Cover Buzzy blockbusters and award-winning movies like ‘Marty Supreme’ are leading the trophy race (Photo: IMDB)
Buzzy blockbusters and award-winning movies like ‘Marty Supreme’ are leading the trophy race (Photo: IMDB)
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From surprise snubs to headline-making speeches, these buzzy blockbusters, underrated gems and award-winning movies and series are shaping awards season 2026
Awards season is in full swing, and the 2026 Golden Globes has already delivered everything audiences crave: upsets, snubs and viral moments that dominated social media. While Paul Thomas Anderson’s award-winning movie One Battle After Another bagged multiple trophies, Ryan Coogler’s vampire epic Sinners is becoming the season’s biggest underdog story despite massive box office success.
Whether you’re tracking Oscar frontrunners or discovering hidden streaming gems, this awards season offers something for every viewer. Here’s your guide to the buzzy and award-winning movies and series expected to win big over the coming awards season.
In case you missed it: Awards season 2026: your essential guide from Critics Choice to Oscar night
‘Sinners’: the ‘snubbed’ vampire blockbuster fans are rallying behind
Above Michael B Jordan stars in dual roles in Ryan Coogler’s period horror film ‘Sinners’
Despite earning US$368 million worldwide as the highest-grossing original film in 15 years, Ryan Coogler’s 1930s Jim Crow Mississippi horror epic was shut out of major Golden Globe categories. In Sinners, Michael B Jordan plays twin brothers battling vampires with glowing eyes who control victims through music. Winning only Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, the snub has transformed into powerful populist marketing.
‘One Battle After Another’: the anarchic satire that dominated the Globes
Above Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s frenetic political thriller
Paul Thomas Anderson’s frenetic thriller swept three awards at the Critics Choice Awards, and four more—Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy), Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Teyana Taylor—at the Golden Globes. In One Battle After Another, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a paranoid ex-revolutionary reuniting with his former partner to protect their daughter from a white supremacist militia. Critics describe the award-winning movie as a volatile snapshot of contemporary American chaos.
‘The Secret Agent’: the Brazilian thriller that stole Best Actor
Above Wagner Moura delivers a Golden Globe-winning performance in the Brazilian political thriller
After winning Best Foreign Language Film at the Critics Choice, The Secret Agent pulled off a surprise when Wagner Moura beat out Michael B Jordan and Oscar Isaac to win Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama at the Golden Globes. The Brazilian neo-noir film follows a professor fleeing the 1977 military dictatorship who becomes entangled with a resistance network, as director Kleber Mendonça Filho blends grindhouse stylisation with biting social commentary. Despite its 99 per cent Rotten Tomatoes rating, the award-winning movie remains underrated.
Don’t miss: Golden Globes 2026: 10 red carpet moments defined by dark glamour and high drama
‘Adolescence’: the ‘one-shot’ TV masterpiece that swept every category
Above Stephen Graham leads the Netflix limited series ‘Adolescence’, which was filmed entirely in continuous takes
This Netflix limited series claimed four awards at the Critics Choice and picked up three more (Best Limited Series, Best Actor for Stephen Graham and Best Supporting Actor for Owen Cooper) at the Golden Globes. Each of its four episodes is filmed in one continuous take, creating unbearable real-time tension as a family unravels after their 13-year-old son is accused of murder. Adolescence tackles online radicalisation with painful relevance.
‘Marty Supreme’: Timothée Chalamet’s sleazy transformation
Above In ‘Marty Supreme’, Timothée Chalamet sports a moustache as a narcissistic table tennis hustler in the 1950s
Timothée Chalamet won Best Actor accolades at the Critics Choice and the Golden Globes (beating Leonardo DiCaprio in both) for playing a brazenly selfish, moustachioed 1950s table tennis hustler in Josh Safdie’s high-energy character study. His acceptance speech for Marty Supreme generated massive engagement when he publicly thanked his partner, Kylie Jenner—a viral moment that successfully translated into prestige recognition.
‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’: Rose Byrne and the ‘bearded dragon’ speech
Above Rose Byrne won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for the dark comedy film ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’
Rose Byrne won Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, but it was her acceptance speech that became a viral moment, as she gave a shoutout to her husband, actor Bobby Cannavale, who was not with her at the awards because he was at a reptile expo in New Jersey buying a bearded dragon. The dark comedy, which also stars Oscars host Conan O’Brien, follows a woman losing her grip on reality.
‘The Pitt’: the medical procedural that beat the prestige dramas
Above Noah Wyle returns to medical drama in the HBO Max series ‘The Pitt’
Noah Wyle’s return to the ER format delivered a major upset, winning Best Drama Series at the Golden Globes over high-concept favourites like Severance and The White Lotus. A ruthlessly realistic look at a chaotic Pittsburgh hospital, The Pitt—which also won four awards at the Critics Choice—is a realistic look at a day in the life of exhausted modern healthcare workers, signalling a cultural shift toward competent episodic comfort television.
‘Heated Rivalry’: the hockey romance that stole the season
Above Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie play rival hockey players in the steamy HBO Max series
Though not part of the 2026 awards season, Canadian hockey romance Heated Rivalry has become the most talked-about series in Hollywood and beyond. The steamy drama, based on a bestselling series of romance novels by author Rachel Reid, follows rival players Shane and Ilya over eight years of a secret romance. Stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie presented at the Golden Globes, creating several viral moments, including a backstage encounter with K-pop star Joshua of Seventeen.
After more than a decade in lifestyle media, Clifford has mastered the art of writing seriously about things that are fun—and writing fun things about people who take themselves very seriously. At Tatler Asia, he helped steer its flagship lists, Tatler’s Most Influential and Asia’s Most Stylish. And today, he leads T-Labs, Tatler Asia’s content innovation hub, where he continues the noble pursuit of lifestyle storytelling, spinning stories on wealth, entertainment, necessary style, Hallyu, Hollywood, beauty and more for audiences across Asia.
