5 Oscar-Winning Musical Biopics to Watch if You Liked A Complete Unknown

The Oscar ceremony is getting closer, and Timothée Chalamet might be the one in there to steal the show becoming the youngest Academy award winner since he’s likely to do so thanks to his role of Bob Dylan in last year’s biopic A Complete Unknown.

The Academy isn’t a stranger to the genre though, having generously granted its statuettes to a bunch of musical movies over the last several years. Many of them have since become a classic, and this time A Complete Unknown serves not only as a strong contender for a collection of prestigious awards, but also as a masterfully made story that might have just evoked someone’s desire to rewatch those musical gems once again.

Rocketman (2019)

Dexter Fletcher’s musical drama about Elton John’s path towards fame and recognition proved its lead Taron Egerton ’s versatility as an actor, making him go straight from portraying Kingsman ’s Agent Galahad to actually singing John’s most famous lyrics on the screen.

Rocketman masterfully balances genres, not diving too deep into the singer’s personal struggles or his music career’s issues, and is just a good watch for both fans of Elton John and those who don’t really know that much about him.

The movie received just one nod from the Academy and eventually won a statuette for Best Original Song, “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” written by John specifically for the film.

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

The movie stars Rami Malek as Queen’s leader Freddie Mercury, whose role brought the actor a highly anticipated Oscar for Best Actor back in 2019, apart from other statuettes for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing that the movie received too.

Focusing on Mercury’s life and career during Queen’s first years on the scene and then prime, Bohemian Rhapsody stunned both critics and viewers with its recreation of the band’s performance at 1985 Live Aid which, just like the original event, was filmed at the Wembley Stadium.

A Star Is Born (2019)

Starring and directed by Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born came as yet another reimagined version of a famous Hollywood-ish story, though it so far seems to be the best one out of all. The movie also stars Lady Gaga whose live musical performances earned her several nominations, including the ones for Best Actress and Best Original Song.

She didn’t win in the first category though, but took home the statuette for her massive hit “Shallow” that remained in musical top charts long after A Star Is Born’s awards season story was over.

Walk The Line (2005)

Those who have already watched A Complete Unknown might become interested in the story of the movie’s background character, famous country singer Johnny Cash.

Walk The Line stars Joaquin Phoenix as the legendary songwriter alongside Reese Witherspoon whose portrayal of Cash’s wife June Carter brought her the Academy award for Best Actress. Unlike A Complete Unknown, Walk The Line offers a more profound view on Cash’s life, mostly focusing on his personal struggles.

Crazy Heart (2009)

Inspired by country singer Hank Thompson’s story, Crazy Heart follows Otis "Bad" Blake, a former country star whose career is slowly going down while his personal issues start getting bigger.

The movie stars Jeff Bridges in the lead role that eventually brought the actor his first and so far only Academy award for Best Actor, with the film also winning the statuette for Best Original Song.

By drawing a more personal portrayal of its character, Crazy Heart gets closer to what Walk The Line did before, with both movies not making it all about the music and thus, surprisingly, becoming some of the best films of their genre.