How to watch this year's award season films, from The Substance to The Brutalist

Ateliers are in overdrive, red carpets are being cleaned and speeches are being drafted. It can only mean one thing: awards season is underway.

While Hollywood’s biggest stars attend A-list bashes and hit the Oscars campaign trail, there’s no better time for film fans to catch up on the releases everyone is talking about.

Seeing some of them will involve a cinema visit but a couple of this year’s most-hyped films are already on streaming services.

From body-horror hit The Substance to the Timothée Chalamet-fronted A Complete Unknown, here’s where (and when) you can watch the 2025 awards season favourites...

The Substance

Demi Moore scooped the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her starring role in Coralie Fargeat’s body-horror – and she’s being hotly tipped to bag an Academy Award, too.

The Substance was released in cinemas last year but, if you missed it the first time around (or simply want to watch it again), then it’s now available on multiple streaming platforms.

Mubi subscribers can watch the film as part of their subscription, or you can purchase it via the Sky Store and Amazon Video.

The Brutalist

Directed by Brady Corbet, The Brutalist charts the story of an architect who escapes post-war Europe to start a new life in the United States.

Adrien Brody is the lead and as well as winning plaudits from critics – including the Standard’s reviewer, who gave the film five stars – he’s already scooped awards, winning a Golden Globe.

Unfortunately, Brits will have to wait to see this awards contender as it’s not released in UK cinemas until Friday, January 24. When you do go, make sure you’re seriously prepared: it has a runtime of three hours and 35 minutes.

Emilia Pérez

Musical Emilia Pérez is another movie that won big at the Golden Globes, scooping four awards and beating Wicked for best musical or comedy.

The Spanish-language film tells the story of a Mexican cartel boss who enlists a lawyer to help them achieve their dream: leaving the underworld behind and undergoing gender-reassignment surgery to start living their life as their true self, a woman.

There’s no cinema visit required for this one as Emilia Pérez is available to stream on Netflix.

Babygirl

Babygirl may have missed out at the Golden Globes but the Nicole Kidman drama provided ample material for the ceremony’s host, Nikki Glaser.

The A24 movie stars Kidman as a high-flying CEO who begins an affair with a young intern played by Harris Dickinson, who you might recognise from indie hit Scrapper or black comedy Triangle of Sadness.

It was released in cinemas in the States on Christmas Day and finally arrives in the UK on Friday (January 10).

A Complete Unknown

If it feels like you’ve been hearing about this Bob Dylan biopic for a very long time then it’s because you have: the movie has been in development since 2019. And, if you can’t wait to see, it then we have bad news: it’s not even out in the UK yet.

The Timothée Chalamet-fronted biopic is another movie that’s been out in America since late December last year, but it doesn’t arrive in UK cinemas until Friday, January 17.

Conclave

Ralph Fiennes takes centre stage in this drama – which boasts more back-stabbing, conniving plans and secretive votes than you might expect from a movie about the death of a pope.

Fiennes plays Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, a fictional Vatican official facing the almighty task of overseeing the voting process for the new head of the Catholic church.

The film, tipped as a favourite to at least be nominated for best picture at the Oscars, was given its theatrical release last year, but you can still catch it on the big screen at select cinema chains, including Picturehouse.

If you would rather stream it, then that’s already an option, too. Conclave can be rented or bought on Amazon Video and Sky Store.

A Real Pain

Succession’s Kieran Culkin delivered a typically hilarious and chaotic Golden Globes acceptance speech for his role in A Real Pain.

Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg (who also stars opposite Culkin), A Real Pain follows two Jewish-American cousins as they travel to Poland following the death of their grandmother.

It’s released in UK cinemas on Friday, January 10.