For film connoisseurs like myself, the winter months are indicative of one thing: Oscar season. This year’s race to the Academy Awards is jampacked with competition, primarily from indie filmmakers. Here’s a list of the films that will be contending for multiple statues at the Oscar ceremony in March. Awards season officially gets underway on January 5 at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards.

Anora

Writer/director Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project) constructs powerful dramedies, and his latest creation is a masterpiece. Anora (Mikey Madison), or Ani as she prefers to be called, is an exotic dancer from Brooklyn who believes her fairytale dreams have come true when she meets and marries Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the wealthy son of a Russian oligarch. But when Vanya’s parents receive news of the nuptials and book a flight to New York to get the marriage annulled, chaos ensues as a Keystone cop crusade is initiated.

The film won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and has five Golden Globe and seven Critics’ Choice Award nominations. 

Emilia Perez

This genre–bending film is a spectacular innovation. It’s part musical fantasia, part thriller, part romance drama with some nuanced humor sprinkled throughout. The story follows four women on their individual quests for freedom: Rita (Zoe Saldana), an overqualified, underappreciated lawyer whose exploitative firm is focused more on whitewashing crime than serving justice; Emilia (Karla Sofia Gascon), a cartel leader who fakes her death to achieve a lifelong dream of undergoing gender–affirming surgery; Jessi (Selena Gomez), the wife of the dead cartel leader who is carted around with her children to unfamiliar surroundings; and Epifania (Adriana Paz), who upon learning her vicious husband is dead, begins living her life genuinely. The fates of all four women are interwoven within webs of passion, terror and devotion.

The film won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes while Best Actress was awarded to Saldana, Gascon, Gomez and Paz. It has eight Golden Globe nominations and eight Critics’ Choice award nominations.

The Substance

Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), once renowned for her aerobics show, learns she has aged out of her celebrity status when she’s fired on her 50th birthday. Amid her distress, she comes across an offer too good to refuse and begins taking a cell–replacing substance that creates a younger, better version of herself. The only rule in taking the drug is time sharing. One week she is Elisabeth. One week she transforms into “Sue” (Margaret Qualey). The drug’s success is dependent upon Elisabeth’s ability to respect the balance of living between the two versions of herself.

The horror saga won best screenplay at Cannes, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe awards and seven Critics’ Choice awards.

Nickel Boys

This cinematic gem is an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel and is based on the Florida reform school, The Dozier School for Boys, which was notorious for its abusive treatment of students. The story is told through the perspective of two boys: Elwood (Ethan Herisse), a smart, idealistic teen who was wrongly accused of a crime and shuttled off to the reformatory, and Turner (Brandon Wilson), a clever classmate who has wisdom to share with Elwood. The boys become bonded through their battles to survive their horrific confines and its corrupt set of advisors.

The film won Best Director at the Gotham Awards earlier this month. It has a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture (Drama) and five Critics’ Choice award nominations.

Wicked

This Wizard of Oz prequel tells the story of how one witch became good and another turned wicked. It all begins at Shiz Academy in the Land of Oz when Glinda (Ariana Grande) a popular, pampered mean girl and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), a misunderstood young woman who is bullied because of her skin color, are forced to become roommates. Soon, the girls realize they share a unique chemistry—they’re able to see one another in a way no one else can. But when the two have a chance encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) their friendship reaches a crossroads.

The film has four golden globe nominations and 11 Critics’ Choice Award nominations.

Conclave

This slow burn thriller takes audiences into the mysterious process Catholic cardinals undergo to select a new pope. The church’s most powerful leaders gather from around the world and are sequestered in the Vatican halls with Cardinal–Dean, Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), leading the proceedings. Ahead of the first vote, a surprise visitor arrives bringing suspicion to the papal conclave, and from there things begin to spiral. Rumors swirl and secrets are revealed, culminating in an explosive ending no one sees coming.

Fiennes is joined by a stellar cast including Stanley Tucci (Julie & Julia, Spotlight), John Lithgow (The Crown, Killers of the Flower Moon) and Isabella Rossellini (Blue Velvet, Death Becomes Her). The film has six Golden Globe nominations and 11 Critics’ Choice award nominations.

A Complete Unknown

In 1961, 19-year-old musician Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) arrives in New York City to pursue his dream. He soon becomes a fixture on the Greenwich Village folk scene, befriending other rousing artists such as Sylvie Rotolo (Elle Fanning), Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) and Pete Seger (Edward Norton). His enigmatic persona and masterful songs galvanize the masses as he’s catapulted to stardom. But he begins to grow restless of the folk scene. The film culminates at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when Dylan makes a controversial decision to strap on an electric guitar.

The film is nominated for three Golden Globe and three Critics’ Choice awards.

The Brutalist

Innovative architect Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody) survives the holocaust and flees Europe to rebuild his life and witness the birth of a modern nation. He settles in Pennsylvania, where the wealthy and prominent industrialist, Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), takes keen interest in Laszlo before commissioning him to design a massive monument reflective of the times. Eventually, Laszlo’s wife, Erzsebet (Felicity Jones), joins her husband in the states and their marriage is affected by every monumental high and devastating low of Laszlo and Harrison’s grandiose vision.

The film was awarded best director at the Venice Film Festival, and is nominated for seven Golden Globes and nine Critics’ Choice awards.

Sing Sing

Divine G (Colman Domingo), incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility for a crime he didn’t commit, finds purpose through acting in a theater group with fellow inmates. The theater program is part of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts, and under the tutelage of theater director, Brent Buell (Paul Raci), Divine G emerges as a star playwright and performer. While nurturing his passion for the arts, Divine G also works to prove his innocence and regain freedom.

The film is an adaptation of the 2005 Esquire article “The Sing Sing Follies,” by John H. Richardson, and features a remarkable cast of former inmates. It was awarded Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance at the Gotham Awards, and has a Golden Globe nomination for Actor in a Drama Motion Picture and five Critics’ Choice award nominations.

Dune Part Two

Following the fall of House Atreides, exiled Duke Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) unites with Chani (Zendaya) and embraces the ways of the Fremen. When control of the planet and its spice-rich fields causes a brutal era of war to erupt, Paul finds himself on the precipice of fulfilling his prophecy and becoming the fighter he’s always wanted to be. But he fears his haunting visions of betraying his love for Chani and causing vast destruction across the universe.

The film has two Golden Globe and 10 Critics’ Choice award nominations.

A Real Pain

American Jewish cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) grew up in similar circumstances, but have drifted apart due to contrasting personalities and lifestyles. David is a reserved father and husband, while Benji is an eccentric free spirit. The two reunite for a tour through Poland to visit their grandmother’s childhood home and connect to their heritage. But when old tensions resurface, temperaments clash and emotions erupt, causing their adventure to take a turn.

Eisenberg wrote and directed the film, and it has received four Golden Globe and three Critics’ Choice award nominations.