Thanks to the shift in movie release patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all of the 2021 Golden Globes Best Picture nominees are available to watch at home in advance of the ceremony on February 28, 2021. The drama The Father, starring Anthony Hopkins as an elderly man with dementia and Olivia Colman as his daughter, is the only nominee not yet available to stream.
Mank
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Director David Fincher’s first feature film since 2014’s Gone Girl is based on a screenplay that Fincher’s father Jack wrote nearly 20 years ago. It stars Gary Oldman as screenwriter Herman “Mank” Mankiewicz, who collaborated with Orson Welles on 1941’s Citizen Kane, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest movies ever made. The black and white film captures the feel of its vintage Hollywood setting.
Mank has also been nominated for five other awards: for actors Oldman and Amanda Seyfried, for the younger Fincher’s direction and the elder Fincher’s screenplay, and for the musical score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Mank is streaming on Netflix ($8.99+ per month).
Nomadland
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The overall frontrunner of this year’s awards season, director Chloe Zhao’s film is based on a nonfiction book about retirement-age workers forced to seek itinerant employment while living in RVs and campers. Frances McDormand stars as a woman laid off from her job in a rural Nevada mining town. She hits the road and interacts with a community of other workers, and Zhao casts non-actors to play versions of themselves, giving the movie a documentary feel.
Nomadland is also nominated for McDormand’s performance and for Zhao’s direction and screenplay.
Nomadland is streaming on Hulu ($5.99+ per month after a seven-day free trial).
Promising Young Woman
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Writer-director Emerald Fennell makes a bold debut with this stylized revenge story. Carey Mulligan stars as a young woman who poses as a vulnerable party girl in order to teach predatory men a lesson. With its eye-popping colors, upbeat pop-music soundtrack, and provocative costumes, Promising Young Woman takes the typical revenge narrative in unexpected directions.
Promising Young Woman is also nominated for Mulligan’s performance and for Fennell’s direction and screenplay.
The Trial of the Chicago 7
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The true story of the seven activists who were charged with inciting a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention gets the dramatic treatment from writer-director Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin constructs an entertaining and engrossing courtroom drama, with a top-notch cast that includes Eddie Redmayne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Frank Langella.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 is also nominated for Baron Cohen’s supporting performance, for Sorkin’s direction and screenplay, and for the original song “Hear My Voice.”
The Trial of the Chicago 7 is streaming on Netflix ($8.99+ per month).
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
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Sacha Baron Cohen shows up in both the drama and the musical/comedy categories at the 2021 Golden Globes. This long-awaited sequel featuring Baron Cohen’s Borat character finds the disgraced Kazakh journalist returning to the U.S. to seek an audience with Mike Pence. This time, Borat brings along his equally outrageous daughter, Tutar (Maria Bakalova), for more uncomfortably hilarious encounters with real people.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is also nominated for the performances by Baron Cohen and Bakalova.
Hamilton
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Lin-Manuel Miranda’s stage musical about America’s founding fathers took Broadway by storm starting in 2015, and this film version captures performances from 2016 featuring the original stage cast. Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff, and Renee Elise Goldsberry are some of the stars who bring to life the story of Alexander Hamilton and the conflicts that led to the founding of the United States. The diverse cast represents modern America while singing catchy songs about the nation’s earliest days.
Hamilton is also nominated for Miranda’s lead performance as Alexander Hamilton.
Hamilton is streaming on Disney+ ($6.99 per month or $69.99 per year).
Palm Springs
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In the tradition of Groundhog Day, this romantic comedy places its main characters (played by Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti) inside a time loop, repeating the same unremarkable day over and over again. It’s a clever and funny twist on the rom-com formula, as the cynical characters slowly warm up to each other while also trying to figure out how to escape their cosmological predicament.
Palm Springs is also nominated for Samberg’s lead performance.
Palm Springs is streaming on Hulu ($5.99+ per month after a seven-day free trial).
Music
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A surprise nominee, this music-infused drama is the filmmaking debut of pop singer-songwriter Sia (who also plays a small role). Kate Hudson stars as a recovering addict who becomes the guardian of her autistic teenage half-sister (played by Sia’s frequent collaborator Maddie Ziegler). The movie mixes fantastical musical sequences with a more grounded drama about two troubled siblings reconnecting.
Music is also nominated for Hudson’s lead performance.
The Prom
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Prolific TV producer Ryan Murphy directs this feature-film adaptation of the popular Broadway musical. Newcomers Jo Ellen Pellman and Ariana DeBose play teenage lesbians whose high school decides to cancel its prom rather than allow them to attend as a couple. A group of washed-up Broadway performers (played by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, and Andrew Rannells) swoop in to offer somewhat misguided support, and everyone sings their hearts out.
The Prom is also nominated for Corden’s lead performance.
The Prom is streaming on Netflix ($8.99+ per month).
