
For Hollywood, the award to beat all awards is the Best Picture win at the Academy Awards.
Now in its 97th year, the Oscar statues are seen as an emblem of the best of the best, with the films on Best Picture list being cemented in history as a result.
Luckily for you, Sky has dozens of the Best Pictures right at your fingertips – all you have to do is click.
And even if they’re not on Sky Cinema, even more available on Paramount+ and Netflix, both of which are available to Sky customers at no extra cost with the right package. You can find out more about Paramount+ on Sky here, and Netflix on Sky here.
Once you’ve set those up, you can stretch your movie-loving muscles with any of the below. Happy viewing, cinema lovers!

2024: Anora
Available now via Sky Store Premiere
Ani, a 23-year-old stripper and sex worker, thinks she’s landed the jackpot when she is introduced to 21-year-old Ivan: a fun-loving son of a Russian oligarch looking to waste his parents' money before heading off on his studies.
When a business deal turns into a full-blown romance and a whirlwind marriage in Vegas, Ani thinks she’s had her own Pretty Women moment – that is, until Ivan’s parents find out what he’s done, and send in their heavies to get the marriage annulled.
Now the pair must figure out if their romance is truly worth it, or if it’s about to blow up spectacularly as reality hits their rose-tinted world.
Anora won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay and Best Director for creator Sean Baker.
Find out more about Anora here.
2023: Oppenheimer
Available now on Sky Cinema (BSL-option available) and NOW
During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb.
When their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, they witness the world’s first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history – for better or worse.
With a star-studded cast including Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and Florence Pugh, Oppenheimer delves into the complicated life of the man behind the deadliest bomb in history – and how he grapples with how that may change the world.
The film won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, with Murphy, Blunt, Downy Jr and director Christopher Nolan all taking home gongs for their efforts.
Find out more about Oppenheimer here.
2021: CODA
Available now on Netflix, via Sky
As a Child of Deaf Adults (a CODA), 17-year-old Ruby is the only person in her family who can hear and bears a lot of responsibility helping keep her father’s fishing business afloat while also attending high school.
But when she joins the high school choir, Ruby discovers her own personal joy in singing, as well as her new duet partner. As she faces graduation, Ruby soon finds herself grappling with forging her own path with her fear of leaving her parents behind without her.
2019: Parasite
Available now on Netflix, via Sky
Set in Seoul, South Korea, Parasite follows the struggling Kim family, who after years of struggling to make ends meet, seek to find a better life when their son starts working for the affluent Park family. Over time, they figure out a way to work in the same household, leeching off those who take their fortune for granted.
The film won four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Bong Joon-Ho.
2015: Spotlight
Available now on Sky Cinema and NOW
Based on a true story and set in 2001, Spotlight follows a team of tenacious journalists at The Boston Globe, led by editor Martin ‘Marty’ Baron, as they attempt to pursue the truth about a series of child molestation charges in their local church. As the shocking reality becomes clear, the team makes it their mission to expose that the abuse was knowingly covered up by the Roman Catholic Church.

2010: The King’s Speech
Available now on Sky Cinema and NOW
The King’s Speech follows the true story behind the initial weeks of King George VI’s reign after his brother suddenly abdicates the throne.
Thrust into power after years of assuming he will never be King, George (played by Colin Firth) is now on a time crunch to overcome his debilitating stammer.
With the help of speech therapist Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush) George works on his lifelong impediment to rouse the nation with hope as World War II looms.
2007: No Country for Old Men
Available now on Paramount+, via Sky (free if you have Sky Cinema)
Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) makes the mistake of a lifetime when he discovers the horrific aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong while out hunting.
Rather than leave well-enough alone, his greed gets the better of him, and he flees with a bag of cash he finds on the scene – and soon he finds himself being hunted down by a psychotic contract killer (Javier Bardem) and an ageing Sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) on a race against time.
2003: Lord of the Rings - Return of the King
Available now on Sky Cinema and NOW
While the full trilogy is available on our services now, it was the third and final film in the series that took home the Best Picture win at the 2003 Academy Awards.
Picking up with Frodo and Sam as they try to complete their quest to get the Ring to Mount Doom and destroy it for good, their conflicted guide, Gollum, makes his true motivations known.
Meanwhile, a battle for Middle Earth is brewing, with the Fellowship and their allies making a stand against the forces of the evil Sauron.
2002: Chicago
Available on Sky Cinema and NOW
An all-singing, all-dancing murder spectacular, Chicago brings the beloved musical to life on the big screen as Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) finds herself behind bars for allegedly killing off her lover. While there, she meets cabaret star Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and soon the pair are fighting for the attention of hotshot defence lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) and the papers to get the stardom and freedom they crave.
2001: A Beautiful Mind
Available on Paramount+ via Sky
Russell Crowe stars in this biographical drama of genius John Nash, a brilliant but socially withdrawn man whose life is upended with a battle with schizophrenia, forcing a balance between his intellect and his mental health.
Following his life starting as a Princeton graduate in the 1940s, A Beautiful Mind follows the highs and lows of John’s life as he finds love and eventually wins the Nobel Peace prize, all while trying to find ways to keep the hallucinations he suffers with at bay.

2000: Gladiator
Available now on Netflix via Sky
The first of two consecutive wins led by Russell Crowe, Gladiator takes us back to ancient Rome in a historical epic about the price of vengeance. When Emperor Aurelius makes plans to have General Maximus Decimus Meridius succeed him on the throne rather than his son Commodus, a chain of events are triggered as Commodus fights for the power he thinks is his birthright, pushing Maximus out as a traitor. In turn, he becomes a gladiator to finally seek his vengeance.
1999: American Beauty
Available now on Paramount+ via Sky
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is in the midst of a mid-life crisis. He has a daughter who hates him, a wife that’s cheating on him, and a job he hates. Desperate for some excitement, Lester heads on a journey of self-discovery and undertakes a sexual reawakening when he is introduced to his daughter’s new high school friend.
1998: Shakespeare in Love
Available now on Sky Cinema and NOW
Written by Tom Stoppard, Shakespeare in Love depicts the fictional love story of the beloved British playwright, who finds a new muse in theatre-loving Viola De Lesseps while writing Romeo and Juliet. However, as their mutual love for the written word turns romantic, they run into danger as she is betrothed to someone else.
1996: The English Patient
Available now on Paramount+ via Sky
An adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel of the same name, The English Patient follows the story of Laszlo de Almasy (Ralph Fiennes), who is looked after by nurse Hana (Juliette Binoche) in an Italian monastery after being badly burned in a plane crash during World War II. With little memory to who he is, the pair find themselves inexplicably connected.
1994: Forrest Gump
Available now on Sky Cinema and NOW
In this heartwarming drama, Tom Hanks stars as the titular Forrest Gump, a simple but lovable man who grows up in Alabama with his beloved Mama and best friend and true love, Jenny. Following Forrest through the decades of his life, Forrest becomes embroiled in a series of world events – from meeting Elvis to the Vietnam War, as he tries to find his place in the world and make his way back to Jenny.
1985: Out of Africa
Available now on Sky Cinema and NOW
Karen Blixen, an aristocrat with dreams of being a dairy farmer, finds her dreams dashed when she moves to Africa, with her husband Bror spending all their money on a coffee plantation instead. Alone and knowing Bror is unfaithful, Karen finds herself falling for a working-class hunter, but their different class backgrounds prove to be a wedge between them. Soon she must choose between the comfort of her old life and the potential of a completely different future.

1978: The Deer Hunter
Available now on Sky Cinema and NOW
Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Savage star as three lifelong friends from Pennsylvania. Set in 1968, the trio set to mark their final days of freedom by heading on one final hunting trip before being shipped off to the Vietnam War.
With big dreams of military honour, the realities of war set in quickly, and they return haunted and struggling to adjust to a normal life after the tragedies they were forced to witness.
1974: The Godfather Part II
Available now on Sky Cinema and NOW
Set across two timelines, The Godfather Part II takes a step back with flashbacks to a young Vito Corleone (Robert Deniro), and how he started life in Sicily before establishing his crime family in New York City.
In the present timeline, Vito’s son Michael (Al Pacino) has taken over the family business and has plans to expand their empire to include Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Cuba – all while juggling a struggling marriage and a family falling apart.
The film won six Oscars and became the first sequel in history to take home the Best Picture honour at the Academy Awards. (There’s only been one other - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King).
1973: The Sting
Available now on Sky Cinema and NOW
When his crime partner is murdered by a ruthless crime boss, Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) – a con man with a love for an elaborate scheme – joins forces with retired pro Henry Gondorff in order to bring those responsible to justice in their own special way. Naturally, things go terribly wrong in this caper, and soon they have to think on their feet.
1972: The Godfather Part I
Available now on Sky Cinema and NOW
In the first instalment of this much-loved gangster franchise, The Godfather Part I follows Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), the unshakeable boss of the Corleone crime family, as he makes plans to hand the business over to his son, Michael (Al Pacinio), who isn’t too sure he wants to be part of his father’s criminal organisation. But sometimes destiny has a way of forcing your hand.
1964: My Fair Lady
Available now on Paramount+, via Sky
Audrey Hepburn stars as Eliza Doolittle in this musical tale of class and elevating yourself in the world. Henry Higgins, a rich and pompous phonetics professor, who takes on the bet of turning Cockney flower seller Eliza into a “presentable” member of society within six months via elocution lessons.
1960: The Apartment
Available now on Sky Cinema and NOW
In one of the first classic rom coms of its kind, Jack Lemmon stars as insurance brother CC Baxter, who makes extra cash and creates leverage in his job by lending his Upper West Side apartment out to the bosses of his company so they can have extramarital affairs. But things take a turn when he realises one of his bosses’ mistresses is elevator girl Fran Kubelik, who he’s personally fallen for.