Which Oscars films should you actually watch?

With a total of 62 nominated films, it’s going to be difficult to prioritise your Oscars viewing. So which films do you really need to make sure you’ve seen this awards season? Here’s our pick of the five absolutely-no-excuses, must-see movies of 2016/17.

1. La La Land

If you want to understand the raison d'être of awards ceremonies and indeed Hollywood itself, it’s all there in this self-congratulatory, yet utterly magical movie. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling have undeniable chemistry as the jobbing actress and jazz musician who fall for each other in the ‘City of Stars’.

Fourteen nominations including: Best Picture, Best Director*, Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Actor (Ryan Gosling) *six wins in total

2. Moonlight

Barry Jenkins’ Miami-set coming-of-age tale features an all-black cast and centres on a gay love story, but none of that is what makes it really revolutionary. Moonlight is simply one of the most soulful and lyrical films ever to catch the Academy’s attention. The Best Picture win was a monumental moment for Hollywood, not least because of the announcement error that mistakenly, briefly, named La La Land as the winner.

Eight nominations including Best Picture*, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali), Best Supporting Actress (Naomie Harris) *three wins in total

3. Hell or High Water

There’s something affectingly old-fashioned about this west Texas-set heist thriller. It’s not just the nods to classic westerns, the fact that these bank robbers live by a moral code, or even the slow, steady pace with which Texas Ranger Mark Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) investigates their crimes; it’s the sheer storytelling craft.

Four nominations including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Jeff Bridges) and Best Original Screenplay.

4. Hacksaw Ridge

The first film directed by controversy-magnet Mel Gibson in over a decade is a bracingly violent biopic about a man who abhorred violence. And that’s just the first of many fascinating contradictions in Hacksaw Ridge; truly a film that must be seen to be believed. Andrew Garfield stars as “conscientious cooperator” and World War II hero, Desmond Doss.

Six nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Andrew Garfield), Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing

5. Toni Erdmann

If the Academy Awards were actually about recognising great cinema, this critical favourite would be sweeping the board. As it is, Maren Ade’s phenomenal tragi-comedy about a father trying to reconnect with his adult daughter only has the one nom. Then again, Jack Nicholson will star in the English-language remake, so there’s always next year.

One nomination for Best Foreign Language Film

Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City’s Vue multiplex cinemas are the place to see the movies everyone’s talking about. Visit uk.westfield.com for film listings and more information.