The 2025 award season is in full swing, with the Golden Globes, Grammys, and many other award shows already having happened. One of the most anticipated shows, the Oscars, will premiere on Mar. 2, Nominations came out on Jan. 23, they were presented by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott, and full of some incredible names.
There are ten films nominated for Best Picture: Emilia Pérez, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Nickel Boys, I’m Still Here, The Substance, Dune: Part Two, Wicked, Anora, and The Brutalist. The Academy seems to have a lot of love for Emilia Pérez as it has 13 nominations, but Wicked, The Brutalist, and Conclave are also considered front-runners by many.
The nominations for Best Actor are Ralph Fiennes (Conclave, 3rd nomination), Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice, 1st nomination), Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown, 2nd nomination), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, 2nd nomination), and Adrian Brody (The Brutalist, 2nd nomination). The two front-runners for this category are Timothée Chalamet and Adrian Brody.
For Best Actress the nominees are Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here, 1st nomination), Demi Moore (The Substance, 1st nomination), Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez, 1st nomination), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked, 3rd nomination), and Mikey Madison (Anora, 1st nomination). The race seems to be between Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres, with Moore having a slight lead.
The Best Director nominations include Coralie Fargeat (The Substance), James Mangold (A Complete Unknown), Sean Baker (Anora), Jaques Audiard (Emilia Pérez), and Brady Cobert (The Brutalist). Notably missing is Jon Chu for Wicked, but many people believe that he will be nominated for Wicked: For Good next year. Brady Cobert is favored by many to win, with James Mangold falling close behind.
In the Best Supporting Actress category are Zoe Saldana (Emilia Pérez, 1st nomination), Felicity Jones (The Brutalist, 2nd nomination), Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown, 1st nomination), Ariana Grande (Wicked, 1st nomination), and Isabella Rosselini (Conclave, 1st nomination). Zoe Saldana is favored to win, but it is considered such a close race that no one is really sure.
For Best Supporting Actor the nominees are Guy Pearce (The Brutalist, 1st nomination), Yuriy Borisov (Anora, 1st nomination), Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown, 4th nomination), Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain, 1st nomination), and Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice, 1st nomination). This race seems to be between Keiran Culkin and Edward Norton.
2024 was a stacked year for movies and many incredible films were nominated for the Academy Awards, though these nominations weren’t without scrutiny. Many people were upset about the lack of nominations for Challengers, which was very popular during the beginning of the year and had glowing reviews in many categories such as Best Original Score and Best Leading Actress for Zendaya. The public was also upset about the numerous nominations for Emilia Pérez, due to the controversy with the making of the movie, the use of AI for both acting and vocal editing, and the general foul taste the movie left in many viewers’ mouths.
This year’s Oscars are bound to be very entertaining and interesting, even with the lack of live performances at the show. There are many incredible films nominated and it will be a riveting race to see who comes out on top.
