Just like every year, we once again find ourselves in the middle of yet another award season, with many, many – way too many – award shows honouring the best in cinema. But if you don’t have the time or patience to sit through the dozens of films that are in contention for some major hardware, here are five movies you should definitely watch if you want to keep up with what’s going on and see what the biggest contenders this time around are all about.

The Power of the Dog

The major standout this award season is The Power of the Dog, New Zealand director Jane Campion’s Western psychological thriller about a volatile rancher (Benedict Cumberbatch) who takes to tormenting his brother’s (Jesse Plemons) new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and her son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) before eventually bonding with the latter. The Netflix film – an adaptation of the 1967 novel of the same name by American author Thomas Savage – dissects themes of desire and repression, and it may not be a fast-paced blockbuster designed to rule the box office, but this slow, sinister drama has won the hearts of critics. Not only has it received rave reviews since its release but has also been earning statuettes for pretty much everyone involved. The movie has won several Best Picture, Best Director (Campion), Best Actor (Cumberbatch), and Best Supporting Actor (Smit-McPhee) trophies as well as numerous other accolades in categories including screenplay (Campion), cinematography (Ari Wegner), and score (Jonny Greenwood).

Dune

The first part of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune duology has been spicing up the award season, emerging as a favourite in several technical categories. The sci-fi drama tells the story of the gifted son (Timothee Chalamet) of a noble family thrust into conflict over a planet’s supply of a precious resource, and it’s the technical achievements of this latest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel that have made the project stand out in the awards race. The movie has amassed a very long list of nominations and several wins in departments including cinematography (Greig Fraser), editing (Joe Walker), and score (Hans Zimmer), as well as costume design, makeup and hairstyling, production design, sound, and visual effects.

Drive My Car

The Japanese movie Drive My Car has been cruising to success ever since it won several honours at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Based on a Haruki Murakami short story, the road drama finds a renowned actor (played by Hidetoshi Nishijima) grappling with the death of his wife while directing a production of the play Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima. Drive My Car has not only been deemed the Best International/Foreign Language Film by several critics’ associations (taking home this award at the recent Golden Globes as well) but has also triumphed a handful of times in major categories like Best Picture, Best Director (Ryusuke Hamaguchi), Best Actor (Nishijima), and Best Screenplay (Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe).

Summer of Soul (...Or, When The
Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Footage that sat ignored and unpublished for five decades has now been transformed into a riveting documentary by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Summer of Soul examines the six-week long 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival that celebrated African American music and culture and featured performers like Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Sly and the Family Stone. With restored footage and revealing interviews, Thompson and his team have crafted what has been described as one of the best music documentaries, making this a prominent frontrunner in the Best Documentary campaign across the season.

The Mitchells vs.
the Machines

The Mitchells vs. the Machines may not have received the same level of enthusiasm that the terrific Encanto is currently being showered with, but it did generate critical acclaim that has since translated to several Best Animated Film trophies. The sci-fi comedy about a dysfunctional family who find themselves in the middle of a robot uprising while on a road trip offers a smart, touching, funny adventure. It eventually may or may not be able to ward off some very tough competition from the likes of Luca and Encanto, but now that we’ve seen the former and memorized the soundtrack of the latter, it is definitely worth checking out this Netflix gem if you haven’t done so already.