Film Awards Season Frontrunners at Studio 74
Published January 20, 2026
It’s time to roll out the red carpet… it’s awards season once again! The annual celebration of the most exciting, daring and breathtaking films of the year. And the perfect time to speculate on who will be the next winners. In that spirit, we invite you to take a closer look at some of this year’s front runners.
Studio 74 has already screened some of the year’s most popular picks, and there’s still time to catch plenty more winners and nominees at Exeter’s home of independent cinema!
Hamnet recently won Best Motion Picture in the Drama category at the Golden Globe awards. The film is a fictional account of the lives of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes. Chloé Zhao, who directed Hamnet, is one of only three women whose films have been awarded an Oscar for Best Picture. Zhao’s film Nomadland won the award back in 2021. Hamnet is sweeping up awards, and winners at the Golden Globes are often front runners in other prestigious award ceremonies. Some have wondered if Hamnet could be in line to win a Best Picture Oscar!
Jessie Buckley’s emotional performance as Agnes in Hamnet is one of the most notable of the year. After already securing Best Actress for the performance at the Golden Globes, she has become a hot favourite for the Oscars. Buckley is a versatile performer who has starred in a variety of acclaimed films including Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things with fellow awards nominee Jesse Plemons. You may also have seen her starring alongside Olivia Coleman in Wicked Little Letters which screened at Studio 74 back in 2023.
Jessie Buckley as Agnes in Hamnet
However, all of the acting categories are fiercely contested this year with many stand-out performances. Some of the actresses nominated include Jennifer Lawrence for her intense performance in Die My Love, where she plays a woman experiencing postpartum psychosis. Emma Stone was also nominated for her masterful portrayal of a business woman kidnapped by conspiracy theorists in Bugonia.
Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve is also causing a buzz with her remarkable performance in Sentimental Value. The film is directed by Joachim Trier, who is most famous for his 2021 smash-hit The Worst Person in the World. Sentimental Value is the story of a successful stage actress and her sister who are reunited with their estranged father. The film has a fabulous cast which includes Elle Fanning and the legendary Stellan Skarsgård. Renate Reinsve, who also starred in The Worst Person in the World, plays the lead character Nora, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas plays her sister. The film is notable for its great performances with all four lead actors nominated for accolades at the Golden Globes. The award for Best Supporting Actor went to Stellan Skarsgård for his portrayal of the estranged father. The film was nominated for seven Golden Globe awards in total, but, perhaps its greatest achievement so far has been winning the coveted Cannes Grand Prix award.
Renate Reinsve & Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in Sentimental Value
Timothée Chalamet was another winner at the Golden Globes for his performance in Marty Supreme, which has been described as a ‘sort-of sports biopic’. The film is the story of Marty Mauser, a hustler turned ping-pong player. It is directed by Josh Safdie, who is most famous for Uncut Gems, which he co-directed with his brother Benny Safdie. We look forward to showing Marty Supreme at Studio 74 from Fri 23 Jan.
Leonard DiCaprio has also been a front runner for his performance in One Battle After Another, which is the latest film from the legendary Paul Thomas Anderson. The cast are receiving particular awards attention with Chase Infiniti, Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn and Teyana Taylor all nominated for their performances, and Taylor taking home a Golden Globe. Will One Battle After Another be the film to sweep the Oscars this year?
Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme
The Secret Agent is another intriguing film with a standout performance from lead actor Wagna Moura, who won a Golden Globe and a Cannes Film Festival award for his performance. The Secret Agent is a political thriller set in Brazil in 1977, which follows a technology researcher who becomes a target of the dictatorship (screening at Studio 74 from Fri 27 Feb). The film won the Golden Globe for the best non-English language film.
Wagna Moura in The Secret Agent
Another prominent nominee was the brilliant It Was Just An Accident, a thriller set in Iran. The film received rave reviews and won the prestigious film award, the Palme d'Or at Cannes. The film is the first Iranian film to be nominated for certain awards including Best Motion Picture at the Golden Globes. We are proud to have shown a preview of this groundbreaking film at Studio 74 in October.
Also nominated in the non-English language category was The Voice of Hind Rajab, which is screening at Studio 74 from Fri 23 Jan. The film follows a group of workers at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society who receive an emergency call from a six-year-old girl who is trapped in a car under fire. The film is written and directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, a Tunisian filmmaker who created the powerful 2023 film Four Daughters. The Voice of Hind Rajab uses the same striking blend of documentary and narrative fiction as Four Daughters and won the Silver Lion award at Venice Film Festival.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Another exciting work that was nominated is the South Korean film No Other Choice. The film is the latest production from acclaimed director Park-Chan Wook, who is a known for masterpieces such as Oldboy, The Handmaiden and The Decision to Leave. Park is known for his highly-stylised films which are often ultra-violent, darkly-comedic and tackle taboo subject matter. No Other Choice is a satire that follows an unemployed man, who is desperate to land a job, and develops a ruthless plan to eliminate his competition. The film was nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice film festival and is a likely front runner in upcoming awards ceremonies. No Other Choice will screen at Studio 74 from Fri 06 Feb.
Sirāt has also been nominated for the non-English language award at the Golden Globes, and won the Jury Prize at Cannes film festival. The film played at Studio 74 in November as part of the French Film Festival. Another film that featured in the French Film Festival programme was Nouvelle Vague, which is director Richard Linklater’s love letter to Jean-Luc Godard’s classic French new wave film Breathless.
Lee Byung-hun and Lee Sung-min in No Other Choice
Studio 74 is dedicated to screening the best new releases, and we are very excited to be able to show some of the most exciting awards contenders this year. From the quiet tragedies to laugh-out-loud comedies, we’re here to take you through awards season and ensure you have access to the best of the bunch! So grab your popcorn and get ready for some amazing cinema!
Check out what’s on at Studio 74 here.