There’s something special about this time of year. The rush of catching up on films, the quiet moments in dark theaters, the group chats that turn into debates. Awards season has a way of reminding us why we love Cinema in the first place.
This year’s Oscars Best Picture lineup is no exception: a mix of bold directorial visions, intimate character studies, political statements, genre experiments, and unapologetic crowd-pleasers.
Over the past months, we’ve watched, logged our thoughts on Letterboxd, rewatched, and reflected on each nominee. What follows is Tra i Leoni’s guide to this year’s Best Picture race. Our takes on what works, what doesn’t, what moved us most, and what we think will ultimately take home the award.
Sinners
By Keito
I usually enjoy supernatural-action-horror-blues-musical-1930s period pieces, and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners was no exception. Set in the U.S. during the Jim Crow era, the movie follows two identical twins, Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan), as they return to their hometown in Mississippi to set up a “juke joint”, a gathering place for African Americans to sing and dance together. Given the Black Panther and Creed franchises, I was excited to see Coogler have free rein to write and direct an original big-budget movie, independent of any previous IPs.
In a sea of amazing actors, Miles Caton to me was still the obvious standout. At just 21 years of age, Caton dominated every scene in his film debut, carrying the character of Sammie through comedic chops and resonant singing. I also felt like Wunmi Mosaku as Annie splendidly represented the tangible importance of the supernatural in African American communities, long before we even saw it. Delroy Lindo’s performance as Delta Slim was electrifying; despite knowing little of the character’s past, Lindo’s small mannerisms painted a picture of a life long lived.
In particular, I felt that the twin “gimmick” was done very very well. Twins are often portrayed with identical personalities (leading to two-dimensional characters), or otherwise so blatantly different that they come off as cartoonish. MBJ’s performance avoids both of these pitfalls by playing Smoke and Stack with subtle differences that paradoxically never go unnoticed.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
My favorite and most thematically relevant scene was definitely the “I Lied To You” sequence. The way the camera seamlessly weaved past the choreography and cacophony of music was mesmerizing.
My biggest issue with the movie is probably its pacing. I actually enjoyed the first hour of exposition, but a lot of the setup did not pay off in the most satisfying way. The reveal of Smoke’s dead child felt like a disposable detail, in the sense that it bore no relevance to the characters’ actions or dialogue, making the final “after life” scene feel unearned. The movie also rushed the final clash against the vampires, especially since Smoke and Sammie’s relationship could have been developed to create a greater umph in the mid-credit scene.
(SPOILERS DONE!)
The movie is historic in every sense of the word. Within the movie’s bounds, we see the depiction of a not-so-ancient yearning for freedom, and outside its bounds a record 16 Oscar nominations. Above all is Coogler’s landmark deal with Warner Bros., in which he will be granted full ownership rights to the movie after 25 years. In an era defined by studios aiming to consolidate libraries of entertainment, rarely does a film so original and authentic retain these characteristics. It seems fitting that Sinners is the one to do it.
One Battle After Another
By Keito
Watching One Battle After Another was maybe the best theater-going experience of my life. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the action-thriller follows Bob (Leonardo di Caprio), an ex-revolutionary father who is forced back into combat after old foes return.
The plot is much tighter than what I had seen in PTA’s previous movie, Licorice Pizza, yet his meticulous character craft is there all the same. Even tighter may be the dialogue, with a fast-paced absurdist humor often absent in such big-budget action movies.
While Di Caprio as Bob Ferguson was great as always, I was impressed by Chase Infiniti’s ability to hold her own as Bob’s daughter Willa amidst such a star-studded cast, and I hope her film debut paves the way for more roles. Of course, I could not even mention this movie without discussing Sean Penn’s performance as Colonel Steven Lockjaw. The way in which his lips twitched, eyes blinked, legs locked as he walked — ALL OF IT came together to form who might be the most racist, perverted, yet pitiful character put to the screen in recent years. In this sense, I really loved how the movie freely mocked white supremacists. Movies’ vilifications of racism can indirectly give it greater power, and PTA avoids the latter drawback by placing the ridiculousness of racist ideologies on full display.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
I admit I was initially unsure about the first 20 minutes, considering the substantial focus on Perfidia, a character who is later largely absent. On my second viewing, I appreciated the exposition in a larger context, but I still thought more time could have been spent delving into Regina Hall’s character, Deandra, perhaps building a stronger sisterhood between Deandra and Willa, or rendering Deandra’s stance on Perfidia’s betrayal clearer.
The original score, composed by Jonny Greenwood (best known as Radiohead’s guitarist), was an aspect I immediately fell in love with. The drone notes anchored the atmosphere in moments of tranquility, and eventual spirals into chromatic chaos paralleled a father’s hopelessness in searching for his daughter. For this reason, I adore the “Trust Device” melody, which played as a persistent motif underpinning Bob and Willa’s father-daughter relationship. After what may be the most mesmerizingly tense car chase in cinematic history, the melody plays one final time, evoking their “Trust” in a moment in which Willa could only feel confused and deceived.
Beyond the score, the soundtrack features many perfectly-timed, classic needle-drops: Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work” when we are introduced to Bob’s new lifestyle as a deadbeat father, The Jackson 5’s “Ready or Not (Here I Come)” when Bob escapes from the hospital, and The Shirelles’ “Soldier Boy” when Perfidia seemingly dominates Lockjaw—a soldier—in their highly sexualized bedroom encounter.
One Battle After Another is all-encompassing in scale. Although the deranged, militarized violence is meant to contrast the competence of organized communities, such a grand political background also functions as a vehicle for parental anxiety. There is much to fear about the world, and absurd bigotry is at least something we can laugh at.
Hamnet
By Geet
Hamnet is a dramatized account of Shakespeare’s family life and the circumstances that led up to the playwright writing the acclaimed tragedy Hamlet. The movie follows the story of William (Paul Mescal), a family tutor and Agnes (Jessie Buckley), a superstitious and intuitive healer, living in the town of Stratford. Despite Agnes being rumored to be a witch, William pursues her. The pair consummate their relationship and get married in spite of their families’ disapproval. They have three children, and William starts traveling to London to advance his career in theater. Superstition plays a big role in this movie, with Agnes’ intuition foreshadowing what’s to come.
The film explores themes of love, loss, grief and creativity: how loss may have shaped Shakespeare’s art. Hamlet becomes his way to process his grief, with the play itself revolving around death, immortalising those he lost via his art. His pain is given form and becomes a tangible means for his healing. Hamnet is profoundly intimate, yet it manages to retain your attention even in the more sombre, quiet scenes.
Set against the backdrop of the 16th-century English countryside, Chloe Zhao’s work feels atmospheric and immersive. The cinematography is ethereal and allows the characters’ grief to breathe. The sound design is exquisite; watching this in a theater definitely elevated the experience. That being said, the editing feels a bit disjointed sometimes and could have been tighter. I later learnt that Zhao was closely involved in the editing, which influences her direction as well, so I respect it, even though it’s not my favourite aspect of the movie.
Speaking of performances, Paul Mescal might just carve his niche in the category of melancholic roles. Jessie Buckley and Jacobi Jupe also exhibited stellar acting, and in my opinion, Buckley is a very strong contender for the Best Actress award. She showcases exceptional range – masterfully executing both scenes of quiet contemplation and moments of raw, heightened emotional intensity. They pull you into their world, coerce you to empathize with them. Even after having left the theater, I kept thinking about Jacobi Jupe’s scenes, particularly where he says, “I’ll be brave”, and where he’s bargaining with his ill sister Judith (Olivia Lynes), trying to make her hold on to life. As someone with a sibling, it felt as if that scene broke something inside me.
The film ends with the final scene from Hamlet, less of a public spectacle and more of a catharsis, allowing the family to make peace with their grief. Ultimately, the movie speaks less of Shakespeare as a legend and more about the family behind the name. In all, a tender, haunting, and poignant watch.
Sentimental Value
By Sara
I’ll start off by saying that when I watched The Worst Person in the World, the previous movie by the director Joachim Trier, I didn’t like it that much. I expected to like it, so I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed, but maybe I didn’t watch it in the right moment or in the right spirit. I should watch it again.
I’m saying this because when Sentimental Value came out, I was excited to give Joachim Trier another chance after that first experience. And here, he definitely didn’t disappoint.
Sentimental Value features Nora and Agnes, two sisters, who reunite with their absent father Gustav when he offers Nora a role in his new film, who he expects will be his great comeback.
What is central in the movie is the house, the family house in which Nora and Agnes grew up. The house is like its own character; it has a personality and feelings, but most of all, it has sentimental value to all members of the family. This is probably what I loved most about the movie: it spoke to me and I think to all those who have memories about their childhood in a family house, playing with their siblings or cousins, and still hearing the sounds of those times whenever they visit it.
This, I think, is the beauty of cinema: like Joachim Trier himself said in an interview, making movies is a way of “communicating with friends that I don’t know” and I think he perfectly managed in Sentimental Value to talk about the family relationships that we all experience, even if in different and personal ways.
The movie itself is indeed a representation of modern cinema. We see this with the production of the movie that Gustav is making, when the Netflix interviewer asks him whether the movie will be released in theaters, although it is a Netflix production. When Gustav replied “Well… how else would you watch it?”, I couldn’t help but smile.
I thought about why I didn’t like The Worst Person in the World, and maybe part of the answer also lies here: watching a movie in the theater, like I did with Sentimental Value, will never be the same as watching it on my laptop like I did with TWPITW. It’s a totally different experience, and Joachim Trier also manages to teach us that in his movie. In my opinion, the theater creates a space for attention to the details of Trier’s cinema, to the dialogues and the characters’ pauses that can dissolve in the many distractions at home, while they are difficult to ignore in a theater.
So, if you are reading this and still haven’t watched Sentimental Value, go watch it in a theater!
Marty Supreme
By Keito
In Josh Safdie’s solo directorial debut, Marty Supreme follows a coming-of-age story about a young Jewish ping pong player growing up in postwar New York. Alongside Timothee Chalamet is an ensemble cast ranging from a YouTube-famous Knicks fan to a Paralympic table tennis player playing the chief antagonist, an unconventionality also shared by the movie’s defiance of typical sports tropes. The film explores themes of obsession, pride, identity and rigid individualism, all filtered through Marty’s perspective.
Safdie’s electrifying directorial style kept me engaged throughout, turning Marty’s journey into an emotional odyssey, filled with anxiety-inducing yet engaging scenes. The cinematography and meticulous set design made me feel fully immersed in Marty’s world, while Daniel Lopatin’s score heightened the tension throughout. The result is a film that feels raw, real, and unfiltered.
At its core, the film is about the American Dream. Shifting away from the usual aestheticization of struggle set in a sentimental tone, through Marty Supreme we live through an unstable and unpredictable American dream. Marty’s childhood is shaped by fear and insecurity, yet New York’s Lower East Side offers him a narrow but tangible path toward reinvention. Safdie presents the city as both a proving ground and a promise, a place where ambition feels possible.
Marty’s pursuit of his dream is obsessive. It is marked by euphoric triumphs but also by repeated humiliation. His ambition to become a professional table tennis player is often mocked, treated as unserious or delusional. Every reckless decision he makes creates new obstacles and success never arrives without consequence with ambition being portrayed as consuming and not glamorous.
The crude humor and absurd plot lines are not just for shock value but an insight into Marty’s personality. In a postwar world still haunted by the Holocaust, the loud display of his identity aligns with the rigid individualism that defines Marty.
The downsides of this rigid individualism are shown best through his personal relationships, nearly all of them built on superficial assurances or emotional distance. His single-minded pursuit of success and the actions he takes end up hurting this very dream and the personal cost of this mindset becomes clear with the ending of the movie.
As the third installment in Safdie’s trilogy of uncomfortably jaw dropping films, Marty Supreme shares the same intensity as Good Time and Uncut Gems. At its best, Marty Supreme is the best movie of the year. At its worst, it remains a genre-defining film that warrants a watch.
Bugonia
By Sara
Bugonia stars an exceptional Emma Stone playing a high-powered CEO of a major company who gets kidnapped by two conspiracy-obsessed guys who are convinced she is some sort of alien.
The movie is a critique of contemporary America filled with irony: a world where everyone can believe whatever they want, supported by the never-ending conspiracy theories that can be found online about almost anything. That allows people to create almost their own alternative reality, where they can choose to fully live like Teddy (Jesse Plemons) does.
Lanthimos doesn’t just criticize Teddy, he criticizes the corporate world too. The scene where Michelle (Emma Stone) tries to convince her employees that they can leave early – when it is obvious that they shouldn’t – is a perfect portrayal of the corporate world, with companies trying to show off an amazing corporate culture based on trust and freedom that doesn’t really exist.
I have to admit that the problem I had with this movie was the ending, so SPOILERS AHEAD.
The whole movie tries to convince you that Michelle is complying with Teddy’s crazy theories just to finally manage to escape from this crazy situation. But while I was watching, I had this feeling that there was going to be a last-minute plot twist where they would reveal that she actually is an alien. And that’s what happened.
I think the ending diminishes the whole point of the movie. I understand how revealing that he was actually right serves to create the last scene, where human life is eventually removed from Earth, and to show how humanity is at this point completely hopeless. But I still felt it was unnecessary and hoped until the end that that wouldn’t be the ending. I would have preferred that it hadn’t happened, to show how Teddy was completely wrong and that the alternate reality he had created in his head was just an absurdity.
Still, even if the ending left me unconvinced, Bugonia is still a great movie to reflect on the reality we live in and it definitely succeeds in leaving its spectators disturbed.
F1
By Diego
I am not a big fan of the sport Formula One. I’ll say I support Ferrari, and I’ll make uninformed comments about certain drivers, but I don’t think I’ve ever watched a full race in my life. Where F1 excels is, in fairness, exactly what makes Formula One minimally attractive to someone as disinterested in cars such as me: the drama.
Drama is what makes any good Formula One season, and F1 is packed with it. The plot follows Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a former Formula One driver who returns to the sport to save the struggling team APXGP. His tempestuous personality clashes with the ambitions of his new teammate, talented rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris).
I don’t want to be that guy who finds excuses for a movie’s faults just because I enjoyed it, but I think the best way to watch F1 is admitting you’re watching a sports movie and embracing the tropes inherent to the genre. Sure, the plot points and conflicts are predictable, but once you admit this and push the cliches to the back of your mind, F1 is thoroughly thrilling and engaging. It works best in the racing scenes, in which you are immersed more in the sport than the movie itself.
I am somewhat panning the tropes here, but this is just my cynic side coming out. I’m a sucker for sports movies. And, as far as the genre goes, the plot does keep you on your toes, twisting and turning so to keep even a skeptic hooked. I admit that I even held my breath for who would come out on top in the final race scene.
Most of my problems with F1 are not its plot and or its genre. The dialogue is super cheesy, and the lines seem written to be quoted rather than spoken. The CGI for the race scenes was great, but anything that happens beyond the racetracks looked so plastic it hurt. Listen, it wouldn’t surprise me if the actual Formula One world looked like this, but it seemed like all the rooms in this movie could’ve been remodelled into an Apple Store.
Considering all of this: should F1 be in contention for Best Picture? Absolutely not. By my account, the nomination is basically DEI for sports fans. That being said… I am a sports fan. And I had a great time. Even if it’s not the best candidate on this list, F1 is still a good and fun watch (and rewatch).
Frankenstein
By Geet
Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel by the same name follows the tale of Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac), a surgeon determined to create life from dead matter. After many trials and errors, he finally succeeds, bringing to life a being only known as the Creature (Jacob Elordi). Owing to the Creature’s apparent limited mental capacity, Frankenstein treats him with cruelty and resentment. When his sister-in-law (Mia Goth) extends sympathy towards the Creature, his jealousy erupts, and he destroys his laboratory with the Creature inside.
However, the Creature has exceptional strength and healing abilities and somehow survives the explosions. As the Creature becomes more self-aware, he realises the tragic nature of his existence: created without consent and denied even the possibility of death.
The Creature finds Frankenstein and pleads with him to make him a companion to alleviate his loneliness, only to be met with derision. The Creature vows to pursue him relentlessly until they finally reconcile at the end, with the creator accepting him as his son.
The dialogue in this film is at times overtly simplified. Victor, being told, “You are the monster”, feels too on-the-nose for a movie aiming to have multiple layers of symbolism and subtext. The one-dimensional, forced writing leaves nothing open to interpretation. There was a lot more potential here, but it seems that Frankenstein was just given the ‘Netflix special’.
Seeing Elordi in a role outside of his usual high-school-heartthrob typecast was a welcome change. His performance is indeed quite compelling, and you can’t help but pity his character. The rest of the cast delivered decent performances, and though it was interesting to see Mia Goth in a double role, none of it really stood out to me.
For a movie so visually ornate, it still feels sterile at times, perhaps owing to the camerawork and excessive CGI. I missed the theatrical release, and, in my opinion, the CGI fails to carry the same weight on a small screen. The gore does not disappoint, but this film still feels rather tame to be classified as a horror. Nonetheless, the use of visual motifs may manage to retain your attention – red representing inherited trauma, gold for hubris, shadows for faith and forgiveness.
This version of Frankenstein feels more definitive and does away with the complexity that could’ve been explored, trying to understand the humanity of a monster (by reducing the nuance the character previously had) and instead focusing on the ‘daddy issues’ aspect. It could have benefited from more elaborate dialogue and commitment to its gothic aspects. Overall, Frankenstein is a decent watch, but I don’t believe it fares well against the other nominations this year.
Secret Agent
By Diego
Secret Agent is a political and historical thriller directed by Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho. In that sense, it is a deeply Brazilian movie, and in my capacity as a Brazilian, I feel it is to some extent my duty to make this film be understood.
The movie follows Wagner Moura as Armando, a university professor who is fleeing persecution from the government during the military dictatorship in Brazil. It is a movie about the arbitrary and concealed violence of this dictatorial period, and how societies under authoritarian rule become authoritarian unto themselves. Unfortunately, I cannot give any further insight that does not discuss specific events in the film. Hence, SPOILERS AHEAD.
A crucial part of Secret Agent’s message is that Armando was not, in fact, a leftist agitator like the ones normally targeted by the dictatorship, nor did he actively engage in politics to any extent. Armando’s plight begins when he antagonises a rich oligarch who wants to dismantle his university department. From then on, Armando is placed on government blacklists and has assassins trying to kill him, but deep down the reason for this persecution isn’t his politics; it’s just a petty personal dispute.
To this extent, the movie aims to show how this dictatorial period turned Brazil into a secretive, suspicious society. Armando is forced to live in a refuge, where everyone uses aliases and even the cats have two faces. The movie’s title reflects this: Armando is not an actual secret agent, but he must compel himself to secrecy to escape. Armando is eventually found by the assassins sent to kill him, and the movie shows this is enabled by a series of complacent secondary characters, who are desensitised to violence to the point that they are willing to betray his identity.
Ultimately, Armando is killed, but this occurs off-screen. The movie cuts away to an anti-climactic epilogue where we see Armando’s son (also played by Wagner Moura) in the present day. He has no recollection of his father or his mother, who was killed off before the events of the movie. The violence is not only arbitrary, but it is also concealed; victimising both the dead and the loved ones they left behind.
This concealed violence of the period is, of course, suffered by Armando, but it is seen constantly elsewhere throughout the movie. The clearest metaphor for this is the “hairy leg”, a Brazilian urban legend narrated in the movie. It is the severed leg of an innocent person killed by the police, which is said to have “gained life”. It then makes local news for having supposedly beaten up a group of marginalised people, something most likely done by the police. The leg, which is a major plot point, symbolises a state violence that was oppressive and arbitrary, but also clandestine in its conduct.
Honestly, I am not quite sure that all this intense symbolism carries through to the average non-Brazilian viewer. It surprises me that Secret Agent is so successful with international audiences, especially given its strong anti-climax at the end. I liked the movie, but it took me quite a bit of reflection to understand all of its themes. In this sense, I unfortunately do not think it will win any awards on Sunday. That doesn’t mean I won’t support it anyway. BORA PRA CIMA BRASIL.
Train Dreams
By Diego
There’s nothing quite like a sunny day, no exam stress, and watching a good movie in the library. In retrospect, maybe watching Train Dreams on my laptop didn’t do the movie’s amazing cinematography justice. But it definitely caught me at the right time.
This film is based on a homonym novel by Denis Johnson. I could venture to explain the movie’s plot, but that would feel inadequate as an introduction. More than anything else, Train Dreams is about grief and loneliness. The movie breaks your heart a couple of times to get this point across. There may be some SPOILERS AHEAD, but in my opinion, they don’t matter much for this movie, because knowing what happens won’t diminish its emotional impact.
It’s hard to convey how sad this movie is. We follow Joel Edgerton as Robert Grainier, a logger and hard laborer in Idaho, USA. Grainier’s life is plagued by constant loss, which he perceives as a curse set upon him for letting a Chinese coworker get murdered. He is subjected to the meaninglessness of his work, as he defaces Idaho’s beautiful landscape for the sake of futile, replaceable infrastructure.
But it’s not just the theme that is beautiful. The cinematography in this movie is mind-blowing. The story is almost entirely set against the vast countryside of the American West, and it really does awe you with the visuals. Every single frame is a work of art, and you could really pause it at any point to admire the quality of the sets. It’s a shame this is a Netflix movie because it would really look amazing on the big screen.
Even as this nature mesmerises you, it is also most likely the movie’s main antagonist. Grainier’s family is killed in a forest fire. We are repeatedly told of stories about Grainier’s colleagues that die due to logging accidents. Still, it is clear this violence is justified — a retaliatory act against pointless deforestation. The final sequence brings this struggle to a close in a stunning montage.
And better yet? The movie’s only an hour and 40 minutes long, a feat that I thought Oscar-nominated movies were incapable of. In case it wasn’t clear, I loved Train Dreams. It is such a lovely, beautiful movie, and so wonderfully acted. Sometimes the Oscars throw some duds your way with some pretentious films that were made just to win an award and have no real meaning. Train Dreams was not that. Who knew Netflix was capable of art?
Favourites
After diving into each of these films individually, we realised that reviewing them wasn’t quite enough. Awards season is as much about personal connection as it is about critical evaluation, so before we close, we wanted to share our individual favourites among this year’s nominees, including also our editor, Jemmy. These are the films that stayed with us the most, the ones we’d rewatch and recommend.
Diego: Sentimental Value
Geet: Hamnet
Jemmy: Hamnet
Keito: One Battle After Another
Sara: Sentimental Value
Who will win?
Of course, personal favourites and Oscar predictions are rarely the same thing. As much as we’d love for the Academy to align perfectly with our tastes, history suggests otherwise. So, putting our preferences aside and thinking strategically, here’s who we believe will walk away with Best Picture on Sunday:
Diego: One Battle After Another
Geet: One Battle After Another
Jemmy: One Battle After Another
Keito: (still) One Battle After Another
Sara: One Battle After Another
That concludes Tra i Leoni’s coverage of this year’s Best Picture nominees for the Oscars. It’s been an exceptional year for movies, and we’ve genuinely enjoyed unpacking them together. Whether our predictions come true or not, we’re just glad to have had a slate of films worth talking about.
Tune in on Sunday for the final chapter of awards season.
Law student. Easily fascinated by faces & places and their own unique stories. A very passionate person who still believes in love, emotions & destiny. Keen on Contemporary Arts and cultural phenomena that shape our everyday life.
I am a Japanese-Italian attending the BIEM program as a first year. I enjoy reading novels in any genre (particularly magical realism), and I have always been fond of writing for both academic and story-telling purposes. I also love playing and making music.
I’m a second-year student in BEMACC and I’m interested in everything that concerns the arts, especially music and cinema. I love to see how every artistic form tells us a lot about the humankind.
