Here are two recent drops that can boast of Oscar-worthy actresses in spades. In one film, we have four-time nominee Annette Bening and two-time winner Jodie Foster; while the other film has winners Maggie Smith and Kathy Bates, plus nominee Laura Linney.

Nyad (Netflix USA) It’s Oscar-nomination baiting time when films like Nyad hit the most popular streaming service. Starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, the film is based on the self-penned book of Diana Nyad and involves directors known more for sports documentary dramas. At its most basic, it’s about the quest of Nyad to complete the Havana to Florida swim in open seas, one that she unsuccessfully attempted at the age of 28, and now, at the age of 60, decides it’s the one thing in life she has to go back to and fulfill. We’re repeatedly told about how the swim involves shedding off twenty pounds and that there’s the danger of Portuguese man of wars, jellyfish, sting rays, and sharks - and that’s not mentioning exposure and exhaustion.

Bening portrays Diana Nyad and goes all out in the role, squinting like Clint Eastwood to show steely determination. Foster is Bonnie, the coach and ex-lover of Nyad, and while she has less to do in the film, she could also be in the running for a Best Supporting Actress nod. Rhys Ifans joins the cast as the ship’s captain and navigator, who’s instrumental in keeping pace with Nyad and ensuring the swim gets certified. We’re talking 100 miles of continuous swimming for 60 hours, and she can’t stop or touch the boat, disqualifying the attempt. The steps taken to make the swim even viable, the failed attempts, and having to find sponsors to fund the swim all figure in the film’s narrative, and it does help in keeping us invested, as we all know what the final scenes will consist of. Gripping drama!

The Miracle Club (Amazon Prime - Ireland) Here’s another film that, if based on cast alone, we would also consider as Oscar bait. Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, and Laura Linney are the three major names who make up the cast of this Irish old-school drama about friendship over decades, secrets kept and broken, the Irish brand of Catholicism, and our faith in miracles - as represented in this film by the visits to our Lady of Lourdes in France. The premise concerns three fast friends and how this friendship is tested and evolves over decades. Set in mid-1960s Ireland, there’s a distinct aura of nostalgia maintained throughout, and I can imagine how wonderful this would be for Irish-Americans watching this.

All the main characters have personal reasons for wishing for miracles and investing time and money to head to Lourdes with the local priest leading the party. One is still pining for her son, who died decades ago; one just discovered a lump in her breast, and another has a son who still won’t speak, and they’re all praying that something miraculous would happen. Chrissie (Linney) is the daughter of an old friend and returns from the United States, insisting on joining them to Lourdes. Her back story, why she had to leave, forms one major narrative strand, with much being said about shame, retribution, and exile. Substantial things are being discussed and said, but they don’t really catch fire as they should, and I end the film feeling short-changed.