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10 Oscar-Nominated Scripts You Should Be Studying Right Now

By V Renée · April 28, 2021

Download and read all of this year’s Oscar-nominated screenplays!

Just because the 93rd Academy Awards has wrapped doesn’t mean the good times can’t keep rolling. We dug through the TSL Script Library to put all 10 Oscar-nominated screenplays of 2021 all in one place so you can download, read, and learn from them whenever you’re in need of some inspiration or direction.

Note: Some screenplays are earlier drafts and don’t always reflect the final cut of the eventual films.

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Father

WINNER

Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller

Download the script!

A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.

Borat: Subsequent Movie Film

Nominated

Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, and Lee Kern

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Released from prison for bringing shame to his country, Kazakh funnyman Borat risks life and limb when he returns to America with his 15-year-old daughter.

Nomadland

Nominated

Screenplay by Chloé Zhao

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A woman in her sixties who, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.

One Night In Miami

Nominated

Screenplay by Kemp Powers

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On the night of Feb. 25, 1964, in Miami, Cassius Clay joins Jim Brown, Sam Cooke and Malcom X, and they discuss the responsibility of being successful black men during the civil rights movement.

The White Tiger

Nominated

Screenplay by Ramin Bahrani

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A rich Indian family’s ambitious driver uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty and rise to the top as an entrepreneur.

Best Original Screenplay

Promising Young Woman

WINNER

Screenplay by Emerald Fennell

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Nothing in Cassie’s life is what it appears to be — she’s wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she’s living a secret double life by night. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give Cassie a chance to right the wrongs from the past.

Judas and the Black Messiah

Nominated

Screenplay by Will Berson and Shaka King

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Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O’Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton.

Minari

Nominated

Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King

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A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of this new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.

Sound of Metal

Nominated

Screenplay by Darius Marder and Abraham Marder

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A heavy-metal drummer’s life is thrown into freefall when he begins to lose his hearing.

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Nominated

Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

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The film is based on the infamous 1969 trial of seven defendants charged by the federal government with conspiracy and more, arising from the countercultural protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The trial transfixed the nation and sparked a conversation about mayhem intended to undermine the U.S. government.

Itching to read and download more screenplays? Check out the TSL Screenplay Library for hundreds of award-winning titles.


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