Golden Globes 2021: Where to watch the nominated films in the UK

On Wednesday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association revealed its list of nominees for the 78th Golden Globes. On 28 February, the ceremony will mark one of the first big stops on the road to the Oscars, providing a first guide of the lay of the land in this year’s unique awards season.

David Fincher’s monochrome Hollywood tale Mank was the winner in terms of quantity, earning six nominations from the HFPA. It was closely followed by Aaron Sorkin’s historical courtroom drama The Trial of the Chicago 7, which managed five nods.

Read more: Snubs and surprises from the Golden Globes

With the HFPA providing a list of compelling and acclaimed films — and some slightly baffling choices — the question turns to how audiences can actually watch them. With cinemas in England still shut, here’s the best way to get hold of the major nominees at the Golden Globes.

Mank

Mank is absolutely the blueprint for an awards movie. It’s a lovestruck look at Hollywood’s glamorous past, directed by a top-tier talent in David Fincher and with an eye-catching performance by former Oscar-winner Gary Oldman. He portrays screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz during the writing of Citizen Kane. Mank has six nominations at the Globes, including Best Picture (Drama), Best Director for Fincher and Best Actor (Drama) for Oldman.

Read more: Oldman says Mank role was his most challenging ever

The movie is a Netflix Original and so is available to all subscribers on the streaming platform now, having been released way back in November.

The Trial of the Chicago 7

One of the buzziest Netflix titles of 2020 was writer-director Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, which tells the story of the bizarre trial of protesters in the wake of unrest at the Democratic National Convention in 1968. Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen and Mark Rylance are among the glittering A-list cast. As well as a nomination in Best Picture (Drama), Sorkin was also recognised for both his direction and screenplay, with Cohen a frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor. The movie also secured a Best Original Song nod for Celeste and Daniel Pemberton’s Hear My Voice.

As with Mank, the movie is available to stream now on Netflix.

Nomadland

From the moment Eternals director Chloe Zhao’s drama Nomadland debuted on the festival circuit last year, it was always pegged as a major contender for awards season silverware. Based on a non-fiction book, the film features Frances McDormand as a woman who lost everything as a result of the recession and decided to travel across America living as a nomad. Its four nominations are for Best Picture (Drama), McDormand for Best Actress (Drama) and Zhao for both directing and screenplay.

Read more: Chloe Zhao praises Marvel for giving her creative freedom on Eternals

The movie is due to be released by Disney through the Searchlight Pictures label. In the USA, it had a brief January cinema run ahead of appearing on Hulu this month. Currently, the movie has a 19 March release date in the UK, if cinemas are able to re-open.

Promising Young Woman

Carey Mulligan is in among the nominations for her performance in Killing Eve showrunner Emerald Fennell’s savagely funny take on the toxic attitudes of “nice guys”. Mulligan plays a former medical student who spends her evenings pretending to be drunk and subsequently challenging the supposedly compassionate men who, under the guise of caring for her, try to take advantage. Promising Young Woman is nominated for four awards — Best Picture (Drama), Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Drama).

Read more: Critic defends controversial Promising Young Woman review

In terms of a UK release, things are a little up in the air. Promising Young Woman was released theatrically in the USA over Christmas, and then subsequently on VOD platforms. On this side of the Atlantic, though, Universal Pictures is currently listing the movie as simply “coming soon”.

The Father

Perhaps surprisingly, The Father was one of the big successes of the Golden Globes. An understated portrayal of Anthony Hopkins’s title character suffering from dementia, it doesn’t scream success at the glitzy Globes. However, the movie earned four noms — Best Picture (Drama), Best Actor (Drama), Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Olivia Colman, as Hopkins’s daughter.

Lionsgate have distribution responsibilities for the movie in the UK and it’s currently set to be released into cinemas on 12 March.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Sacha Baron Cohen was the toast of the Golden Globes, equalling the record for the most nominations by an individual at a single ceremony. His return to the role of Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm earned him several nods, including for Best Actor (Musical or Comedy). The film was also nominated for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) and Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) for breakout star Maria Bakalova.

Read more: Cohen says he won’t play Borat again

The movie was sold to Amazon Prime Video in a big money deal reportedly worth $80m (£58m), enabling it to be released prior to the presidential election of last year. It is available to stream on the service now.

One Night in Miami

Regina King is one of three women nominated for Best Director at this year’s Golden Globes — a historic moment of diversity for the awards ceremony. Sadly, her brilliant directorial debut One Night in Miami — which imagines a motel room meeting between four Black icons — was not nominated for Best Picture (Drama). Leslie Odom Jr. did, however, manage to score a supporting actor nomination for his portrayal of Sam Cooke, and also earned a Best Song nod for Speak Now.

The movie is available to stream worldwide via Amazon Prime Video.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is at the centre of the awards conversation this year, with a sad under-current of tragedy. George C. Wolfe’s adaptation of the classic August Wilson play features the final screen performance of Chadwick Boseman, who passed away last year. Boseman is tremendous as the arrogant trumpet player Levee and is the frontrunner for Best Actor (Drama). The movie is also nominated at the Globes for Best Actress (Drama), thanks to Viola Davis’s performance in the title role.

Read more: Disney honours Boseman with new Black Panther credits

As with so many of the major contenders this year, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a Netflix Original and so is available for subscribers to stream right now.

Hamilton

Is it a movie? The Golden Globes have decided that the answer to that question is yes. And so, the filmed production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s slice of historical hip-hop is up for two awards at this year’s ceremony. Miranda is nominated for Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) and the film as a whole got a nod in the Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) category.

Read more: Inside the Hamilton phenomenon

There’s a roughly 90% chance you’ve seen it already but, in case you’ve been living under a rock for the last year — entirely possible due to lockdown — it’s available to stream via Disney+.

The Prom

It’s fair to say that heads were scratched in some quarters yesterday when Ryan Murphy’s glitzy musical found itself with a pair of Golden Globe nominations. The movie is nominated for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy), with James Corden given a nod in the Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) category, despite his performance receiving heavy criticism. Corden plays an openly gay Broadway veteran who, along with his friends, travels to a small town in order to make a lesbian teenager their pet cause.

As part of Murphy’s new mega-deal with Netflix, The Prom is available to stream now on the service.