Best awards contender movies to stream this weekend Feb. 21, 2025
We have suggestions if you’re looking for an awards contender to watch on subscription streaming or on-demand video this weekend. Our list includes an Oscar-nominated top pick that just hit streaming; another Oscar-nominated new release on VOD; a movie that wasn’t nominated for an Oscar but picked up other nominations and wins; a potential future contender now on VOD; and a streaming recommendation that would make for a nice double feature with the top pick.
Top pick: Nosferatu
After a successful theatrical run where it became one of Focus Features’ highest-grossing movies ever, director Robert Eggers’ gothic horror remake has crossed the ocean in a dirt-filled coffin and come to rest on Peacock. The beautifully made film has been nominated for four Academy Awards in craft categories: Best Cinematography (Jarin Blaschke), Best Costume Design (Linda Muir), Best Production Design (Craig Lathrop), and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (David White, Traci Loader, and Suzanne Stokes-Munton).
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It’s a reimagining of F.W. Murnau’s historic 1922 silent horror film of the same name, an interwar German retelling of Dracula. In Nosferatu, the titular vampire (Bill Skarsgard) claims the lovely Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) as his own, and her hapless but loving husband, Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), has to fight for her, with the help of his friend Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and occult scientist Albin Eberhart von Franz (Willem Dafoe). Nosferatu isn’t that scary as a horror movie, but it sure is pretty to look at.
Other picks: The Brutalist
Brady Corbet’s historical epic is nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Adrien Brody), and Best Director, and it stands a good chance of winning some of them. It tells the story of a fictitious Hungarian Jewish architect named Laszlo Toth (Brody) who comes to America after World War II in search of a better life and finds that the American Dream isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s a grand feat of a film that shows that incredible things are possible even with a $10 million budget. It’s now available to buy on VOD platforms such as Amazon.
The Last Showgirl
Pamela Anderson got the most plaudits of her career for this persona-redefining indie drama. She plays a middle-aged Las Vegas showgirl facing an uncertain future when the revue where she’s worked for decades is preparing to shut down. Anderson won several festival awards and was nominated for the Gotham, the Golden Globe, and the SAG for Best Actress for her performance in Gia Coppola’s film. The Last Showgirl is now available to buy on VOD platforms like Amazon.
Companion
Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets, Heretic) solidifies her “scream queen” status with this darkly funny sci-fi horror flick from the producers of Barbarian that’s now available to rent or buy on VOD. She plays a (mild spoiler alert ) “companion robot” who her owner (Jack Quaid) puts to work doing bad stuff until she fights back. It won’t win any Oscars, but Thatcher might win a Fangoria Chainsaw Award.
After you watch Nosferatu, watch this: The Northman
Before Robert Eggers turned Bill Skarsg?rd into an undead, mustachioed monster, he turned Bill’s brother Alexander into a Viking warrior with some of the most impressive abdominal muscles ever captured on film. The 2022 historical action epic The Northman underperformed at the box office, but it has developed a formidable cult of Eggers devotees who appreciate its impressive craft and unrelenting brutality. Skarsg?rd plays Prince Amleth, who is on a quest for revenge against his uncle Fjolnir (Claes Bang) for killing his father Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke) and marrying his mother Gudrun (Nicole Kidman). If that sounds familiar, you are correct; the Norse myth of Amleth inspired Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The Northman is also available on Peacock, so put it on when you’re ready for Eggers to transport you to another bleak but immersive world.
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