23 streamable (or free) Oscar-nominated films to watch in Canada
With the Oscars shortlist out this week, most avid movie-goers are probably aware of the front-runners, predicted winners and (Barbie, anyone?) biggest snubs.
But they’re also likely aware of how hard it is to see the lot. With 53 nominated titles — 38 of which are feature films — that’s a serious time investment if you plan on heading to the theatres.
More than a quarter of the movies are not available for home viewing. Among the ones that are available, many only offer one-time rental or purchase options. It all adds up to putting a serious dent in your wallet.
To help, CBC News has compiled a list of some of the movies up for an Oscar this year that you can stream on a subscription service, or watch for free with no subscriptions at all.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Stream on Apple TV+
Martin Scorsese’s early-America epic Killers of the Flower Moon is competing for an impressive 10 awards this year — trailing only Poor Things and Oppenheimer. While Apple’s other buzzy entry, Napoleon, bumped its total nominations up to 13, it won’t be available for home viewing until later this year. With Killers up for best actor for Robert de Niro, best actress for Lily Gladstone, best director for Scorsese, best picture and a host of other statues, you can bump up your Oscars knowledge considerably with this film alone.
Barbie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Stream on Crave
Maybe an odd pairing, but Barbie and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse do have at least three similarities: they were both among the most critically acclaimed movies of 2023, they’re both Oscar nominees and they’re both available for streaming on Crave. While Barbie dominated headlines for its eight total nominations (and the perceived slights against unnominated director Greta Gerwig and actor Margot Robbie), Spider-Man‘s best animated feature film came in an incredibly competitive year for that genre.
Golda
Stream on Prime
Golda may not have received the same level of attention as the previous films, but the transformation its team performed on star Helen Mirren certainly turned some heads. Up for best makeup and hairstyling, this film about Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir impressed many — but dismayed others, as the techniques used to believably change Mirren (who is not Jewish) into Meir sparked backlash at the time, not unlike the controversy around the prosthetic nose Bradley Cooper wore to portray American composer Leonard Bernstein in Maestro.
To Kill a Tiger
Stream for free on YouTube, or NFB website
From Toronto director Nisha Pahuja, To Kill a Tiger already presented a strong showing at the Canadian Screen Awards in 2023. Now, the harrowing but powerful documentary — about a father’s search for justice after his daughter is raped — is headed to the Academy Awards. The entire film is available to stream on TVO’s YouTube page, as well as the National Film Board website.
Invincible
Stream on TV5Unis (French only)
Invincible‘s Oscar nomination was something of a surprise — to no one more than its director Vincent René-Lortie. A five-year passion project that sprung from the death of his childhood friend, the short film is now competing against the likes of Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar at the Academy Awards. While it is streamable online now, only the French version is available. The film’s distribution company confirmed to CBC that it will be available in French and English on Apple TV in the coming weeks.
20 Days in Mariupol
Stream for free on YouTube or PBS website
When 20 Days in Mariupol first started making the festival rounds early last year, it earned almost universally rave reviews — including from this critic. Now that the documentary on the Russian invasion of Ukraine (filmed by the last international reporting team in the country at the time) is finally out to regular audiences, it’s starting to pick up even more buzz. You can check out the film (which earned The Associated Press its first Oscar nomination) either on PBS Frontline’s website, or their YouTube page.
The Last Repair Shop
Stream for free on YouTube or Disney+
Halifax’s Ben Proudfoot is becoming something of an Academy Awards mainstay; first nominated for documentary short in 2021 for A Concerto is a Conversation, he went back in 2022 for The Queen of Basketball — and won. Now he’s Hollywood-bound for a third time, for his new co-directed documentary short The Last Repair Shop, about the hardworking team that repairs musical instruments for Los Angeles public schools.
Nyad, Society of the Snow, May December, Maestro, American Symphony, Rustin, Nimona, El Conde, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Stream on Netflix
If you don’t consider the subsidiary companies Disney owns, Netflix was the clear streaming winner of the Oscar nominations. Pulling in a total 18 nominations spread out over numerous titles, the service offers a wealth of choice. Those choices include: swimming biopic Nyad, with acting nods to both Jodie Foster and Annette Bening; Andes mountain disaster-inspired Society of the Snow, competing for best international feature and makeup and hairstyling; campy thriller May December; nominated for best original screenplay; Maestro, which is up in seven categories including best picture; and American Symphony, Rustin, Nimona, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and El Conde for a statuette of their own.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Elemental, The Creator, Bobi Wine: The People’s President, Flamin’ Hot, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Stream on Disney+
With 20 total nominations for Disney and all the production companies under its umbrella, there are more than a few entries available on its streaming service. Bobi Wine: The People’s President and Elemental boast nominations for best documentary and best animated feature respectively — one telling the story of the titular singer and politician Bobi Wine’s presidential campaign in Uganda and the other about anthropomorphized elements in a Romeo and Juliet-type tale. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Creator and Flamin’ Hot all also scored nominations, but none for narrative categories.
