It’s that time of year. Awards season has been off to a questionable start, with the Emilia Pérez epidemic continuing its suit of nominations after winning four Golden Globes in early January. The Academy released a video of Rachel Sennott (film she’s in) and Bowen Yang (Wicked) announcing its official Oscar nominations for the 2025 season, the most prestigious awards in film. Big name films such as The Substance and Wicked continued their nomination streak this season, and to nobody’s surprise, international film Emilia Pérez came through with 13 nominations. Why is this film so loved in Hollywood? Nobody knows, yet it is expected to take home several wins this year alongside other acclaimed films such as Anora. In case you didn’t catch it, I compiled the lists of the nominations in some of the most popular categories and asked your fellow Raptors their opinions on the films being put up this year.
Best Picture
- Anora (Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, Producers)
- The Brutalist (Nominees to be determined)
- A Complete Unknown (Fred Berger, James Mangold and AlexHeineman, Producers)
- Conclave (Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Michael A. Jackman, Producers)
- Dune: Part Two (Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Denis Villeneuve, Producers)
- Emilia Pérez (Nominees to be determined)
- I’m Still Here (Nominees to be determined)
- Nickel Boys (Nominees to be determined)
- The Substance (Nominees to be determined)
- Wicked (Marc Platt, Producer)
Ten acclaimed movies fill up the nomination spots this year. Box office record setters, social-media sensations, this lineup has a panoply of variety. Four movies stand out as front-runners in this category: Emilia Pérez, The Brutalist, Anora, and Wicked, for their overall popularity or abundance of other nominations. Senior Isabelle O’Leary has seen a few of these movies, she says “Anora was a fun movie to watch, and I liked that The Substance and Wicked both had messages behind them but I think Dune and Wicked both had good sets, obviously Wicked had good music.” She adds on, “I’ve seen a lot of negative things about Emilia Pérez but I haven’t actually watched the movie.” I too have seen negative things about Emilia Pérez as many clips from the movie and its songs began to circulate the internet after many believe it snubbed Wicked of the Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy award at the Golden Globes. Lily Thompson (12) had some strong opinions about this year’s lineup saying, “I’m happy about a few of these. Unfortunately, the Oscars is a huge pandering organization and most categories are snubs every year. The fact that Emilia Pérez got nominated is a testament to the lack of artistic quality that is now required to receive one of these awards. There weren’t even Mexican people in it and it was set in Mexico. It’s a eurocentrist abomination. Where did it even come from? Why has it won so many awards? Why is it so bad? I will literally never know. The Substance is a really exciting nomination though because the Oscars notoriously ignore horror movies. I think it’s pretty obvious that it was nominated though, it was a really unique movie and was truly, truly deeply disturbing. Also Anora being on here is awesome, I love Mikey Madison and it was a really fun watch! I’m excited to watch this year. Expecting to be let down once again.” – Lily Thompson
Actress in a Leading Role
- Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
- Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
- Mikey Madison, Anora
- Demi Moore, The Substance
- Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
This category is not only full of great actresses, but full of DRAMA as of late. Mikey Madison was incredible as Ani in Anora, as well as the dazzling Cynthia Erivo and Hollywood favorite Demi Moore in Wicked and The Substance respectively, but the drama emerges with the remaining two actresses, Karla Sofía Gascón and Fernanda Torres. Karla Sofía Gascón is being recognized for her work in Emilia Pérez this awards season as well as making history as the first transgender performer to be nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category. However, Gascón has been making claims that there is an online campaign designed to diminish her image prior to the awards show and stated that, “I have never, at any point, said anything bad about Fernanda Torres or her movie. However, there are people working with Fernanda Torres tearing me and Emilia Pérez down.” This claim may seem harmless, but according to the Oscars code of conduct, “any tactic that singles out ‘the competition’ by name or title is expressly forbidden,” and Gascón specifically name-dropped Torres. She later clarified it had nothing to do with Torres herself, just her colleagues, but the statement could have been made to maintain her status as a nominee. Despite this drama, it will be exciting to see which actress pulls the spotlight this year. Personally, I’m hoping Erivo or Moore are recognized due to the difficulty of taking on such different roles, but Madison did a fantastic job in Anora, having a well deserved nomination.
“Demi Moore’s work in The Substance was phenomenal and I think she should win.”
Lily Thompson
Costume Design
- A Complete Unknown (Arianne Phillips)
- Conclave (Lisy Christl)
- Gladiator II (Janty Yates and Dave Crossman)
- Nosferatu (Linda Muir)
- Wicked (Paul Tazewell)
This category is a particularly interesting one since costumes can be observed even if you haven’t seen the movie. It is absolutely necessary that fantasy-like worlds such as the “Oz” of Wicked have costumes to complement the style, and that movies like A Complete Unknown and Gladiator II are dressing their actors in outfits that are historically accurate. Nosferatu focuses on 16th-century Transylvanian attire, bringing in both horror aspects as well as maintaining that same historical accuracy. On a different note, Conclave, a movie centered around undercovering deep secrets about the Roman Catholic Church while selecting a new pope, needs to have costumes that are religiously accurate. All costume designers seemed to complete their jobs well, seeing as they’ve been nominated, and since they are all completely different movies it will be very interesting to see which way the tide turns. If you’re interested in reading or watching more about each of these designers, their costumes, and their processes click any of the links below:
Music (Original Song)
- “El Mal” from Emilia Pérez (Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard)
- “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)
- “Like a Bird” from Sing Sing (Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada)
- “Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez (Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol)
- “Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late (Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin)
Emilia Pérez takes up two of the nomination spots in the Oscar for best original song, seriously what is going on. “El Mal,” visually is well executed but that is unfortunately not the judging criteria. On the other hand, “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight is a great song, sung by H.E.R. and written for the film which focuses on the first all-black women’s battalion in World War II. “Like a Bird” is also lyrically and vocally well executed as well as “Never Too Late” written by Elton John for his film, Elton John: Never Too Late. I’m in disbelief that Selena Gomez, as such an accomplished artist, had to sing “Mi Camino” for Emilia Pérez. To sum up this category, there are three well written, well executed songs and two sneaks. Try and guess which ones are which. I bet you can’t.
The Oscars take place on March 2nd, 2025. Tune in to see how many awards Emilia Perez wins. Interested in the rest of the nominees? See the full list here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/2025-oscars-nominees-list-1236115626/
