Looking for something to watch on yet another night in? These are the award-winning movies to watch this year
While filming schedules over the last 12 months have been hit by countless pandemic delays, it hasn’t felt as if movie fans have hugely suffered. In fact, while cinema trips have been scrapped, there’s been some brilliant movie releases from the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV that we’ve been able to enjoy from home, keeping us entertained throughout all three lockdowns. And for that we are grateful.
These films are amidst being recognised during the 2021 awards season - so far we’ve had the Critics Choice Awardsand the Golden Globes - where the verdict is already out for the best award-winning movies of 2021. So, how many have you seen?
One of the biggest winners in awards season this year has been Nomadland. Not only did director Chloe Zhao become the first woman to win the best director award in the Golden Globes since Barbara Streisand won in 1984 for Yentl, the film also picked up Best Motion Picture, as well as a whopping four Critics Choice Awards including Best Cinematography and Best Adapted Screenplay. It stars Frances McDormand as a 60-something Nevada widow who lost her house during the Great Recession and embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
Another major award-winner has been Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, which has so far scooped three awards this year; Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture for comedy with star Sacha Baron Cohen picking up Best Actor in the same category, with Maria Bakalova also taking home a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film sees Kazakh funnyman Borat released from prison and off to cause more chaos when he returns to America with his 15-year-old daughter.
Other top-rated films this year include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom which has so far won four awards including two for actor Chadwick Boseman. Emerald Fennell’s directing debut, Promising Young Woman , starring Carey Mulligan, has also proved to be a favourite, with Mulligan picking up a Critics Choice Award for Best Actress and the film awarded Best Original Screenplay.
So, if you’re after a new film to get stuck into, here’s a round-up of the best award-winning movies for 2021.
DisneyNomadland (Disney+)
One of the best award-winning films of 2021, Frances McDormand plays a 60-something Nevada widow who lost her house during the Great Recession and embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad. The film has already won six awards including Best Director and Best Picture at both The Critics Choice and Golden Globe Awards.
Curzon Artificial EyeBorat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Prime Video)
Sacha Baron Cohen is back as the hilarious fictional Kazakh journalist and TV personality Borat Sagdiyev. After his prison release, Borat and daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) head to the US where she is offered as a bride to Vice President Mike Pence during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. The film has so far picked up three gongs during the 2021 awards season.
Warner BrothersJudas and the Black Messiah (Amazon Prime Video)
Star Daniel Kaluuya won a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for his role as Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in late-1960s Chicago, who is betrayed by FBI informant William O'Neal.
NetflixI Care a Lot (Amazon Prime Video)
Rosamund Pike scooped a Golden Globe for her portrayal of con artist Marla Grayson, a shady woman who makes her living befriending the elderly, sticking them in a nursing home, and then selling off all their assets for her own profit.
Universal Pictures InternationalPromising Young Woman (Amazon Prime Video)
The Crown's Emerald Fennell's directing debut scooped Best Original Screenplay at the Critics Choice Awards, with Carey Mulligan picking up Best Actress too for her role as Cassie Thomas, who seeks to avenge her friend, after she was raped by taking on predatory men who try to take home drunken girls and teaching them a lesson.
NetflixMa Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Tensions rise when trailblazing blues singer Ma Rainey and her band gather at a recording studio in Chicago in 1927. This film, winner of four awards so far this year, deals with issues of race, art, religion, and the historic exploitation of black recording artists by white producers. Chadwick Boseman, who plays Levee Green, scooped both a Critics Choice Award and Golden Globe for Best Actor.
Disney PixarSoul (Disney)
This endearing family film won the Best Motion Picture – Animated gong at the Golden Globes and it's easy to see why. It follows the story of a school band teacher whose true passion is jazz - and he's good. But when he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.
