10 films already emerge as favorites at the awards

The awards season begins to take shape and the first favorites to the Oscar 2026 are already on the gym radar. The list of possible indicated to Best Movie It brings together awaited blockbusters, festivals and productions that have been collecting criticism compliments. These include heavy names like Chloé Zhao, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron, as well as Netflix titles, A24, Warner and Universal.

Some feature films are already strong in the dispute, such as Hamnet, who won the public prize in Toronto, one battle after the critical acclaimed since its debut, and sinners, Ryan Coogler’s horror that won space early in the year. Still others come to theaters in the coming months, but carry history of victories and high expectations – case of Avatar: Fire and ashes and Wicked: Part 2.

A special highlight is the secret agent, Brazilian production directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and starring Wagner Moura. The film was awarded in Cannes and became one of the great international bets of the season, showing the growing weight of national cinema on the world scene. The mixture of political suspense with strong social criticism won jurors and critics, consolidating the feature as one of Neon’s strongest letters in the Oscar race.

Oscar forecast 2026

Check out the ten films that emerge as favorites the best movie at Oscar 2026:

The official list of nominees will be released only on January 22, 2026, but the race is already intense. Until then, new releases may surprise and threaten favorites, reinforcing that this edition of Oscar promises to be one of the most disputed in recent years.