Who Won The 2025 Oscars, And The Snubs Who Deserved To Win

Anora

NEON

The Oscars are always at least a little bit frustrating when your favorites don’t win, but there are often larger, more universally agreed-upon snubs, and at last night’s 2025 Academy Awards, that was no exception.

Obviously, a lot of this is going to be subjective, so all I can offer is my own opinion, but I am going to predict that many people would agree with at least some of these. Anora was the big winner of the night with half of the top honors by itself, and five Oscars total. But was that warranted? Let’s go through it.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 02: Billy Crystal (L) and Meg Ryan (R), pose with (L-R) Sean Baker, … [+] Samantha Quan and Alex Coco, winners of the Best Picture award for “Anora”, pose in the press room during the 97th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 02, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

FilmMagic

Best Picture

Anora – Winner
Conclave – Deserved to Win – One position I have about Anora is that it’s one of those films that is carried on the back of its star, in this case, Mikey Madison, while the overall film may not be as good as some of the others here. In my view, Conclave deserved this honor as it made what could have been a dry drama about the Catholic church into a downright thriller complete with a stellar ensemble cast.
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked

TORONTO, ONTARIO – MAY 31: Denis Villeneuve attends the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards Gala at The … [+] Canadian Broadcasting Centre on May 31, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Mathew Tsang/WireImage)

WireImage

Best Director

Sean Baker, Anora – Winner
(Not nominated) Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two – This was a bizarre category with some huge omissions, namely Villeneuve and Jon Chu for Wicked. But in this case, it is becoming downright strange just how overlooked Villeneuve has been by the Academy, and when you hear reports that Oscar voters didn’t even watch Dune: Part Two at all because they didn’t like the first one, it’s deeply frustrating. I think Villeneuve will get his due someday, but it’s astonishing he wasn’t even nominated here.
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 02: Ralph Fiennes attends the 97th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on … [+] March 02, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/FilmMagic)

FilmMagic

Best Actor In A Lead Role

Adrien Brody, The Brutalist – Winner
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave – Deserved To Win – Last night, Adrien Brody went viral for his overly long speech, and before that, The Brutalist went viral for its use of AI in some of the accent work of the production. Fiennes deserve this award for Conclave, but now he has three nominations total and no wins. It’s a stellar performance and better than Brody’s.
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 02: Mikey Madison, winner of the Best Actress in a Leading Role for … [+] “Anora”, poses in the press room during the 97th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 02, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

FilmMagic

Best Actress In A Lead Role

Mikey Madison, Anora – Winner, Deserved to Win – As much as I did like Demi Moore in The Substance, there is no question that Madison deserved to win this for her incredible turn in Anora, and she’s now the only actress besides Jennifer Lawrence born in the ‘90s to win the honor. She’s the reason the film succeeds, and I’m not sure it needed the other two top honors as a result.
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 02: Kieran Culkin and Matthew Greenfield attends the Searchlight … [+] Pictures Post Oscars Celebration at Cipriani Beverly Hills on March 02, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by David Jon/Getty Images for Searchlight Pictures)

Getty Images for Searchlight Pictures

Best Actor In A Supporting Role

Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain – Winner, Deserved to Win, Probably – I’m like 70% that Culkin deserved to win this, 30% that his Succession brother Jeremy Strong deserved to win for his role as Roy Cohn, which not enough people saw. But we got a great Culkin speech out of it.
Yura Borisov, Anora
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 02: Ariana Grande attends the 97th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on … [+] March 02, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/FilmMagic)

FilmMagic

Best Actress In A Supporting Role

Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez – Winner
Ariana Grande, Wicked – Deserved to win – This was easily the most controversial award of the night, as many people, especially the general viewing public, didn’t want Emilia Pérez to win anything, and it’s possibly the lowest audience scored Best Picture nominee in history. Yes, it’s true that Saldana was the best part of that movie, but it’s a low bar. Meanwhile, Ariana Grande’s performance in Wicked was a near-perfect representation of what that character needed to be, and it’s a shame that wasn’t recognized. As a side note, it’s a tragedy that The Substance’s Margaret Qualley wasn’t nominated here at all, but Isabella Rossellini was with about four minutes of screen time in Conclave.
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave

Those are my picks, what about yours?

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