Are you a film addict and are looking regularly for recommendations on which one to watch? Sometimes, you want something easy, like a comedy or video games based movie, and other times you're in the mood for a drama. How about some that have swept through awards ceremonies? Stay with us, and read about our picks that are both captivating and emotional. Here's our list of top ten list of Oscar-winning movies that will move you deeply.

10. "The Silence of the Lambs"

"The Silence of the Lambs" is, in essence, a psychological drama, inspired by Thomas Harris' novel of the same name. The story follows Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a young FBI trainee who pursues a serial killer, "Buffalo Bill," that skins his female victims. 

However, she must ask imprisoned Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a former psychiatrist and cannibalistic murderer, for advice on how to catch him. Clarice is in a male-dominated world and is the FBI's choice for this task because of her vulnerability and innocence. Her caring nature will evoke sympathy, but Lecter's ability to understand her better than she can herself can be particularly disturbing.

9. "The Hurt Locker"

This is a realistic action movie that follows the events around soldiers who were in the midst of the war in Iraq in 2004. Specifically, it revolves around the bomb tech unit, whose job is to detonate and defuse rebel explosives. Kathryn Bigelow, who directed it, did a magnificent job showing us what goes on in the soldiers' minds during these stressful moments.

If you like watching a character whose bravery matches suicide, check out Jeremy Renner's performance. It will make you question everything you know about war. Can you get addicted to combat the way you would with a drug?

8. "Moonlight"

Barry Jenkins wrote and directed this drama, basing it on Tarell McCraney's unpublished play "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue." The movie follows Chiron, the main character, in three life stages - childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. In particular, this masterpiece investigates the difficulties a black man faces with self-identity and sexuality, including all sorts of abuse. 

"Moonlight" shows us just how toxic predisposed masculinity can be, as it reveals the various levels of hurt it causes. While watching the movie, you'll feel a range of emotions such as compassion, sadness, joy, and even anger. Another interesting fact about this motion picture is that it's the first one that includes an all-black cast.

7. "The Best Years of Our Lives"

This drama follows three American soldiers trying to adapt to home life after returning from World War II. This 1946 film won seven Oscars, including the ones for Best Picture and Best Actor. While it's been more than seventy years since its release, it still can touch people the same way that it did back then.

Of course, Hollywood had no shortage of war movies before this one came out, but they've dealt with themes of patriotism and heroics. However, "The Best Years of Our Lives" will unveil the ugly truth that veterans face upon returning home. It doesn't seem like this topic will ever become outdated, as there will always be soldiers coming back from war suffering emotional or physical trauma.

6. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

Director Milos Forman based this 1975 drama on "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" novel by Ken Kesey. It stars Jack Nicholson, who plays Randle McMurphy, a patient at the mental institution. After serving a couple of months in a prison farm on the charges of statutory rape, he's transferred there.

The audience who loved the film perceived it as a comedy talking about the revolt of the main character against the sister Rached, or the system. Nonetheless, this is actually about his defeat, as he seemingly accepts his fate in the mental institution. No matter how the story looks, it's not about mental illness but about enclosed people who want freedom.

5. "The Deer Hunter"

"The Deer Hunter" is a 1978 drama about three workers who become soldiers in Vietnam, starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage. Here, everything starts innocently, with a scene showing men in a steel-manufacturing plant as they end their shift for the day. After we've seen part of their lives, including wedding rituals representing their culture, the action moves quickly to Vietnam.

As the rebel forces capture three friends, they force them to play Russian roulette while they bid on who'll survive. Eventually, it's Mike (Robert De Niro) who finds the willpower to save himself and his friends. When he comes back home from the war, he's greeted as a hero, but you can see the distance he feels in his eyes. Essentially, this movie is about the agony that soldiers who fought in Vietnam faced when they returned home.

4. "Spotlight"

"Spotlight" is a biographical movie that follows the Boston Globe team's work investigating the systematic sexual abuse of children in the Boston area by the priests in the Catholic Church. It's based on a series of articles from this magazine that won them a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

The director, Tom McCarthy, didn't go for a cinematic feel, as he shows us realistically the groundwork that the journalist went through while investigating this massive cover-up. Here, you won't see the usual Hollywood embellishment, and this story deserved that, as it uncovered perhaps the largest child molestation in history. As one character in the movie said: "If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse them."

3. "Parasite"

The 2019 South Korean black comedy follows the life of poor family members who plan how to get employed by a wealthy household as unrelated and educated individuals. "Parasite" is also the first non-English film to win an Oscar for Best Picture and the first South Korean work nominated. It dives into themes of class conflict, social inequality, as well as capitalism and its effects.

Also, we have to mention the scenography that really helps set apart the Kim family from the glamorous life that Parks leads. So, fasten your seatbelts, as there won't be a single moment of peacefulness, with twists and turns happening all the time. Therefore, it's one of the best Asian movies ever.

2. "12 Years a Slave"

This movie adapts the 1853 slave journal "Twelve Years a Slave" by an African-American man, Solomon Northup, kidnapped and sold into slavery. Director Steve McQueen did a marvelous job presenting art that's elevating as well as educational. For some time before this film came out, people were tired of slave narratives in the cinema.

However, "12 Years a Slave" captivates you by showing the ugly truth that has been hidden for too long in American history. Even though it's brutal at times, you find it impossible to look away. Prepare yourselves, as this is a deeply disturbing experience. Yet, it's also the one you have to see, as it truly is an amazing work of art.

1. "Schindler's List"

Steven Spielberg directed this 1993 historical movie, as he took inspiration from "Schindler's Ark," a 1982 realistic novel. The story follows a manufacturer from Germany, Oskar Schindler, who managed to save more than a thousand Polish Jews in World War II, employing them in his factory. Most of the action happens in Kraków, where the Germans forced local Jews into the city's ghetto.

The fact of the matter is that Oskar is a flawed man and not at all your traditional hero. He loves to drink, gamble, enjoys women, and is an opportunist who uses war conditions for personal gain. So, how did this person decide to do such an honorable thing and save so many lives? Also, how much is someone's life worth? These are the questions that the director will leave up to you to answer after the movie.

So, what are your thoughts on our top ten movies that won an Oscar list? Have you watched them all, or you planned to do it? Tell us, do you have a favorite among them, and why? Let's chat about it in the comments.

Cover photo: Louis/Pexels