The little guy all this is about.
The 97th Academy Awards came around to celebrate the slew of movies, ranging from difficult watches to astounding future classics, that were produced in the last year. Even though the Oscars is traditionally a celebration that holds itself to a certain standard each year, some aspects of the 2025 edition stick out from the expectations. Nevertheless, between obvious robberies and well-deserved titles, the most prestigious award show in the industry incited the same excitement as ever, as well as life-changing recognition for some very talented individuals.
Unlike the Academy Awards of years passed, the 2025 nominees were not filled to the brim with long-established A-listers. The biggest names in all four Best Actor categories were Edward Norton, Demi Moore, Kiernan Culkin, and Timothée Chalamet. Out of these five stars only Culkin took home the title for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role as Benji in the drama-comedy A Real Life. The rest of these actors were beat out by underdogs in each of their respective categories. Adrian Brody won Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Brutalist, beating out the highly adored Timothée Chalamet, who gave Brody quite the run for his money with his insanely accurate performance of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Zoe Saldaña was awarded Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Rita Mora Castro in Emilia Pérez, a category that included Glinda, AKA Ariana Grande, from the groundbreaking screen adaptation of the musical Wicked, as well as actresses from A Complete Unknown, The Brutalist, and Conclave.
As for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the award was granted to the highly deserving Mikey Madison who starred as Anora in the self-titled film. Anora had quite the night (as she typically does), rounding up five accolades in total, including Best Picture, Directing, Film Editing, and Writing (Original Screenplay). In every category this film won, it beat out spectacular competitors, but few can argue that the praise for Anora is undeserved. Everything about the movie is spectacular, especially the fluidity and authenticity of the actors’ performances. The way in which Mikey Madison portrays Anora is not only a reflection of the incredible directing and writing of the film, but also Madison’s creativity and versatility as an actress. Her performance is just as ingenious as the film itself, slightly more deserving of Best Leading Actress than Demi Moore in The Substance, a fantastic movie in which Moore gave a haunting yet magnificent performance, but also arguably shared the leading role with actress Margaret Qualley. Still, between phenomenal acting and the classy way it manages to incorporate gruesome gore, The Substance will go down in history as one of the most unbearably wonderful and mockingly intelligent horror films of all time. Quite fittingly, it won Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Dune: Part Two won in Sound and Visual Effects, quite fitting for the sci-fi sequel starring Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet, making it, Wicked, and The Brutalist runner ups to Anora as the most decorated films of the night. Wicked, beloved Wicked, won in Costume Design and Production Design, and The Brutalist for Leading Actor, Cinematography, and Music (Original Score). As for other categories, Flow won Animated Feature Film, beating Inside Out 2, a much more recognizable nominee, but, frankly, not such a winner. Best Original Song went to “El Mal” from Emilia Pérez, which was somehow beat by a much less famous movie, I’m Still Here, for International Feature Film. Emilia Pérez was also nominated in Writing (Adapted Screenplay) alongside A Complete Unknown, but both were overtaken by the mysterious thriller Conclave.
The winner for Live Action Short Film was I’m Not a Robot, for Documentary Short Film was The Only Girl in the Orchestra, for Documentary Feature Film was No Other Land, and for Animated Short Film was In the Shadow of the Cypress. One can practically hear, but not necessarily understand, the rage of real film bros at the results of these practically obsolete categories.
It goes without saying that all the recipients and non-recipients at the 2025 Oscars will get on just fine whether they earned the ultimate recognition or not. After all, to even be considered as a nominee at what is objectively the grandest award show in cinema is an honor that warrants no further complaints. However, no competition is ever free of injustices. In the case of this year’s Academy Awards, the most potent crime has to be the victimizing of Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu. The 2024 adaptation of the 1922 silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, is inspired by the Transylvanian legends of Count Orlock and Dracula. Although many, if not all, vampire stories are derived from these same tales, Nosferatu is done with finer taste, nuance, and corruption than ever before. The film stars Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen, Count Orlock’s obsession and the accidental culprit of the terror that befalls her, her husband, and their inner circle. Her performance impeccably encapsulates the regrets and desires that concocted such a complex character. Her co-stars, Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, and William Dafoe, were just as astonishing. Nosferatu is gothic, vulgar, startling, and equally as delightful and aesthetically pleasing; everything one could ask for in a horror film. Unfortunately, despite all of this, the film did not rack in anything more than a few nominations at last Sunday’s Academy Awards. Nominated for Production Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, Costume Design, and Cinematography, Nosferatu criminally lost all four, most painfully to The Brutalist in the Cinematography category. Although The Brutalist deserves the endearing recognition it got at the ceremony, one trophy could and should have been spared for the true 2025 Cinematography MVP: Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu.
One last delightful abnormality from the 2025 Oscars might just be the slightly finer quality in films that have been produced in the last calendar year. Despite what people are willing to admit, there was quite the slump in the production of entertainment for reasons both certain and uncertain but either way impactful. The movie theaters, for a few good years, only contained new, feigned Marvel or Minions establishments. Numb, quarantined minds lacked new ideas. These minds regenerated and by 2024, reemerged and shocked us all. This year’s Academy Awards are reflective of the mind-boggling, mind-numbing, mind-blowing cinematic works of art that were gifted to the world out of pure creative generosity. The simple fact that the average American teenager can recognize this is corroboration that any such acknowledgment is an honor that warrants no further complaints.