Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang announced the nominations for the 97th Academy Award ceremony on Jan. 23, and, like always, there were many surprises and snubs in the different categories. “Emilia Pérez” leads the 2025 Oscars Nominations, receiving 13 nods, with “The Brutalist” and “Wicked” falling closely behind, each securing 10 nominations. Surprisingly, the critically acclaimed “Challengers” was not nominated at all, sparking outrage on social media.
There are 10 films nominated for the most highly anticipated award of the night: Best Picture. The list includes “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Emilia Pérez,” “I’m Still Here,” “Nickel Boys,” “The Substance” and “Wicked.” The two Golden Globes Best Picture winners — “The Brutalist” (Drama) and “Emilia Pérez” (Musical or Comedy) — are both also nominated for the Academy Award and are each considered the two leading films to win, with “The Brutalist” as the frontrunner.
Both films have landed themselves in hot water the past few weeks with different scandals. “Emilia Pérez,” a musical about a Mexican cartel boss who wants to transition into a woman, has received much backlash due to the writer-director Jacques Audiard’s offensive comments. The French filmmaker has called the Spanish language one “of modest countries, developing countries, of poor people and migrants.” The film’s scandals do not end there, as actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who plays the titular character, recently had a multitude of tweets resurface stating disparaging comments about Muslim people, George Floyd and diversity at the Academy Awards.
“The Brutalist” — a historical drama film about a Hungarian-Jewish architect’s emigration to the United States after surviving the Holocaust — has also stirred up controversy after the film’s editor revealed generative Artificial Intelligence was used to perfect the Hungarian language pronunciation of Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones. Both films’ scandals have the possibility of hurting their race for Best Picture as well as for other awards, although the “Emilia Pérez” scandals have a higher likelihood of damaging the film’s race than the “The Brutalist” controversy.
Five actors are nominated for Best Actor: Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”), Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”), Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”) and Sebastian Stan (“The Apprentice”). Although all of the actors had stellar performances, Brody appears to lead the race, with Chalamet as a close second. Many are shocked to see Stan nominated for his portrayal of President Donald Trump in “The Apprentice,” as most of this season’s award shows have opted to nominate his performance in “A Different Man” instead. As for Best Supporting Actor, Kieran Culkin appears to be on track to win for “A Real Pain” after winning the Golden Globe. In the past seven years, only once has the winner of Best Supporting Actor differed between the Oscars and Golden Globes, but there is always a chance for Edward Norton (“A Complete Unknown”) or Yuri Borisov (“Anora”) to win.
The Best Actress race also has a strong lineup. For the first time since 1978, the five nominees all come from movies also nominated for Best Picture. The actresses are Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”), Gascón (“Emilia Pérez”), Mikey Madison (“Anora”), Demi Moore (“The Substance”) and Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”). Each woman has a strong shot to win, but Madison and Moore are the two standouts in this category. Meanwhile, The Academy snubbed Moore’s costar, Margaret Qualley, as she did not receive a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The award was set to go to Zoe Saldaña for “Emilia Pérez,” however, due to the bad press surrounding the film, her position as a frontrunner is no longer secure, and Ariana Grande could take home the win for “Wicked.”
For Best Director, the frontrunner is Brady Corbet for “The Brutalist” — who also took home the directing award for the Golden Globes. Sean Baker has been in talks to win for his work on “Anora,” but the award will most likely go to Corbet. The Academy completely snubbed director Denis Villeneuve, who deserved at least a nomination for “Dune: Part Two.”
“Anora” leads the pack for Best Original Screenplay — the Oscar recognizing the screenwriter(s)’s ability to craft exceptional dialogue, structure and storyline. As for Best Adapted Screenplay, “Conclave” appears to be the favorite of the five nominees, yet all of the films have a chance to win the prestigious writing award.
The results of the 2025 Oscars will no doubt be interesting, as most categories do not have a locked winner, and the recent scandals may sway voters against certain films and actors. Despite clear frontrunners in some categories, nothing is certain, and there are bound to be some surprises and twists throughout the night. Conan O’Brien is hosting the 97th Academy Awards on March 2, live on ABC.
