Oscars Sunday is ticking slowly closer and closer, taking with it final opportunities to watch the year’s nominated films. Whether you’re a bracket building viewer or a casual streamer, your pre-Oscars viewing opportunities are dwindling, but not yet gone. Before the stars take to the stage, be sure to watch the year’s Best Picture nominees: Oppenheimer, Barbie, Poor Things, Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, The Holdovers, Past Lives, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, and finally, American Fiction.
That last movie became a frontrunner in the final hour, hitting theaters in September, three months after Barbie and Oppenheimer broke Hollywood. In its early weeks, the film didn’t make much noise, but suddenly it landed with a clatter, as Academy voters came to see what was the matter. Now, less than a week away from the ceremony, American Fiction is listed among critics’ predicted winners, many foreseeing a Best Adapted Screenplay win for the comedy. And that category is sufficiently stacked, with The Zone of Interest, Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Poor Things.
What is American Fiction About?
American Fiction stars Jeffrey Wright as a Black novelist and professor, jaded by the literary world’s hunger for stereotypical, pandering, “Black” stories, published to either assuage white guilt or support long-held stereotypes under the guise of “authenticity” and “rawness.” Frustrated and saddled with his ailing mother’s debts, he pens a ridiculous satire in the vein of “Black” stories under a pseudonym, which to his surprise, becomes a massive best-seller. His book, originally titled “My Pafology” and later changed to simply “FUCK,” sells leaps and bounds beyond his academic work, and even gets the Hollywood screen treatment. The movie is a hilariously well-done adaptation of Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure. Supporting Jeffrey Wright is a stellar ensemble cast including Sterling K. Brown, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Issa Rae, and more.
How To Watch American Fiction?
American Fiction is still playing in theaters, but for the same price as a movie ticket, you can own the film on Amazon Prime Video. Unlike some of the year’s other big hitters, American Fiction is highly rewatchable, so it’s worth the own. No shade to The Zone of Interest, a masterfully excruciating single-watch film. It’s also under two-hours! No shade to Oppenheimer or Killers of the Flower Moon.
This is your opportunity to watch the film before it wins, thus removing yourself from the worst circle of Oscars viewers—those who only saw Barbie and will be annoying about the other movies on Twitter. Stream it and be changed.
