Oscars 2018: What to Know About The 9 Best Picture Nominees

Told from three perspectives—land, sea and air—Christopher Nolan's war drama is a staggering technical and directorial accomplishment, chronicling the fraught evacuation of allied soldiers at Dunkirk during the brutal battle. The film clocks in at a thrillingly pacy 107 minutes (making this Nolan's shortest film since his debut) and represents a departure from the director's less awards-friendly usual action and sci-fi genres. This is a strong bet either for Best Picture or for Best Director.

Jordan Peele's savagely smart and timely horror movie about race in modern America stunned at Sundance this year and snowballed into an overnight phenomenon when it hit cinemas shortly after. The film follows a young black man (Daniel Kaluuya) who goes on a trip upstate with his white girlfriend (Alison Williams) to meet her family, and gradually comes to realize that their friendly, liberal facade is hiding something horrifying. While it's very, very unusual for a movie released in February to sustain any Oscar buzz—most contenders are released in fall to be fresh in Academy voters' minds—Get Out has already defied so many expectations that it was no surprise to see it buck the trend, netting both a Best Picture nomination and a Best Actor nod for Kaluuya.

Since its debut at Sundance, Luca Guadagnino's intoxicating Italian romance has gradually emerged as one of the year's most passionately beloved (and awards-nominated) films. Chronicling the love affair between a 17-year-old (Timothée Chalamet) and an older graduate student (Armie Hammer) staying with his family for the summer, Call Me By Your Name is a raw and intimate love story that evolved from indie gem to Best Picture contender.

Since its release in November, Martin McDonagh's caustic, quietly moving third film has drawn praise and controversy in roughly equal measure—the latter in particular for its treatment of race—which might make it too risky a choice for the already-beleaguered Academy. Frances McDormand gives one of the best performances of her career as Mildred, a woman who takes matters into her own hands when her small town's police department fails to solve the brutal rape and murder of her daughter. Though it looked initially like a dark horse, Three Billboards has emerged as the odds-on frontrunner for Best Picture—not to mention Best Actress for McDormand. However, the film has provoked some intense backlash for its flippant depiction of racism and police brutality, which may impact the Academy's voting.

Greta Gerwig's coming-of-age drama is so universally beloved by critics, it held a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score until it was deliberately sabotaged and remains one of the best-reviewed movies in history. Gerwig's script teases out the turbulent relationship between Saoirse Ronan's teenage protagonist and her mother (Laurie Metcalf) with nuance and pathos. Lady Bird would be an extraordinary film no matter the cultural context, but in 2018 of all years, it feels hugely significant that the Academy is finally making room in the Best Picture race for stories about women made by women.

Director Guillermo del Toro considers this fantastical tale his favorite of all his films and landed him a Best Director nom this year. The story of a mute woman (Sally Hawkins, a Best Actress contender) who falls in love with a fish-like creature at the mysterious laboratory where she works as a janitor is certainly not for everyone, but those who can look past the interspecies romance will find a ravishing, unexpected love story with a lot of heart. —Julie Kosin

Paul Thomas Anderson reuniting with Daniel Day-Lewis for the first time since the powerhouse There Will Be Blood was always going to be an attention-grabber, and Phantom Thread more than lives up to the hype. It's a hypnotic love story that's subversive and kinky in the most unpredictable ways, following a driven and prickly dressmaker (Day-Lewis) who meets his match in a strong-willed young woman (Vicky Krieps). This is allegedly Day-Lewis's final onscreen role, and it's a predictably masterful performances.

This. Cast. Though. Steven Spielberg's movie about the Pentagon Papers was always going to attract top-drawer talent, and this ridiculously stacked ensemble (Alison Brie! Carrie Coon! Sarah Paulson! Matthew Rhys! Bradley Whitford!) is led by Meryl Streep as the U.S.'s first female newspaper publisher Kay Graham, and Tom Hanks as Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee. Their publication of the Papers sparked an unprecedented war between media and government, and for obvious reasons, this is a story modern America could stand to revisit.

Gary Oldman stars in this biopic as Winston Churchill, who faced a momentous choice during his first days as Prime Minister in 1940: negotiate peace with Nazi Germany, or stand firm and take the United Kingdom to war against the Axis Powers. Directed by Atonement's Joe Wright, the film follows that decision and the subsequent period which Churchill himself dubbed 'the darkest hour.'