30 Best Award-Winning Movies to Watch
Apr. 12, 2022Can you feel a movie while watching it? Many award-winning films throughout the years have proved a point. They might not feel like a blockbuster hit, but they contain some quirky elements, visual details, symbolic stories, and great acting performances, which an average viewer usually neglects. However, if you are one of those people who watch a movie, not for entertainment but to grasp and absorb it thoroughly, you came to the right place. Here is a list of the 30 best award-winning movies, mainly the recent ones, which I feel will tickle your brain. I have added movies that have won numerous Oscars, BAFTAs, Golden Globe Awards, etc. So, without any further ado, here are the 30 best award winning movies to watch right now.
Before we begin, please note that the Rotten Tomatoes score in the list is in critics/audience format. You can also find additional details like IMDb rating, the cast, creators, and the movie’s runtime to make an informed decision before dedicating your time to it. At last, make sure you find the perfect genre for your watch. The list contains everything from romantic drama to Sci-Fi adventures. Take the help of the table below to navigate to a movie that quickly raises your excitement.
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Encanto received critical acclaim and praise from viewers for its characterization, music, animation, voice acting, emotional depth, and cultural fidelity. The movie won in the Best Animated Film category at the 94th Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, and the Producers Guild of America. It is one of many Disney movies to win in the category. You can check out our dedicated article for thebest Disney moviesso far.
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Regarded as a sleeper hit, initially unsuccessful but succeeding, Slumdog Millionaire was widely acclaimed for its plot, soundtrack, cinematography, editing, direction, and performances. It won eight Academy Awards in 2009 out of ten nominations becoming the most Oscars winning movie of the ceremony; apart from the Best Original Score and Best Original Song – “Jai Ho” for A. R. Rahman, the movie succeeded in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It makes it one of the best Award-winning movies in the list.
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Argo was praised for Alan Arkin’s and John Goodman’s acting and Affleck’s direction. The movie won three Oscars out of seven nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing at the 85th Academy Awards. It also won Best Film, Best Editing, and Best Director at the 66th British Academy Film Awards.
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You will love Tom hanks in and as Forrest Gump. If you haven’t yet watched this movie, I must say you were missing out on one of the brightest gems of Hollywood cinema. Forrest Gump is loosely based on the 1986 novel by the same name and revolves arounda dim-witted and kindhearted man from Alabama. He witnesses and unwittingly influences several defining historical events in the 20th century United States.
Forrest Gump won six Oscars, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing, in the 67th Academy Awards. Later, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
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If you are a fan of fantasy movies and find solace in romantic ones, The Shape of Water will fill you with plenty of emotions and introduce you to an uncommon world. This 2007 American romantic fantasy film is set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland. It follows amute cleanerat a high-security government laboratory whofalls in love with a captured humanoid amphibian creature. The protagonist then decides to help him escape from an evil colonel.
The movie was screened at the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion, the highest award of the ceremony. Critics and audiences acclaim the Shape of Water for the acting, screenplay, direction, visuals, production design, cinematography, and musical score. The film got thirteen nominations at the 90th Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score.
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Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 romantic period comedy-drama film talking about thefictional story of Shakespeare and his love life. It shows William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) and Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) knowing each other while Shakespeare was writing Romeo and Juliet. Many characters are based on historical figures. Meanwhile, a few characters, lines, and plots pay homage to Shakespeare’s plays. The movie won seven Oscars at the 71st Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Gwyneth Paltrow), Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), and Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
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Are you on the hunt foran action-packed war epic film? If yes, give a chance to “The Hurt Locker” as it’s one of the most loved war-drama movies. It has a palpable star cast led by Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty. The story is centered around the Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, which is on the hit list of insurgents. Find out their bravery and how they tackle huge challenges.
The movie was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won six, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. It also became the first Oscar-winning movie in the Best Picture category to be directed by a female director.
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Based on the 1983 biography Alan Turing: The Enigma, the Imitation game occurred during the second world war when Alan Turing deciphered the Enigma by creating a machine. It played a significant role in the U.S. winning the war. Alan is considered thefather of artificial intelligenceand answered an important question of the time, “Can machines think?” Words are not enough to say how much Turing has helped humanity on the technological path we are headed. It won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, which shows you will love the movie, and it will leave you thinking about the beginning of the new age we are living in currently.
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Boasting a fascinating story, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King isan epic fantasy adventure movie. The award-winning Netflix film is directed by Peter Jackson based on the third volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. It’s the third installment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and features an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, and Cate Blanchett.
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R.M.S. Titanic was the biggest ship at the time publicized as an unsinkable one. However, destiny took a wrong turn, and we all know what happened afterward; it sank. Well, on a good note, it gave director James Cameron an excellent film story. Titanic is a 1997 Americanepic romance and disaster filmcasting Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the lead roles. They belong to different social classes and fall in love aboard the boat during its ill-fated maiden voyage. It was the most expensive film ever made at the time, with aproduction budget of $200 million.
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The plot revolves around a Texas welder in the desert landscape. With thrilling high-voltage scenes and an engaging storyline, the movie has received four prestigious Academy Awards like Best Picture, Best Director (Joel and Ethan Coen), Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem), and Best Adapted Screenplay.
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Nomadland premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion, the highest achievement. It also won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for McDormand, from a total of six nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards.
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The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American psychological horror film adapted from Thomas Harris’s 1988 novel. The story followsa young F.B.I. trainee who is hunting a serial killerwho skins his female victims. On her mission, she seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist, and cannibalistic serial killer.
The Silence of the Lambs became the third film to win Academy Awards in all five major categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It is the only horror movie to win in the Best Picture category.
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Summer of Soul received praise for footage restoration and won several awards. The Oscar-winning documentary also bagged the Best Documentary award at the 75th British Academy Film Awards and became the Best Music Film at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.
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Bagging the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 93rd Academy Awards, My Octopus Teacher documents the year spent by filmmakerCraig Foster as he forged a relationship with a wild common octopus. The movie provides a great insight into the world of Octopus. How they live, sleep, hunt, and more. Besides, the emotional bond between Foster and the wild Octopus seems natural and lovable.
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The movie received widespread critical acclaim, with praise for its screenplay, direction, cinematography, and the performances of the cast (particularly Keaton, Norton, and Stone). Birdman won the Oscar for Best Picture, along with Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography, from a total of nine nominations at the 87th Academy Awards.
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The movie grossed over $425 million worldwide against the $100 million budget. Thus, becoming Tarantino’s highest-grossing movie till now. Apart from a few controversies over the use of ill-mannered words, the movie won critical acclaim and viewers’ praise for its direction and screenplay. The movie won two Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (for Christoph Waltz) at the 85th Academy Awards. Tarantino and Waltz also won awards for similar categories in Golden Globes and BAFTAs.
If you enjoyed Django’s journey in this movie, I would also recommend watching Pulp Fiction — another Tarantino film that won numerous awards. And, you can check out Inglourious Basterds as well.
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Should you wish to give a shot at afascinating romantic science-fiction comedy-drama film, I would suggest you kickstart “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” straight away.
Featuring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in the prominent roles, the movie is set around an estranged couple who have entirely thrown each other from their respective lives and even memories. But their romance gets an all-new start when they meet again. Beyond the story, the movie has won the 77th Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It is one of Jim and Kate’s best performances, and the ensemble cast has garnered the movie a cult following.
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Soul premiered at the London Film Festival and is now available to stream on Disney+. The movie received praise for its craftsmanship, story, characters, and musical score. It won two Oscars in the category of Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score at the 93rd Academy Awards and two awards for the same categories at the 78th Golden Globe Awards.
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The movie won three Golden Globe Awards and five BAFTA Awards, including Best Film at both ceremonies. The film received 12 nominations at the 88th Academy Awards and won in the categories Best Director, Best Actor (DiCaprio), and Best Cinematography. It was Leonardo’s first Oscar after five years of nominations.
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The movie was a huge success grossing $723 million against a production budget of around $100 million. It won seven Oscars, including Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects at the 86th Academy Awards. In addition, the movie also bagged six BAFTA Awards, seven Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Director.
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The movie garnered viewers and critical acclaim for stunning visual effects, the performance of the ensemble cast, unique ideation, action sequences, and musical score. It led the movie to win four Oscars: Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects at the 83rd Academy Awards.
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Watch the Best Award-winning Movies
The article covered a wide range of movies in almost every genre you can imagine. Some movies are a slow watch and require you to understand the depths, like Shakespeare in Love and Belfast. In comparison, some of them are action-packed, fast stories like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Inception. Most of these movies are available to stream on various O.T.T. platforms like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and more.
However, you might have to wait for others to come on the streaming platforms or buy/rent them from Prime video, YouTube, or other sources of your liking. I hope you enjoyed this article and that your watchlist is more extensive than before. Let me know any award-winning movie you think should be on the list in the comments below. Meanwhile, you should also check out some of thebest Bollywood movies on Netflix.
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