Best Motion Picture Oscar Winning Movies on Netflix

Oscar-winning movies are, without question some of the best movies available.

So if you’re craving a marathon film binge of quality films or you’ve only got time to watch one good movie, this guide has you covered.

Inside I’m rounding up  35 Best Motion Picture Academy Award winners available to stream on Netflix right now.

And the Oscar goes to…!

How to watch these movies on Netflix

Before we dive right in, it’s worth knowing that Netflix doesn’t have every movie available in every country. It varies from region to region.

These days, other services like Disney Plus and HBO Max are direct Netflix competitors, who are removing their productions for their streaming services exclusively.

From now on, it’s going to be hard to find certain movies on Netflix, at least if you live in a country with several streaming options.

For this reason, to watch most of these movies, you’ll need a VPN app to unblock the different Netflix catalogues. You don’t need a new Netflix account though, your regular login details work just fine.

There are lots of VPN apps to choose from but my recommendation is ExpressVPN, which is the best VPN in the market. I’ve been using it for the past 2 years to enjoy more content from my Netflix subscription.

If you like to shop around (who doesn’t!), then it’s worth checking NordVPN and Surfshark. Both are great options as well with similar features and prices.

Which of the three you end up choosing is entirely up to you!

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Drama, History, Romance – 238 min.

Available in Italy and Switzerland

Recommended VPN location: Italy (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

It’s one of the biggest movies of all time based on the immortal novel of the same name by Margaret Mitchell.

Gone with the Wind is an epic romance film directed by Victor Flemming and starring Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, and Olivia de Havilland.

The story is set in the American South with the historical frame of the American Civil War and the Reconstruction era following the turbulent romance between Scarlett O’Hara (Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Gable).

West Side Story (1961)

Crime, Drama, Musical – 153 min.

Available only in the UK

Recommended VPN: ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark

An adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, inspired by Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet.

Two youngsters belonging to rival gangs from New York City fall in love defying everything.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Adventure, Biography, Drama – 228 min.

Available in Germany, Greece, Israel, Portugal, and Sweden

Recommended VPN Locations: Germany, Portugal (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), Israel (ExpressVPN)

A British epic historical drama film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence interpreted by Peter O’Toole and Alec Guinness playing Prince Faisal.

Set during WWI, the story is based on true events depicting Lawrence’s experiences in the Ottoman Empire’s provinces of Hejaz and Greater Syria and how he successfully united and led the diverse Arab tribes to fight the Turks.

A Man for all Seasons (1966)

Biography, Drama, History – 120 min.

Available in Portugal, South Korea, Spain, and Turkey

Recommended VPN locations: Portugal and Spain (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

A British biographical drama film based on Robert Bolt’s 1960 play of the same name and adapted for cinema by himself.

The story is based on the life of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to get the divorce and remarry.

The Godfather (1972)

Crime, Drama – 175 min.

Available in Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Thailand, and Turkey

Recommended VPN Locations: Belgium, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Poland (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), Singapore (NordVPN, Surfshark)

Based on Mario Puzo’s bestselling novel, who also co-wrote the screenplay with director Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather is the trilogy’s first instalment.

The film has an ensemble cast composed of Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, and Diane Keaton.

The story follows the patriarch of an organized crime dynasty who is ageing and looking for his successor in his reluctant son.

The Godfather: Part II (1974)

Crime, Drama – 202 min.

Available in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Thailand, and Turkey

Recommended VPN Locations: Belgium, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Poland (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), Singapore (NordVPN, Surfshark)

The sequel to The Godfather also directed by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written with Mario Puzo.

The film works as a sequel and prequel showing two different timelines. In the present, it follows Michael Corleone as the new Don, and the prequel covers his father’s life from his Sicilian childhood till founding his family business in New York.

Rocky (1976)

Drama, Sport – 120 min.

Available in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, and Mexico

Recommended VPN Location: Canada (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

The film that launched Sylvester Stallone into stardom, Rocky was also written by Stallone.

Rocky Balboa is an uneducated, good working-class Italian-American boxer who works as a debt collector for a loan shark in Philadelphia. When he gets a chance at the world heavyweight championship, his life changes forever.

Kramer vs Kramer (1979)

Drama – 105 min.

Available in Hong Kong, India, Netherlands, Russia, and South Korea

Recommended VPN Locations: Netherlands (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark) India (NordVPN)

An American legal drama based on Avery Corman’s 1977 novel of the same name and directed by Robert Benton.

The film follows a couple’s divorce, Ted (Dustin Hoffman) and Joanna (Meryl Streep) Kramer, and the impact this has on their 8-year-old son.

Gandhi (1982)

Biography, Drama, History – 191 min.

Available in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland

Recommended VPN locations: Australia (ExpressVPN), Belgium, Germany, Netherlands (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

Directed by Lord Richard Attenborough (A Chorus Line, Chaplin) and starred by Ben Kingsley, the film tells the life of the lawyer Mahatma Gandhi who becomes the leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule practising his philosophy of nonviolent protests.

Out of Africa (1985)

Biography, Drama, Romance – 161 min.

Available in Belgium, Brazil, Portugal, South Africa, and Spain

Recommended VPN locations: Belgium, Portugal and Spain (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

An American epic romantic drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, based on Isak Dinesen’s memoirs (the pseudonym of Danish author Karen Blixen).

Set in colonial Kenya in the first half of the 20th Century, a Danish baroness and plantation owner (Streep) live a passionate love affair with a big-game hunter (Redford).

Platoon (1986)

Drama, War – 120 min.

Available only in the US

Recommended VPN: ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark

Perhaps the most emblematic film directed and written by Oliver Stone with an ensemble cast starring Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Keith David, Kevin Dillon, John C. McGinley, Forest Whitaker, and Johnny Depp.

Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is a U.S. Army volunteer who arrives in South Vietnam and is assigned to an infantry platoon of the 25th Infantry Division near the Cambodian border.

There, he will find himself caught in an inner war between two sergeants who fight each other to impose their will.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Crime, Drama, Thriller – 118 min.

Available only in Canada

Recommended VPN: ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark

Based on Thomas Harris’s best-seller and directed by Jonathan Demme, the film brought Sir Anthony Hopkins into the spotlight who plays Hannibal Lecter.

Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is a young FBI cadet who is assigned to interview an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer, Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), to capture another serial killer.

Unforgiven (1992)

Drama, Western – 130 min.

Available in India, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland

Recommended VPN locations: India (NordVPN), Israel (ExpressVPN), Italy, Japan (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

An American revisionist Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also plays the leading character.

William Munny (Eastwood) is an old retired gunslinger who reluctantly accepts the last job with the help of his old partner Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman).

Schindler’s List (1993)

Biography, Drama, History – 195 min.

Available only in the Netherlands

Recommended VPN: ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark

An Epic historical drama directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and totally shot in black and white.

Based on the 1982 non-fiction novel Schindler’s Ark by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally, the film follows Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who becomes concerned about his Jewish workforce after seeing the Nazi persecution.

Along with his wife, Emilie Schindler, he saved more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II. The film stars Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Kingsley.

Forrest Gump (1994)

Drama, Romance – 142 min.

Available in selected countries

Recommended VPN Locations: Canada, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), India (NordVPN), Israel (ExpressVPN)

Tom Hanks is Forrest Gump, a man with an IQ below 75 but a big heart, who has witnessed the major historical events of his time, such as Kennedy’s presidency, the Vietnam War, Watergate and his only goal is reuniting with Jenny, his sweetheart from childhood.

Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and Sally Field complete the cast.

Braveheart (1995)

Biography, Drama, History – 178 min.

Available in Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand

Recommended VPN locations: Canada (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark) Singapore (NordVPN, Surfshark)

An epic historical fiction war film directed and co-produced by Mel Gibson, who also portrays William Wallace, a late-13th-century Scottish warrior.

The film follows Wallace’s life and also how he leads his countrymen in a rebellion against the tyrannical King Edward I of England.

American Beauty (1999)

Drama – 122 min.

Available in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, and the UK

Recommended VPN locations: France, Italy, Japan, the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), India (NordVPN), Singapore (Surfshark)

An American black comedy-drama film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes. The film is the debut of Mendes as a film director and made him win the Academy Award as Best Director.

Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a magazine executive trapped in an unhappy marriage with his neurotic and materialist wife Carolyn (Annette Benning). His frustrations gain another level when he has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his teen daughter’s best friend.

Gladiator (2000)

Action, Adventure, Drama – 155 min.

Available in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey

Recommended VPN locations: Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Portugal (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

An epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott and with Russel Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix in the leading roles.

Maximus (Crowe) a former Roman General plans his revenge against the Emperor (Phoenix), who killed his family and made him a slave.

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Biography, Drama – 135 min.

Available in Greece, India, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, the UK

Recommended VPN Locations: India (NordVPN), Japan, Spain, the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

Based on the American mathematician John Nash’s life, a Nobel Laureate in Economics and Abel Prize winner, the film was directed by Ron Howard with Russel Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, and Ed Harris in the leading roles.

The film follows Nash after accepting secret work in cryptology while dealing with paranoid schizophrenia and enduring delusional episodes.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Action, Adventure, Drama – 201 min.

Available in Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey

Recommended VPN Locations: Italy, Portugal (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

The final instalment to the epic trilogy based on the immortal book saga by J.R.R, Tolkien and directed by Peter Jackson.

A big battle led by Gandalf and Aragorn against Sauron is taking place to distract him from Sam and Frodo while they’re taking the ring to Mount Doom.

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Drama, Sport – 132 min.

Available in Australia, India, South Korea

Recommended VPN Locations: Australia (ExpressVPN), India (NordVPN)

Directed and starring Clint Eastwood with Hilary Swank in the leading role, Million Dollar Baby tells the story of a woman determined to become a professional boxer.

The Departed (2006)

Crime, Drama Thriller – 151 min.

Available in Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the US

Recommended VPN locations: Australia, Israel (ExpressVPN), Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal, the US (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), India (NordVPN)

Directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan, The Departed is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang.

An undercover cop, Billy Costigan Jr. (Leonardo Dicaprio) and a mole in the police, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), try to identify each other while they infiltrate an Irish gang in South Boston. The cast is completed by Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga, and Alec Baldwin.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Crime, Drama, Thriller – 122 min.

Available in Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, the UK

Recommended VPN Locations: Canada, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark), India (NordVPN)

Written and directed by Ethan and Joel Coen (Fargo), the film is set in 1980 in Texas, where hitman Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is arrested and he commits a series of crimes to gain his freedom unleashing a wave of violence and chaos.

Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Woody Harrelson complete the cast.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Drama, Romance – 120 min.

Available in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico, Romania, Slovakia

Recommended VPN Locations: Brazil (NordVPN)

The film is a British drama directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) loosely based on the novel Q & A (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup.

It tells the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai, who is accused of cheating in the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”.

The Hurt Locker (2009)

Drama, Thriller, War – 131 min.

Available in Italy, Sweden, the UK

Recommended VPN Locations: Italy, the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

An American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Strange Days), starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce.

The film follows an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, who is the target of a group of insurgents. The story heavily deals with the psychological reactions to the stress of combat and the consequences of it.

The King’s Speech (2010)

Biography, Drama, History – 118 min.

Available in Italy, Japan, Turkey, and the UK

Recommended VPN locations: Italy, Japan, the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

This historical drama follows the story of King George VI (Colin Firth), his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), and the speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), who helped him to overcome his stammer.

The Artist (2011)

Comedy, Drama, Romance – 100 min.

Available in Hungary, Poland, Romania, the US

Recommended VPN Locations: Poland, the US (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

The Artist pays tribute to the silent films era, totally shot in black and white as a silent film.

The film is set in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and follows the relationship between a rising young actress and an older silent film star when silent films were being replaced by talkies.

Argo (2012)

Biography, Drama, Thriller – 120 min.

Available in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland

Recommended VPN locations: Australia (ExpressVPN), Belgium, Canada, France, Poland, Portugal, Spain (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

Directed and starred by Ben Affleck with Bryan Cranston and John Goodman completing the cast, Argo is set in 1979 during the US hostage crisis in Tehran, Iran.

Tony Mendez (Affleck) is a CIA agent who goes undercover as a sci-fi movie producer looking for a location to shoot a movie to rescue six Americans that are held as hostages in the US Embassy in Tehran during the crisis perpetrated by the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Biography, Drama, History – 134 min.

Available in the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Romania, Slovakia, the UK

Recommended VPN Location: the UK (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

The film is an adaptation of the 1853 slave memoir Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, who was a New York State-born free African-American man kidnapped in Washington, D.C. and sold into slavery.

The direction of the movie was in charge of Steve McQueen and Chiwetel Ejiofor is the leading role of Solomon, while Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, and Alfre Woodard conform the supporting cast.

Birdman (2014)

Comedy, Drama – 119 min.

Available in France, Italy, South Africa, South Korea

Recommended VPN Locations: France, Italy (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

Directed and co-written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the film follows Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton), a washed-up superhero actor who attempts to get a new direction on his career by writing, directing and starring in a Broadway production.

Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, and Emma Stone complete the cast in supporting roles.

Spotlight (2015)

Biography, Crime, Drama – 129 min.

Available in Australia, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, the US

Recommended VPN Locations: Australia (ExpressVPN), Italy, Japan, the US (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

Based on the true story of how the Boston Globe uncover a scandal of child abuse in the local Catholic Archdiocese and how the entire Catholic Church covered up these instances of abuse.

The film stars Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, and Stanley Tucci.

Moonlight (2016)

Drama – 111 min.

Available in Australia, Japan, South Korea, the US

Recommended VPN Locations: Australia (ExpressVPN), the US (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

Covering three time periods in the life of black-American Chiron, young adolescence, mid-teen and young adult, the films follows the struggles of identity and sexuality of a young boy growing up in a crime and drug-infested neighbourhood in Miami.

Green Book (2018)

Biography, Comedy, Drama – 130 min.

Available in Australia, Hungary, Spain, Sweden, Turkey

Recommended VPN locations: Australia (ExpressVPN), Spain (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

Set in 1962, Green Book is inspired by the true events that took place in the tour through the Deep South by African American classical and jazz pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and Italian American bouncer Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), who served as Shirley’s driver and bodyguard.

Parasite (2019)

Comedy, Drama, Thriller – 132 min.

Available in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Thailand

Recommended VPN locations: Japan (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark)

The first foreign movie to win both awards for Best Picture and Best Picture in Foreign Language. Parasite is a Korean film directed and written by Bong Joon Ho (The Host, Okja).

The story deals with the huge social gap between classes in Korean society.

The Kim clan, composed of both parents and a son and a daughter, live in a basement, and they’re always looking for a way to survive mostly cheating around.

When they get the chance to enter the life of the wealthy Park family, a symbiotic and sick relationship of lies and deceit will develop, leading the characters to an unexpected fate.

Summary

Awards season is here, and probably you want to watch some great award-winning movies from previous years.

Netflix has a good selection of Academy Award Best Picture-winning movies, but they’re hard to find globally. Most of them are scattered around the world and available in only a few countries.

The solution to access these movies is a VPN like ExpressVPN that will allow you to access different Netflix regions and enjoy its catalogues.

After exhaustive research, we collected this list with all the Oscar movies we found on Netflix.

Subscribe to ExpressVPN and start enjoying Netflix worldwide from your regular account and start watching the finest movies Hollywood has been producing in the past decades.

What’s your favorite movie on the list? I would love to know, so drop me a comment below.