Oscars 2025: These Ten Films Are Nominated for Best Picture

The winner of the Oscar for Best Picture last year, "Oppenheimer" by Christopher Nolan, was generally considered the favorite. However, neither strategists, experts, nor other industry insiders had any idea which film would emerge as the favorite in the main category in the current awards season. The US trade magazine "Variety" called it "the year without a frontrunner."

Oscars 2025: "Anora" from Underdog to Top Dog

And then there was "Anora," a candid and stylish exploration of the life of a sex worker from Brooklyn who falls in love with a pampered oligarch's son from Russia. Sean Baker's ("The Florida Project") tragicomedy won the Palme d'Or in Cannes in May 2024 (the first US film to achieve this in over a decade), but since its world premiere, it hadn't seen much success outside of critic circles. There was also controversy. The 25-year-old lead actress Mikey Madison had rejected an intimacy coordinator for her role as a stripper and prostitute, which in the eyes of some critics broke this new, important rule in Hollywood. At the Golden Globes, Baker's film was left out. But apparently, the current favorite had simply been hiding in plain sight. "Anora" won both the directing and producing awards of its country, as well as the Best Picture award at the Critics Choice Awards. It is extremely rare for a film to celebrate this triple victory and then not take home the main prize at the Oscars.

"The Brutalist" and "Emilia Pérez" as Uncertain Contenders at the Oscars 2025

The former industry darlings, the immigrant drama "The Brutalist" and the narco-musical "Emilia Pérez" have received a lot of negative press in recent months. The former is a three-and-a-half-hour emigration epic starring Oscar winner Adrien Brody ("The Pianist") as a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who flees to the USA, only to witness his American dream being trampled. The theme would traditionally appeal to the Academy, but Brady Corbet's ten-time nominated drama came under criticism for its use of artificial intelligence to optimize the Hungarian of the actors, and AI is a buzzword that frightens many in the industry.

AI was also used to enhance Karla Sofía Gascón's singing voice in "Emilia Pérez." However, this is the least of the problems for Jacques Audiard's musical about the transformation of a Mexican drug lord into a "Baroness." Never before has a non-English language film garnered 13 Oscar nominations - including one for Gascón, the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for an Oscar. But her chances of winning have evaporated due to her past Islamophobic and racist tweets, and with them probably the chance for the main prize. Additionally, there are still members in the Academy who harbor resentments towards Netflix. It would be the first win for the streamer, which is behind the production, in the top category.

Oscars 2025: "Conclave" and "The Substance" Nominated for Best Picture

Michael Schulman from the US magazine "New Yorker" called the Oscar race "as chaotic as 'Conclave'". The drama by Edward Berger, nominated eight times, revolves around the election of the next pope and highlights the dirty intrigues of the cardinals vying for the Holy See. As in the film, this year's Oscar race threatens to be derailed by a series of smaller scandals, knocking one contender for Best Picture after another off course, "leading to one of the most chaotic campaign seasons in recent history," writes Schulman. Berger's political thriller with Ralph Fiennes would be the solid, safe, and politically clean choice this year. It would also be a redemption for the Austrian-Swiss director of "All Quiet on the Western Front," who lost to "Everything Everywhere All at Once" in 2023. However, he is not nominated for Best Director this year, which diminishes his chances.

Among the ten nominees this year, there is only one film directed by a woman. This is "The Substance" by French director Coralie Fargeat ("Revenge"), which marked Demi Moore's comeback. The actress is likely to take home the golden statue for her performance, but in the main category, it is unlikely that the five-time nominated horror body-shocker will win. The Academy is usually not well-disposed towards the genre. Since "The Silence of the Lambs," no horror film has won the Oscar for Best Picture.

"Wicked" and "Dune 2" Likely Without a Chance for Best Picture Oscars

One of the biggest surprises was the three nominations for the Brazilian drama "Forever Here" featuring Golden Globe-winning Fernanda Torres (also nominated). Walter Salles' ("Central Station") film about a family standing up against a military dictatorship is unlikely to win, but now that "Emilia Pérez" has fallen out of favor, it has very good chances in the Best International Film category.

Since "Dune: Part Two" did not receive nominations (a total of five) in other major categories, Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi franchise will likely have to wait until its return to Arrakis to be competitive, should the Academy decide to honor the entire trilogy. The same goes for Jon M. Chu's fantasy musical "Wicked," a ten-time nominated box office hit, which might have better chances for the crown when the sequel "Wicked: For Good" is released later this year. But again, nothing is set in stone - should the Academy opt for the "Popular Vote".

And although music biopics are among the favorite subgenres of Oscar voters, they usually do not win the golden statue for Best Picture. The last one to achieve this 40 years ago was "Amadeus" by Miloš Forman. Accordingly, the chances for James Mangold's eight-time nominated Bob Dylan film "Like A Complete Unknown" in this discipline are slim. "Nickel Boys" seems like an outsider this year with two nominations, which says nothing about the quality of the film directed by RaMell Ross. The drama traces the path of a black teenager in the 1960s who is unjustly sent to a reform school marked by violence and abuse. There is no domestic cinema release yet.

(APA/Red)

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