese. DiCaprio. De Niro. It probably doesn't take much more than those three names to sell any movie, and yet it's the breakout performance of Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart on which the three-and-a-half hours of Killers of the Flower Moon anchors itself. She is just one of the many members of the Osage community that is used and abused to line the pockets of their white plunderers, led by the insidious William King Hale (Robert De Niro) and his dim-witted but greedy nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leo DiCaprio).
- Global: streaming on Apple TV+ now
- Global: VOD platforms (e.g. Vudu in US)
- Watch anywhere with a VPN
How to watch Barbie online
Stars: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera | Director: Greta Gerwig | 114 mins | Oscar nominations: 8
It's hard to imagine now that when a Barbie movie was first announced it was thought of as a bit of a gamble for Mattel and Warner Bros. Universal adoration, a hatful of awards and $1.4 billion at the box office later, and Greta Gerwig's super-smart, genre-bending, convention-defying, bubble-gum pink Barbie has entertained millions and and empowered a new generation of patriarchy-challenging young women the world over. Gerwig and lead actress Margot Robbie may have been snubbed, but Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera have been recognised for their supporting roles.
- US: Stream on Max now
- Canada: Stream on Crave
- UK: Stream on Sky Cinema (from Mar. 29)
- Global: VOD platforms (e.g. Vudu in US)
- Watch anywhere with a VPN
How to watch Maestro online
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Sarah Silverman | Director: Bradley Cooper | 129 mins | Oscar nominations: 7
The biopic of great American composer Leonard Bernstein is a passion project that famously took Bradley Cooper's years to realize on screen, with the star first wanting to ensure that he had fully embodied the musician. It was certainly worth the wait, with Cooper's (not uncontroversial) transformation rendering him scarcely recognisable as Bernstein across five decades. Carey Mulligan also impresses as his actress wife Felicia Montealegre, but it's the six-minute single-shot scene of the maestro conducting Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony that will live longest in the memory.
- Global: streaming on Netflix now
How to watch American Fiction online
Stars: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Sterling K. Brown | Director: Cord Jefferson | 117 mins | Oscar nominations: 5
American Ficton has come up on the outside as something of a dark horse in this year's Oscar race, and it's largely thanks to the central performance from the always brilliant Jeffrey Wright (The Batman). He plays Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison, a struggling writer and increasingly bored university lecturer who, at the end of his tether, writes a stereotypically 'black' novel in jest. But when the joke turns into an unexpected success, Monk becomes everything he has previously detested...
- US: Stream on MGM Plus now
- Canada: Stream on Amazon Prime Video now
- UK: Stream on Amazon Prime Video now
- Australia: Stream on Amazon Prime Video now
- Global: VOD platforms (e.g. Vudu in US)
- Watch anywhere with a VPN
How to watch Anatomy of a Fall online
Stars: Sandra Huller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado Graner | Director: Justine Triet | 151 mins | Oscar nominations: 5
Justine Triet has already taken home the Palme d'Or from last year's Cannes Film Festival, and now her opus Anatomy of a Fall is slap bang in the Oscars race and hot favorite to win Best International Feature Film on March 10. After a father falls mysteriously to his death from a chalet window in the French alps, his unemotional wife Sandra (Sandra Huller) is prime suspect. But to categorize this as a conventional courtroom drama would be to sell short a complex, nuanced exploration of subjective truths, sentiments lost in translation and the tragic consequences when a marriage falls apart.
- US: streaming on Hulu and Disney Plus Bundle (both from Mar. 22)
- Global: stream on Disney Plus (from Mar. 22)
- Global: VOD platforms (e.g. Vudu in US)
How to watch The Holdovers online
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa | Director: Alexander Payne | 133 mins | Oscar nominations: 5
For anybody that shares our opinion that Paul Giamatti (Billions) is well overdue an Oscar, this is the year that may see that wish fulfilled. Finally reuniting him with director Alexander Payne, 20 years after the modern-classic Sideways, here he plays a cantankerous history teacher (elbow patches and all!) who is forced to spend the holidays with one of his failing students (debutant Dominic Sessa) and melancholy dining room attendant (Oscar-tipped Da'Vine Joy Randolph). Cue sardonic laughs and a lot of heart.
- US: Stream on Peacock now
- Canada: Stream on Amazon Prime Video now
- Global: VOD platforms (e.g. Vudu in US)
- Watch anywhere with a VPN
How to watch The Zone of Interest online
Stars: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Ralph Herforth | Director: Jonathan Glazer | 105 mins | Oscar nominations: 5
While The Zone of Interest is unlikely to trouble any 'Feel Good Films of 2024' lists, Jonathan Glazer's (Sexy Beast, Under the Skin) fourth feature in 23 years has already been lauded by critics as unmissable. It follows the central family as they try to live an idyllic life in their new dream home... directly next-door to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Is it possible to humanize – or even illicit sympathy – for the Nazi protagonists? In Glazer's hands, you can be assured a sensitive and thought-provoking study of the banality of evil.
- US: Stream on Max (date TBA)
- US/CA: VOD platforms (e.g. Vudu in US)
How to watch Past Lives online
Stars: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro | Director: Celine Song | 105 mins | Oscar nominations: 2
Every awards season has a sleeper hit that makes a splash at the Sundance Film Festival, builds momentum over the year, makes its way into end-of-year lists and, ultimately, the Oscar conversation – CODA being the classic example two years ago. 2024's iteration comes courtesy of first-time director Celine Song and tracks the lives of a couple who develop strong feelings for each other in school in South Korea, as their paths continue to cross over the course of 24 years. A box of tissues at the ready is strongly advised.
- US: Stream on Paramount Plus with Showtime (1-week FREE trial)
- Canada: Stream on Amazon Prime Video now
- UK: Stream on Netflix now
- Global: VOD platforms (e.g. Vudu in US)
- Watch anywhere with a VPN
VOD services for Best Picture Oscar nominees
Even though you can't yet watch all the Best Picture Oscar 2024 nominees via streaming services, they are all at least able to rent or buy on 'video on demand' (VOD) services around the world.
The most common of these are Amazon Prime Video, Apple iTunes, Google Play, YouTube and the Microsoft Store. But if you're struggling to find the movie you want to watch, then it's also worth checking the likes of smaller, country-specific online VOD shops like Vudu in the US or the Sky Store in the UK.
How to watch Oscars 2024 Best Picture Nominees Online from outside your country
Scroll down and you'll discover the streaming services you'll need to watch the Oscar Best Picture nominees in your home country. But if you're on vacation or working overseas and still want to stream as if you were back home, you may run into a problem. Unfortunately, in some markets you'll be stopped from doing so due to geo-blocking.
But with a VPN you can change your IP address and make your computer, smartphone, tablet or other streaming device think its right back in your home country.
That means those overseas can subscribe to a VPN and access their subscription no matter where you are in the world, just as if you were in the comfort of your own home.
How to use a VPN to unblock streaming services:
1. Choose your ideal VPN and install - as we say, NordVPN is the total package when it comes to great streaming VPNs
2. Connect to a server - most good VPNs make it super simple to connect to a server in the US, Canada or whatever country you require
3. Stream away! - login to your chosen streaming service and stream like you were in your home country
2024 Oscars: 96th Academy Awards FAQs
What date and time is the 2024 Oscars?
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on Sunday, March 10.
The 2024 Oscars will start at an earlier time than usual at 4pm PT in Hollywood. That's 7pm ET or 11pm GMT on the Sunday evening, and 10am AEDT on the Monday morning.
Where will the 2024 Oscars be held?
The Dolby Theatre (previously the Kodak Theatre) on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles has been the regular Oscars venue for over 20 years since 2002.
It will be the venue for the 96th Academy Awards.
Who is hosting the Oscars 2024?
Comedian and TV presenter Jimmy Kimmel is returning for his fourth stint as Oscars host, and the second time in consecutive years.
Who is producing the Oscars 2024?
The ABC presentation of the 96th Academy Awards will be produced by Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan, and directed by Hamish Hamilton.
Where can I watch the Oscars 2024?
As per usual, ABC is the host broadcaster of this year's Oscars.
In the UK, the 96th Academy Awards will be shown on the free-to-air ITV and its ITVX streaming service.
It will be on CTV in Canada, and the free-to-watch broadcasters Seven Network and TVNZ in Australia and New Zealand respectively.
You can still watch highlights and the full ceremony. Check out our dedicated guide on how to watch the Oscars 2024 online to find out where.
Who is favored to win the Oscars 2024?
With its 13 nominations at the 96th Academy Awards, Oppenheimer is the favorite to sweep the board with wins for Best Picture, Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy and Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr.
It's set to be a close battle between Emma Stone (Poor Things) and Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) for Best Actress, with The Holdovers' Da'Vine Joy Randolph odds-on for Supporting Actress.
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse faces stiff competition from The Boy and the Heron for Best Animated Feature.
Who won the main Oscars in 2023?
The big winner at the 95th Academy Awards in 2023 was Everything Everywhere All at Once, which took home a total of seven Oscar wins. The haul included Best Picture, Best Director and Original Screenplay for the Daniels, and acting awards for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Brendan Fraser won the Best Actor prize for his role in The Whale, Sarah Polley bagged Best Adapted Screenplay for Women Talking, and All Quiet on the Western Front got the Best International Feature among its four wins. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio won Best Animated Feature.
