The Irishman, Marriage Story, and The Two Popes are among the most critically acclaimed films of 2019 but don’t look for them on home video any time soon.

These three films, all of which have figured heavily into year-end awards consideration, were given limited theatrical showings in major cities and then mass released on the Netflix streaming service. The only place to find them now is on Netflix, which has thus far not released any of the films it owns exclusive rights to on home video. That will change in February when the Criterion Collection releases Netflix’s big 2018 awards champion, Roma, on Blu-ray and standard DVD. Whether these three new films will eventually be released on home video remains to be seen.

Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is a 3-and-a-half hour gangster epic based on Charles Brandt’s 2004 book, “I Heard You Paint Houses,” about real-life mobster Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) who, as he was approaching death at the age of 83 in 2003, alleged to have been the hit man who killed Teamsters Union boss Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) in 1975, as well as numerous other men in his younger days. The film chronicles Sheeran’s association with Hoffa and crime boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and many other mobsters.

The film’s special effects include a de-aging process that allows DeNiro and Pesci, who are both 76, and Pacino who is 79, to appear much younger throughout most of the film. Indeed, Hoffa was just 69 when he disappeared.

The film may be lengthy, but never boring. It is, however, a bit of a chore to sit through it all at once, so home viewing in this case has a benefit over being figuratively glued to your seat in a theatre.

Also featured are Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, and various other players, but it’s DeNiro, Pacino, and Pesci who have been the recipients of most of the praise for the film along with Scorsese’s direction and Stephen Zallian’s screenplay.

If you’re unable to see The Irishman, but want to indulge yourself in a gangster epic or two, you might want to watch or re-watch Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Trilogy with De Niro and Pacino, Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America with De Niro and Pesci, or Scorsese’s own GoodFellas, again with DeNiro and Pesci, all of which compare favorably.

Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story might more aptly be called “Divorce Story” as it’s about the dissolution of a marriage based on Baumbach’s own divorce from actress Jennifer Jason Leigh (Dolores Claiborne, The Hateful Eight).

The director and actress in the film, who are separated by career choices that find them on opposite sides of the country, are played by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, both of whom provide award-winning performances as does Laura Dern as Johansson’s nasty money-grubbing attorney. Alan Alda and Ray Liotta as Driver’s equally money-grubbing attorneys also supply strong performances. The writer-director of such acclaimed films as The Squid and the Whale and Frances Ha may have done his best work here.

If you’re unable to see Marriage Story but are intrigued by the subject matter, you might want to watch or re-watch The Awful Truth or Starting Over, which tackle the subject from a comic angle, or Kramer vs. Kramer which takes a more somber approach.

Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes is an aptly titled account of the fictionalized meeting of Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins) and his soon-to-be successor Pope Francis (Jonathan Pryce) shortly before Benedict renounces the papacy, the first Pope to do so in 700 years.

The Brazilian director of such intense films as City of God and The Constant Gardener is working from a script by Anthony McCarten (Darkest Hour, Bohemian Rhapsody), which provides him with much lighter material than usual, but it is not a comedy despite the producers’ attempt at selling it as such. It is filled, though, with a lot of wit beginning with a pre-title incident in which the new Pope is trying to book a flight over the phone with a disbelieving clerk who hangs up on him.

Pryce (Evita, The Wife) and Hopkins (Howards End, The Remains of the Day) are brilliantly paired with both turning in flawless awards-noted performances. The emphasis of the film is on Pope Francis as portrayed by both Juan Minujan as a young priest and Pryce as a Cardinal before he becomes Pope, thus allowing the producers to campaign Pryce for Best Actor with slightly more screen time than Hopkins who is being campaigned for Best Supporting Actor.

If you’re unable to see The Two Popes, but want to see a film about the life of a Catholic Pope or Cardinal, you may want to watch or re-watch Peter Glenville’s 1955 film The Prisoner with Alec Guinness as a Cardinal imprisoned by the Communists on false charges based on the real-life imprisonment of Hungary’s Cardinal Mindszenty. If that one’s too tough for you, you may want to watch Tom Tyron as the fictional American priest elevated to bishop and then Cardinal in Otto Preminger’s 1963 film The Cardinal as he grapples with world events or Anthony Quinn as the Ukrainian Cardinal who becomes the first non-Italian Pope in centuries ten years before the real-life Pope John Paul in Michael Anderson’s 1968 filmThe Shoes of the Fisherman.

Going in a different direction than quick theatrical release to streaming, Michel Engler’s 2019 film Downton Abbey, newly released on Blu-ray and DVD, is a continuation of the beloved 2010-2015 British TV series that fans have been clamoring for. They didn’t care whether it would come in a renewal of the series, a one-time TV movie or a theatrical film. They got the latter and came out in droves to find out what happened to their favorite characters after the series ended.

Set around a 1927 visit to the titular estate by King George V and Queen Mary, the two-hour-and-five-minute film is gorgeous to look at but doesn’t have the breathing room to give all the characters their chance to shine. Coming off best are Allen Leech as the widowed son-in-law of the Crawleys, owners of the estate, and Robert Collier-James as their closeted gay butler, who have extended story lines. Maggie Smith has the lengthiest supporting role but there is nothing in her limited screen time that would give new viewers a clue as to why her portrayal of the Crawley dowager earned her five Emmy nominations and three wins during the show’s run. Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, and the rest of the cast have their moments, but they are just moments, hardly providing them with the opportunity to further develop their characters.

This week’s new releases include Judy and The Kill Team.