This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Casper Libero chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
We’re less than a month away from the most prestigious night in global cinema: The Academy Awards –tenderly known as the Oscars. There is a list of nominees that, if you haven’t seen yet, I have amazing reasons to convince you they’re worth your time.
Hamnet
Winning Best Picture with Nomadland (2020) wasn’t enough for the Chinese director Chloé Zhao. With Hamnet, she delivers a devastating meditation on grief, motherhood, and the quiet power of art.
Very little of William Shakespeare’s private life was documented with the same care as his plays. What we do know is that in 1596, he lost his 11-year-old son to the bubonic plague. The boy was the child of his marriage to Anne Hathaway (yes, the same name as the actress from The Devil Wears Prada). That single historical detail was enough for Maggie O’Farrell to weave fact and fiction into her 2020 novel, now brought to the screen.
The adaptation follows a couple who meet in the small English town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Agnes comes from a family deeply connected to nature and mysticism, while William is the son of a glove maker with aspirations of social mobility. Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal embody not only their love story, but also the strain of balancing ambition and intimacy in a time when distance and disease could not be solved with a two-hour train ride or a bottle of pharmacy syrup.
Notably, Shakespeare’s full name is spoken only once, during the film’s final twenty minutes. The closing act reframes the unbearable loss of a child through the creation of one of the most famous works in literary history: Hamlet, portrayed in the film by Noah Jupe.
Hamnet: Life After Hamlet has received eight nominations at the 2026 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Jessie Buckley), Best Supporting Actor (Paul Mescal), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score. The film is currently playing in theaters worldwide.
Train Dreams
This adaptation of Denis Johnson’s novel, paired with the striking cinematography by Adolpho Veloso, is a moving work of contemplative cinema.
Set against the backdrop of sweeping labor transformations in the early 20th century, the film centers on Robert Grainier, a logger whose life unfolds in quiet, almost wordless reflection. Having lost his wife, young daughter, and fellow workers, Grainier, played with restrained intensity by Joel Edgerton, must learn to navigate grief in its many forms.
In an era of overstimulation, when the cultural and artistic industries seem determined to overwhelm audiences with information and spectacle, Train Dreams dares to slow down. Its sparse dialogue may feel unfamiliar, even uncomfortable. But in its silence, the film complaint about the exhaustion of thousands of workers who built the american railroad system through grueling labor, longing only to return home after a long time.
Train Dreams has earned four Oscar nominations in 2026: Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film is available on Netflix.
The Secret Agent
One of this year’s Oscar frontrunners, The Secret Agent took home Best Director (Kleber Mendonça Filho) and Best Actor (Wagner Moura) at the Cannes Film Festival, while also capturing hearts of thousands of Brazilians rallying behind the production.
Set during Brazil’s military dictatorship, the film revisits a period that still casts a long shadow. Does the theme sound familiar? Last year, Best International Feature award went to I’m Still Here, directed by Walter Salles, which was also set during that era. There is deep importance in continuing to tell stories from this violent past – and The Secret Agent is, above all, about memory.
“Marcelo” (and you’ll need to see the film to understand the quotation marks) is a technology professional on the run in 1977, fleeing something we’re never entirely sure of. Determined to reunite with his son in Recife, he must first retrieve a document belonging to his mother before escaping the country. In a narrative full of tension and sharp edges, the story of a single father’s flight intertwines seamlessly with the details of the time: sensationalist headlines, government corruption, and even the theatrical release of Jaws, which helps anchor the viewer firmly in that historical moment.
By the film’s end, a parallel between past and present emerges. Two young students are seen searching for Marcelo’s family: just as we should seek out and remember all those lives lost in the pursuit of righteous world.
The Secret Agent has received four nominations at the 2026 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best International Feature, Best Actor (Wagner Moura), and Best Casting. The film is currently screening in select theaters worldwide.
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The article above was edited by Rafaela Navarro.
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