The dust has finally settled on the 97th Academy Awards, but honestly, the fallout from the oscar nominations 2025 is still stinging for a lot of people. Every year we say the Academy is changing. We talk about the "new" Hollywood and the diversifying voting block that supposedly values art over box office receipts. Then the list drops, and it’s a total chaotic mess of historical milestones and baffling snubs that leave you staring at your screen in disbelief.
If you followed the season at all, you knew Emilia Pérez was going to be huge. But 13 nominations? That is staggering. It puts Jacques Audiard’s musical crime drama in the same stratosphere as Titanic and La La Land. It’s a massive win for Netflix, sure, but it also sparked the first of many heated debates this year.
The Big Names Who Got the Cold Shoulder
Let’s talk about the snubs first because that’s what everyone is actually texting their friends about. Denzel Washington. Just let that sink in. His performance in Gladiator II was the kind of scenery-chewing, charismatic villainy that usually has "Oscar Winner" written all over it. Instead? Nothing. The Academy completely looked past him.
Then there’s the Daniel Craig situation. People were convinced his work in Queer would finally land him that elusive lead actor statue. He didn't even get a nomination. Neither did the movie. It’s like the Academy saw the Luca Guadagnino film and just collectively decided to look the other way. Same goes for Challengers. How does a movie with that much cultural heat and a Golden Globe-winning score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross end up with zero nominations? It’s kind of insulting, honestly.
- Angelina Jolie (Maria): Missed out on Best Actress.
- Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez): Shut out of Supporting Actress despite her co-stars making it.
- Nicole Kidman (Babygirl): No love for the Venice winner.
- Paul Mescal (Gladiator II): Another high-profile actor left in the dust.
It wasn't just the actors, either. Ridley Scott being left out of the Best Director race for a massive sequel like Gladiator II felt like a pointed statement. The Academy preferred the indie grit of Sean Baker’s Anora and the sweeping, 3.5-hour technical mastery of Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist.
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Breaking Records and Making History
Despite the weird omissions, the oscar nominations 2025 gave us some genuinely beautiful moments of progress. Karla Sofía Gascón made history as the first openly transgender performer ever nominated for an Oscar. She’s in the Best Actress category for Emilia Pérez, and it’s a nod that feels earned, not tokenistic. The film itself is a wild swing—a Spanish-language musical about a cartel boss—and the Academy clearly fell in love with it.
We also saw Fernanda Torres land a Best Actress nomination for the Brazilian film I'm Still Here. This is one of those cool full-circle stories because her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, was nominated in the same category over 25 years ago for Central Station. It’s rare to see that kind of legacy play out on the global stage.
The Best Picture Heavyweights
The list for Best Picture this year is an odd mix of blockbusters and high-concept indies. You’ve got the massive scale of Dune: Part Two and the neon-soaked energy of Wicked (which surprised everyone with 10 nominations) sitting right next to The Substance.
Yes, The Substance.
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A body-horror movie about aging and celebrity made it into the Best Picture race. Demi Moore finally got her flowers with a Best Actress nod, which feels like a "long overdue" moment for an industry icon. It's only the eighth horror movie in history to be nominated for the top prize. That’s a big deal.
What Most People Are Missing About the 2025 Race
There is a lot of talk about "category fraud" this year. It’s a term film nerds love to throw around when a lead actor pretends to be a supporting actor just to have an easier path to a trophy. Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain is the prime example. He’s essentially a co-lead with Jesse Eisenberg, yet he’s campaigned—and was nominated—in the Supporting Actor category.
Same goes for Zoe Saldaña. She’s the engine that drives Emilia Pérez, but she’s sitting in Supporting while Gascón takes the Lead slot. It works for the studios, but it leaves "true" supporting actors like Wicked’s Jonathan Bailey on the outside looking in.
- The Musical Dominance: Between Wicked and Emilia Pérez, the "death of the musical" has been greatly exaggerated.
- The International Shift: Two films (Emilia Pérez and I'm Still Here) were nominated for both Best Picture and Best International Feature. This almost never happens.
- The "Little" Movie That Could: Flow, a silent animated film from Latvia about a cat, managed to beat out Disney’s Moana 2 for a spot in the Animated Feature category.
Moving Toward the Winners Circle
If you're looking at the oscar nominations 2025 and wondering who is going to actually take home the gold, the momentum is weirdly split. Anora and The Brutalist are the critical darlings, but Emilia Pérez has the numbers.
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Usually, the movie with the most nominations wins Best Picture, but the Academy has been unpredictable lately. They might give Best Director to Brady Corbet for the sheer ambition of The Brutalist while handing Best Picture to Anora for its heart.
The acting races are even tighter. Adrien Brody is the frontrunner for Best Actor, but Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan transformation in A Complete Unknown is exactly the kind of "biopic bait" the Academy usually eats up. And in the Actress category? It’s basically a toss-up between Mikey Madison’s breakout turn in Anora and Demi Moore’s career-best work in The Substance.
How to Catch Up Before the Ceremony
If you want to be the person who actually knows what they're talking about at your Oscar party, you need to prioritize your viewing list. Don't just watch the big ones.
- Watch The Substance on Mubi: It’s polarizing, but you need to see why Demi Moore is the talk of the town.
- Stream Sing Sing on A24's app or VOD: Colman Domingo is incredible in this, and it’s a much quieter, more human film than the flashy musicals.
- Find a screening of The Brutalist: It’s long. It has an intermission. But the cinematography is meant for a big screen.
- Check out Flow: It’s a reminder that animation doesn't need a $200 million budget to be moving.
The 2025 race is basically a battle between the old guard's love for epics and the new guard's craving for something bold and slightly "gross" or "weird." Whether you’re Team Denzel or Team Demi, the nominations proved that the Academy is at least willing to be adventurous, even if they still make some pretty questionable calls along the way.