The 97th Academy Awards happened on 2 March 2025, at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre. The movie Anora emerged because the night’s greatest winner, securing 5 Oscars — together with Finest Image, Finest Director, Finest Authentic Screenplay, Finest Modifying and Finest Actress for Mikey Madison. The evening was crammed with memorable moments, but additionally sparked full of life debates and controversies over the winners. From Adrien Brody’s long-overdue win to Zoe Saldana’s triumph amid movie controversies alongside Kieran Culkin and Mikey Madison securing their first-ever Academy Awards, the 2025 Oscars proved to be an evening of surprises and discussions concerning the evolving nature of cinema. Right here is the listing of winners and the dialog (or controversies) surrounding their win.
Finest Actor in a Main Function
The Winner: Adrien Brody
The Dialog:
Heading into the Oscars, there was already debate over whether or not Timothée Chalamet would take house the award for his portrayal of a younger Bob Dylan in A Full Unknown. In recent times, the Academy has proven a robust affinity for historic biopics of pop-culture icons — assume Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody and Austin Butler as Elvis Presley in Elvis. This development has raised questions on whether or not younger, severe actors must embody one more legendary determine to earn recognition. But regardless of Chalamet’s SAG Awards win, Brody had already swept the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the Critics Selection Awards for his haunting portrayal of a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor in The Brutalist. His Oscars victory additional cements what many critics had predicted — that this was a long-overdue second for the actor, whose final vital run on the awards circuit was greater than twenty years in the past.
One potential impediment in Brody’s marketing campaign was The Brutalist’s controversial use of AI to refine the solid’s Hungarian accents. Whereas some critics raised moral issues, shops like The Hollywood Reporter dismissed it as a non-issue, likening it to plain sound-mixing strategies utilized in post-production. On a extra private be aware, Brody’s acceptance speech additionally turned a speaking level. Experiences surfaced of his informal demeanor — together with spitting out his chewing gum simply earlier than taking the stage — whereas others speculated concerning the Academy’s shifting sentiments towards him within the post-#MeToo period, given his previous relationship with Harvey Weinstein’s ex-wife. Whatever the chatter, Brody’s win serves as a reminder of his plain expertise, marking a triumphant return to Hollywood’s heart stage.
Finest Actor in a Supporting Function
The Winner: Kieran Culkin
The Dialog:
Heading into the Oscars, Kieran Culkin was the plain frontrunner for Finest Supporting Actor. With wins on the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, BAFTAs and Critics Selection Awards, there was little doubt that the Academy would comply with go well with. Not like different main classes that noticed heated debates, Culkin’s victory felt like a foregone conclusion. His efficiency because the offbeat, sharp-witted Benji Kaplan in A Actual Ache — Jesse Eisenberg’s Sundance darling — was broadly praised as a scene-stealing triumph. Critics lauded his skill to stability the movie’s introspective themes of grief and household with easy comedic timing, making him a standout within the awards dialog from the beginning.
A Actual Ache itself made a big impression at Sundance, with IndieWire reporting that it dominated journalist surveys throughout a number of classes — a feat not often seen in latest pageant historical past. Nonetheless, regardless of its essential acclaim, the movie solely secured two Oscar nominations: Finest Supporting Actor and Finest Authentic Screenplay. Many believed it was unfairly neglected for Finest Image. This win marks Culkin’s first Oscar nomination and victory, however his expertise has lengthy been recognised on the tv entrance, significantly together with his Emmy-winning efficiency in Succession. As soon as primarily referred to as Macaulay Culkin’s youthful brother, Kieran has now firmly established himself as a number one power within the dramedy style, with this award serving as a defining second in his profession. His Oscars triumph additionally performs right into a basic awards-season narrative — an overdue recognition of uncooked expertise in a deeply human, emotionally resonant movie. Whereas A Actual Ache could not have acquired the widespread nominations some anticipated, Culkin’s win ensures the movie’s legacy inside this 12 months’s awards cycle.
Finest Actress in a Main Function
The Winner: Mikey Madison
The Dialog:
This 12 months’s Finest Actress race was probably the most unpredictable, with momentum shifting repeatedly between Hollywood veteran Demi Moore (The Substance) and rising star Mikey Madison (Anora). In the beginning of awards season, Madison appeared to have the sting, driving excessive on Anora’s Palme d’Or win at Cannes. However because the marketing campaign heated up, Moore’s victories on the Golden Globes and SAG Awards reshaped the narrative, positioning her because the frontrunner heading into the Oscars. Moore’s efficiency as Elisabeth Sparkle — a fading movie star determined to keep up her youth — resonated deeply with critics and audiences alike. The Substance, — past its grotesque physique horror — served as a searing critique of Hollywood’s remedy of older actresses. A win for Moore would have been poetic: not solely had she delivered probably the most daring performances of her profession, however she was additionally having fun with a long-overdue comeback. Given the movie’s sturdy field workplace efficiency and awards circuit dominance, her victory appeared more and more inevitable.
That’s why Madison’s final win got here as each a shock and an announcement. Because the lead in Anora, she carried the movie with outstanding depth and nuance, proving she was extra than simply an indie darling — she was a star within the making. Her BAFTA win over Moore was an early signal that the race was not locked and a few speculated that Anora’s Finest Image momentum might additional increase her possibilities. Nonetheless, many within the {industry} anticipated the Academy to aspect with the veteran over the ingénue. Madison’s triumph defied these expectations, cementing her as certainly one of Hollywood’s most fun new skills.
Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres (I’m Nonetheless Right here) was additionally thought-about a darkish horse within the race. The movie’s political-historical material match the Oscars’ conventional “status drama” mould — particularly in comparison with Moore’s gory physique horror — however her possibilities had been undercut by Moore’s awards season sweep. Extra considerably, Torres confronted controversy when an previous comedy sketch that includes her in blackface resurfaced. Whereas she issued a public apology, the scandal solid a shadow over her marketing campaign, significantly in a 12 months when the Academy was already grappling with backlash over Karla Sofía Gascón’s resurfaced racist tweets. Ultimately, Madison’s win alerts a shift within the Academy’s preferences. Whereas Moore’s transformative efficiency and {industry} narrative made her a compelling alternative, the Oscars in the end favoured contemporary expertise over a legacy comeback.
Finest Actress in a Supporting Function
The Winner: Zoe Saldana
The Dialog:
Zoe Saldana’s win for Emilia Perez was solidified after a robust speech on the Golden Globes, setting the stage for a promising Oscars marketing campaign. Nonetheless, the highway to the Oscars was removed from clean, with Emilia Perez‘s season marred by scandal and controversy. The movie’s central deal with trans points turned much more sophisticated when co-star Karla Sofia Gascon’s resurfaced controversial tweets solid a shadow over the marketing campaign.
Regardless of the movie’s deal with trans points, a notable level of rivalry was how not one of the Emilia Perez winners, together with Saldana, addressed the importance of the movie’s material of their speeches — in contrast to the solid of Anora, who made a degree to focus on intercourse employees’ rights. This stark distinction added gas to the hearth of rising backlash towards Emilia Perez. Many critics have labelled the movie as “overrated” and felt it was not authentically consultant of trans or Mexican folks. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, some followers even thought-about this an inherent misstep, arguing that the movie’s outsider perspective didn’t do justice to the problems it aimed to handle. Including to the movie’s controversy had been interviews through which Audiard admitted to not absolutely researching Mexican tradition, whereas Gascon struggled with mastering the Mexican accent, a element many felt was essential to her portrayal.
The movie’s setting was additionally questioned, because it was not shot in Mexico, additional alienating critics. In the meantime, the movie’s musical numbers had been broadly mocked on-line, compounding the adverse reception. By all of it, Saldana managed to keep up a robust presence within the race, distancing herself from Gascon’s controversy. This technique helped propel her by the awards circuit, as she triumphed at Critics Selection, BAFTA and the SAG Awards — leaving little doubt that she would safe an Oscar win. Nonetheless, her victory didn’t come with out scrutiny. Saldana’s function in Emilia Perez was typically debated because of the actress’s display screen time, which some felt positioned her extra as a co-lead than a real supporting participant. This raised the query of class fraud, a degree that was first introduced up in the course of the Golden Globes. Whereas Saldana and Gascon had been each distinguished figures within the movie, many argued that their roles shared equal weight within the narrative, blurring the road between lead and supporting.
This debate will not be distinctive to Saldana’s case. Different movies this season — comparable to Depraved and A Actual Ache —additionally featured co-leads who had been submitted in supporting classes. The Oscars’ follow of submitting actors in classes with extra competitors generally is a strategic transfer to extend probabilities of profitable. In Saldana’s case, it looks like a tactical determination by the Emilia Perez staff to push for at the very least one main win after the controversy surrounding Gascon and the movie. Whereas Saldana confronted some criticism for taking a job which will have higher suited a real supporting participant, a lot of this critique is tied to the way in which the Oscars’ voting system operates. Movies typically submit actors in classes the place they imagine they’ve the most effective probability, typically main to separate votes and less-than-ideal outcomes. That is evident within the 1992 Oscars, when each Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon had been nominated for Thelma & Louise, however neither took house the award. Regardless of the controversy and critiques, Saldana’s victory was solidified by her sturdy exhibiting within the awards circuit, making her the clear front-runner for Finest Supporting Actress.
Finest Image
The Winner: Anora
The Dialog:
Anora emerged victorious regardless of fierce competitors from The Brutalist and Conclave. All three movies had garnered essential acclaim forward of the awards season, with standout performances from Mikey Madison, Adrien Brody and Ralph Fiennes making the race significantly shut. Previous to the awards season, all three movies had been critically lauded, however Anora gained notable traction as a result of its director’s imaginative and prescient and the spectacular efficiency of Mikey Madison, whose win on the BAFTAs solidified her as a key contender. With nominations in all 5 main {industry} teams — the Producers Guild of America, Administrators Guild of America, Writers Guild of America, and the BAFTAs — Anora appeared poised for achievement. Its sturdy exhibiting in these classes made it a severe contender for Finest Image, backed by the palpable momentum surrounding its essential reception and Madison’s award wins.
As for The Brutalist, its place was largely pushed by Adrien Brody’s efficiency and the path of Brady Corbet. Each Anora and The Brutalist garnered nominations within the Finest Director class, which tends to bolster their standing within the Finest Image race. In distinction, Conclave —although a formidable contender — lacked a Finest Director nomination, which arguably hindered its standing on this key class. Nonetheless, Conclave had its personal strengths — significantly in its ensemble solid — which was awarded Finest Ensemble at each the SAG Awards and Critics’ Selection, elevating its profile considerably regardless of lacking out on the Finest Director class.
As described by APNews, Anora securing the Finest Image Oscar on the 97th Academy Awards marks a big shift in direction of unbiased and arthouse cinema. The movie’s success displays the Academy’s evolving tastes, with youthful members favouring daring narratives. Anora is famous as probably the most sexually express movie to win Finest Image, highlighting altering {industry} norms. By shining a highlight on the function of intercourse employees with out essentially glamorising it (although some could disagree with this sentiment), Anora was profitable in tapping into the cultural zeitgeist — exploring sexual relationships in a manner that viewers noticed as groundbreaking. The movie dives into problems with consent, energy dynamics and the nuances of intimate relationships, typically specializing in younger characters navigating their sexual identities. This uncooked portrayal of sexuality — typically absent or closely censored in mainstream cinema — caught the eye of youthful viewers who felt it mirrored their very own struggles with sexuality, id and autonomy.
Finest Director
The Winner: Sean Baker
The Dialog:
Sean Baker’s distinctive path of Anora earned him the Academy Award for Finest Director in 2025, capping off a outstanding awards season. His achievements included securing each the Administrators Guild of America (DGA) and Producers Guild of America (PGA) awards for Finest Director and Finest Producer, respectively, underscoring his industry-wide acclaim. Baker’s adept storytelling and nuanced portrayal of advanced characters resonated with each critics and audiences, solidifying his standing as a number one filmmaker.
Traditionally, the alignment of Finest Director and Finest Image awards has been a robust indicator of a movie’s total impression and excellence. Baker’s twin victories not solely affirmed his directorial prowess but additionally bolstered Anora‘s standing as a cinematic masterpiece. This synergy between director and movie has been an indicator of many acclaimed productions, reinforcing the interconnectedness of storytelling and path in attaining inventive recognition. Baker’s win additionally marked a big milestone in Oscar historical past. He turned the primary particular person to obtain 4 Academy Awards for a single movie, tying the file for probably the most Oscars received in a single evening, beforehand held by Walt Disney. This achievement highlighted Baker’s distinctive expertise and the movie’s profound impression on the {industry}.
Finest Authentic Screenplay
The Winner: Anora
The Dialog:
Anora took house the Oscar for Finest Authentic Screenplay, confirming its dominance all through awards season. The movie had already secured a big win on the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Awards, which pointed to its sturdy probability on this class. Anora’s win solidified its standing because the frontrunner, particularly given its spectacular observe file in different key awards. The screenplay, praised for its daring and ingenious method, was seen as probably the most impactful of the 12 months, and its success on the WGA set the stage for the Oscar win. Traditionally, Finest Authentic Screenplay typically aligns with Finest Image and Finest Director, and since Anora had swept these main classes, the screenplay award was seen as a pure development. The one notable exception to this momentum got here on the BAFTAs, the place Anora was handed over. Nonetheless, the BAFTAs have not often aligned with the Oscars on this class, making their alternative much less predictive.
Some speculated that Eisenberg’s excessive profile would possibly give A Actual Ache an edge within the race, however Anora’s momentum in the end proved insurmountable. With Kieran Culkin already established as a shoo-in for Finest Supporting Actor, A Actual Ache lacked the broader awards circuit success wanted to make a robust case within the screenplay class. Regardless of its sturdy writing, it couldn’t compete with Anora’s sweeping victories throughout the board.
Finest International Movie
The Winner: I’m Nonetheless Right here
The Dialog:
This 12 months’s race for Finest International Movie took an sudden flip, with I’m Nonetheless Right here rising because the front-runner after a turbulent awards season. Whereas Emilia Perez was initially thought-about the favorite for the Oscar, its latest controversies relating to the movie’s portrayal of Mexican tradition and the backlash surrounding director Jacques Audiard’s method to the fabric left the Academy trying to find a safer alternative. Enter I’m Nonetheless Right here, which has steadily risen to the highest, buoyed by the real-life comeback story of Fernanda Torres, whose heartfelt efficiency within the movie captivated audiences and critics alike.
For Brazil, I’m Nonetheless Right here represents a milestone, as a win would mark the first-ever Oscar for the nation on this class. Brazil has firmly rallied behind the movie, which not solely gained widespread assist for its inventive benefit but additionally turned an emblem of resilience within the face of adversity. Nonetheless, it was Emilia Perez’s fall from grace that undoubtedly opened the door for I’m Nonetheless Right here to grab the title, making the movie’s victory a bittersweet one, given its personal essential acclaim. Torres’ efficiency garnered her a fair proportion of nominations and wins all through the awards season, underscoring her expertise and the movie’s broad enchantment.
Regardless of the hurdles, I’m Nonetheless Right here has remained sturdy all through the awards circuit, securing nominations on the Critics Selection Awards and the BAFTAs. Whereas it didn’t clinch the wins at these exhibits, the nominations themselves had been a constructive indicator of its potential come Oscar time. It’s noteworthy that I’m Nonetheless Right here, alongside Emilia Perez, is now a part of a broader dialog through which foreign-language movies are more and more competing not just for Finest International Movie but additionally for Finest Image, a shift that has been extra evident in recent times. Movies like Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite and the 2 foreign-language Finest Image nominees in 2023 — Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Curiosity — have paved the way in which for larger recognition of worldwide cinema in mainstream classes. I’m Nonetheless Right here and Emilia Perez‘s essential reception is a testomony to the rising internationalisation of the Oscars.
Finest Documentary
The Winner: No Different Land
The Dialog:
The documentary No Different Land by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor of their directorial debut will not be solely a big win for the 2024 Finest Documentary class, however it additionally stands as a groundbreaking exploration of the continuing points surrounding apartheid and displacement towards the Palestinian folks. Directed with a daring imaginative and prescient and an empathetic lens, the documentary has turn into a robust testomony to the resilience of the Palestinians, tackling delicate and divisive themes whereas providing hope for solidarity in probably the most unlikely locations. The documentary delves into the lives of each Israeli and Palestinian people who, regardless of the political and historic limitations between them, come collectively to create a shared narrative of unity. The movie’s central focus is on how these two communities, typically framed as enemies, work in direction of mutual understanding, difficult the boundaries set by a long time of battle. No Different Land presents an unprecedented have a look at the human aspect of a long-standing geopolitical wrestle.
Given the present state of apartheid and the escalating rigidity within the occupied West Financial institution and Gaza, No Different Land comes at a time when the necessity for a extra compassionate dialogue is bigger than ever. It gives a uncommon second of hope for audiences, suggesting that change — although tough and gradual — is feasible when human connections are prioritised over political variations. The movie’s skill to stability its portrayal of harsh realities with a hopeful imaginative and prescient for the long run is among the many causes it has been broadly celebrated. It isn’t only a documentary however a name to motion, encouraging each Israelis and Palestinians to search out frequent floor regardless of the hardships they face. No Different Land’s win is an acknowledgment of the ability of storytelling to interrupt down partitions and to shift public notion. Its triumph on the Oscars marks a pivotal second in each the world of documentary filmmaking and the continuing dialog about peace and reconciliation within the Center East.
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