Awards season is nearly upon us and, dare we say, it’s shaping up to be one of the closest competitions yet.

This year has seen a much wider range of International films in contention – like The Secret Agent and Sentimental Value – that have thrown spanners into the front-running campaigns for American juggernaut films by PTA and Guillermo del Toro.

And while there’s still a few more weeks to go before some of the more highly-anticipated moments in the awards schedule, we do in fact have the Golden Globes almost upon us, and the SAG awards on the horizon. While we wait, we’re taking stock of the films already dominating awards season, so you can get your watch list together. 

1. Sentimental Value

Awards won:

• Cannes Grand Prix 2025 (for Joachin Trier)
• BIFF for Best International Independent Film

About: Trier’s Sentimental Value has been widely regarded as one of the most emotionally resonant films of the year, a reputation cemented by its warm reception on the festival circuit and sustained awards attention. At its core, the film tells an intimate story about family, memory, and the quiet weight of inherited relationships, following characters whose lives are shaped less by dramatic turns than by the lasting imprint of love, regret, and what they choose to hold onto. However, it was largely snubbed by the SAG Awards, which hasn't done much for its Oscars prospects.

2. One Battle After Another

Awards won:

• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Picture
• Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Feature
• New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film

About:

A towering achievement in contemporary cinema, One Battle After Another has emerged as an awards season frontrunner – a film that manages both critical consensus and emotional immediacy. Anchored by a daring script and slick direction from the one and only PTA, the film interrogates power, resistance, and the cyclical nature of conflict – personal and political alike. With major critics’ groups already firmly in its corner, it’s shaping up as a serious heavyweight as the season progresses.

3. It Was Just An Accident

Awards won:

• Palme d'Or 2025
• Gotham Independent Film Award for Best International Feature

About:

Winner of this year’s Palme d’Or, Iranian film It Was Just An Accident is a masterclass in restraint and moral ambiguity. What begins as a seemingly minor, almost throwaway incident gradually unfolds into a devastating exploration of guilt, accountability, and the narratives we tell ourselves to survive. The film’s international acclaim has been driven by its razor-sharp writing – and the political turmoil faced by director, Jafar Panahi, who has faced decades of persecution, imprisonment, and travel bans by the Iranian government in pursuit of his artistic vision.

4. Marty Supreme

Awards won:

• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor (for Timothée Chalamet)
• New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay

About:

Powered by a swaggering, transformative performance, Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme is equal parts character study and cultural commentary. The film charts the rise of its titular antihero with wit and sharp observational detail, interrogating ambition, masculinity, and the myth of self-made success. Of course, it's off-kilter promotional material – led by the enigmatic Timothée Chalamet – have had everyone's attention firmly fixed on blimp rides, sell-out windbreaker merch and Ping Pong ball-headed henchmen.

5. The Secret Agent

Awards won:

• Cannes Best Actor Award (for Wagner Moura)
• Cannes Best Director Award (for Kleber Mendonça Filho)
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Foreign Language Film

About:

A simmering political thriller with unmistakable urgency, The Secret Agent blends genre precision with piercing social insight. Set against a backdrop of surveillance, paranoia, and shifting allegiances, the film thrives on tension – both narrative and ideological. Wagner Moura is a true Oscar frontrunner – delivering a performance of remarkable control, while Kleber Mendonça Filho’s direction ensures every frame hums with purpose. Its dual Cannes wins signalled early that this was a film to bet on.

6. Sinners

Awards won:

• Gotham Independent Film Tribute Award
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score
• National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography

About:

Visceral, atmospheric, and unafraid of excess, Michael B. Jordan's Sinners announces itself through mood and sonics as much as narrative. The film plunges headfirst into moral decay and obsession, using lush cinematography and a striking score to create an almost hypnotic effect. While divisive in places, it has been widely praised for its technical ambition and sensory boldness. Young Miles Caton has plenty of inertia behind him as a supporting lead – and of course, Jordan helming the film as BOTH of its leading men.

7. Hamnet

Awards won:

• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress (for Jessie Buckley)
• AFI Movies of the Year

About:

Tender without ever tipping into sentimentality, Hamnet is the autofiction adaptation that has already gained a reputation as a devastating meditation on grief, creativity, and love. Anchored by Jessie Buckley’s luminous performance (a Best Actress front runner by all accounts), the film reimagines the familiar literary history of William Shakespeare through a deeply personal lens. Chloe Zhao is likely to get her second Best Directing nomination for this one.

8. Frankenstein

Awards won:

• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor (for Jacob Elordi)
• Gotham Independent Film Tribute Award

About:

This bold reworking of a literary classic by THE monster movie guy – Guillermo del Toro – strips the familiar story back to its rawest emotional core. This reimagining of Frankenstein leans into questions of creation, responsibility, and alienation, reframing the monster not as spectacle but as tragedy. Jacob Elordi’s performance brings unexpected vulnerability to the role, while the film’s moody, textured approach has earned it strong recognition on the indie circuit.

9. Bugonia

Awards won:

• AFI Movies of the Year
• Venice Film Festival Green Drop Award

About:

Inventive and environmentally charged, Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos' most recent outing – Bugonia – blends speculative storytelling with an urgent ecological undercurrent. The film’s offbeat tone masks a sharp critique of exploitation, consumption, and humanity’s uneasy relationship with the natural world. Its recognition at Venice and inclusion among AFI’s top films underline its success in marrying bold ideas with striking visual storytelling.

10. Blue Moon

Awards won:

• National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor (for Ethan Hawke)

About:

Led by a quietly masterful performance from Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon is a reflective, character-driven drama that finds profundity in stillness. The film explores aging, regret, and emotional reckoning. Hawke’s recognition from the National Society of Film Critics feels particularly fitting for a performance so rooted in nuance – one that reminds us how powerful understatement can be.