Honestly, looking at the Academy Awards nominations 2025, you can tell the voters were in a weird mood this year. It wasn't just about the blockbusters. We’re seeing a massive collision between the "Barbenheimer" hangover of last year and a new crop of indie darlings that somehow clawed their way into the mainstream. If you’ve been following the festival circuit from Cannes to Telluride, some of these names won't surprise you, but the snubs? Those are going to sting for a while.
The Academy has a reputation for being predictable, yet the Academy Awards nominations 2025 proved that theory wrong in several key categories.
People expected the usual suspects. They expected the big-budget epics to sweep every technical category. Instead, we got a list that feels surprisingly human, focusing on gritty performances and scripts that actually have something to say about the world we're living in right now. It’s a mix of veteran legends finally getting their "overdue" flowers and newcomers who basically came out of nowhere to disrupt the race.
The Best Picture Chaos and Why It Matters
When the Academy Awards nominations 2025 were finally read out, the Best Picture category looked like a battlefield. We have a decade-high level of variety here. You’ve got the sweeping historical dramas that the Academy usually drools over, sitting right next to experimental international features that, ten years ago, wouldn't have stood a chance.
Sean Baker’s Anora is a perfect example of this shift. It’s loud, it’s chaotic, and it’s deeply empathetic. It managed to secure its spot because it captures a specific kind of American desperation that voters couldn't ignore. Then you have Emilia Pérez, which is... well, it’s a singing, dancing crime drama. It shouldn't work. On paper, it sounds like a disaster. But the Academy fell for it, and honestly, can you blame them? It’s bold.
But let’s talk about Gladiator II. Ridley Scott is a powerhouse, and while the movie had the scale, there was a lot of chatter about whether a sequel could really command Best Picture respect. It did. It’s a testament to the fact that the Academy still loves a "big" movie, provided the craftsmanship is undeniable. The technical execution in that film is basically a masterclass in how to spend a few hundred million dollars without wasting a cent.
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The snub of the year has to be Dune: Part Two in some of the major "above the line" categories. While it showed up in the technical spots—obviously—the lack of a Best Director nod for Denis Villeneuve felt like a targeted strike to some fans. It’s one of those situations where a film is almost "too successful" or "too sci-fi" for certain pockets of the voting bloc.
Acting Races That Are Actually Competitive This Year
The Best Actress race is a total bloodbath. If you haven't seen Mikey Madison in Anora, you're missing out on the performance of the year. She’s raw. She’s kinetic. She carries that entire movie on her back. But she’s up against titans. We’re talking about veteran performers who have been campaigning since the summer.
Then there’s the Best Actor category. Colman Domingo has been a force of nature lately, and his work in Sing Sing is the kind of quiet, transformative acting that usually wins Oscars. It’s not flashy. It’s not about prosthetics or "most acting." It’s about soul.
- Ralph Fiennes in Conclave: He plays the internal struggle so well you can almost see his thoughts. It’s a "quiet" performance that speaks volumes.
- Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown: The transformation is there, but did he do enough to move past the "biopic" trope? The Academy says yes.
- Adrien Brody in The Brutalist: A long, sprawling epic that requires a performance of massive scale. He delivered.
Supporting categories are usually where the real fun happens because that's where the "character actors" get to shine. Kieran Culkin’s jump from TV royalty to Oscar nominee in A Real Pain is one of the most satisfying arcs of the season. He brings that same neurotic energy we loved in Succession but grounds it in something much more vulnerable.
Direction, Craft, and the Technical Juggernauts
Directing isn't just about telling people where to stand; it’s about vision. The Academy Awards nominations 2025 for Best Director highlight a group of filmmakers who are obsessed with the "how" as much as the "why."
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Brady Corbet’s inclusion for The Brutalist is a massive win for 70mm film and "big" cinema. It’s a three-and-a-half-hour movie. People don't usually have the attention span for that, but Corbet made it feel essential. He’s competing against icons, but the sheer ambition of that project made him impossible to ignore.
On the technical side, the Visual Effects and Sound categories are looking interesting. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes continues that franchise's streak of pushing motion capture to a point where you forget you’re looking at digital pixels. It’s seamless.
The "International" Film Label is Fading
We need to stop acting surprised when international films show up in the main categories. The Academy Awards nominations 2025 have further blurred the lines. We aren't just seeing "The International Feature" category; we are seeing world cinema dominate the Best Picture and Best Screenplay slots.
This is a good thing. It means the voting body—which has become significantly more international in the last five years—is actually watching the screeners. They aren't just voting for what’s on the billboards in Los Angeles. This diversity of thought is making the Oscars feel relevant again, even if the TV ratings haven't quite caught up to the 1990s peaks.
What People Get Wrong About the Nominations
There is this huge misconception that the Oscars are just a "popularity contest" or a "marketing award." While money helps—and trust me, the studios spend millions on those "For Your Consideration" billboards—it isn’t everything. If it were, every Marvel movie would be nominated for Best Picture.
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The Academy Awards nominations 2025 show that the "middle-brow" movie is making a comeback. These are films that aren't tiny $500k indies, but they aren't $200 million sequels either. They are the $20-40 million dramas that actually require people to go to a theater and sit in the dark for two hours.
Another thing? The "snub" narrative is often overblown. Sometimes, a movie just doesn't resonate with 10,000 specific people in the industry. It’s not always a conspiracy. It’s just a vibe check.
How to Win Your Oscar Pool Based on These Nods
If you're trying to actually win your office pool or just look smart at a watch party, you have to look at the precursors. The SAG Awards and the BAFTAs usually tell us who the industry actually likes, versus who the critics like.
- Watch the "Below the Line" categories: Movies that get Editing and Screenplay nods are much more likely to win Best Picture. If a movie is only nominated for acting, it’s probably not going to take the top prize.
- Follow the Screenplay: Historically, the Best Picture winner almost always has a Screenplay nomination. This year, pay close attention to the Adapted Screenplay category—it's stacked.
- The "Late Breaker" Strategy: Sometimes a movie that comes out in December (like A Complete Unknown) gains a massive amount of momentum right at the end. Don't discount the recency bias of the voters.
The Academy Awards nominations 2025 reflect a film industry in transition. We are moving away from the era of "superhero fatigue" and back into an era where the director’s voice actually matters. Whether you love the list or hate it, you can't deny that the films nominated this year are provocative. They’re making people talk. And in a world of endless streaming content, that’s a win for cinema.
Practical Next Steps for Film Fans:
- Track the Winners: Keep a close eye on the Producers Guild of America (PGA) awards. They use the same preferential balloting system as the Oscars for Best Picture, making them the most accurate predictor of the big winner.
- Prioritize the Shorts: Most people lose their Oscar pools because they guess on the Live Action, Animated, and Documentary Short categories. Many of these are available on YouTube or Vimeo right now—watch them early.
- Support Local: Check your local independent theater for "Oscar Nominee Marathons." Seeing these films on a big screen is a completely different experience than watching a screener on a laptop.