Oscars 2025 Nominations: The Good, The Bad, and The Snubs
The nominations for the 97th Academy Awards have arrived, and with one of the most wide-open fields in recent history, they brought plenty of surprises and snubs. This year’s Oscars mark several milestones, including Timothée Chalamet becoming the youngest two-time Best Actor nominee and Fernanda Torres continuing her mother’s legacy with a historic Best Actress nomination.
Let’s dive into some of the biggest moments, upsets, and breakthroughs from this year’s nominees.
The young Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice defied expectations after its lukewarm reception in theatres. Both Jeremy Strong, playing Trump’s lawyer Roy Cohn, and Sebastian Stan, portraying the future two-time president, received nominations. Strong had been tipped for recognition after his SAG nod, but Stan’s inclusion for this film came as a bigger surprise given the buzz around his performance in A Different Man.
After years of directing awards-friendly films like Ford v Ferrari and Walk the Line without a nod, James Mangold finally scored a Best Director nomination for A Complete Unknown, his Bob Dylan biopic. This surprise recognition may have edged out other favourites like Edward Berger (Conclave) and Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two).
Despite missing out on SAG recognition, Felicity Jones earned a Best Actress nomination for her nuanced performance as Erzsébet Tóth in The Brutalist. This unexpected nod showcases the Academy’s willingness to reward late-season momentum.
The animated Latvian film Flow earned nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature, a rare feat. It joins Waltz with Bashir and Flee in the small club of animated films nominated in the international category. This marks a historic moment for Latvian cinema.
RaMell Ross’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Nickel Boys emerged as a Best Picture nominee despite mixed momentum throughout the awards season. Its inventive cinematography, which used a first-person point of view, was unfortunately left out of the nominations.
Supporting actress was one of the more chaotic and unpredictable categories this year, with so many deserving performers in the mix. Monica Barbaro was one of those that was on the fringe of possibilities for her turn as Joan Baez, singing and all, for A Complete Unknown. Her inclusion marks a major surprise for this category.
“Flow” for Best International Feature
In addition to its Best Animated Feature nomination, Flow made history as the first Latvian film to secure a nod for Best International Feature. Its success showcases the Academy’s growing recognition of global talent.
If there ever were a shoo-in for a nomination and an Oscar, on paper at least, it would be for Angelina Jolie playing opera legend Maria Callas. Filmmaker Pablo Larraín had not missed yet in getting Best Actress nominations for his famous, tragic women biopics, including Natalie Portman for Jackie and Kristen Stewart for Spencer. But somehow Jolie did not make the cut in the end.
Daniel Craig gave one of his best performances as an American expat in Mexico in the torrid May-December romance in Queer, but it hasn’t been resonating with awards voters. The Oscar snub is the final piece in a puzzle that just never came together.
Margaret Qualley’s performance as Sue in The Substance was hailed as essential to the film’s success, but the focus of awards season shifted to Demi Moore and director Coralie Fargeat. Qualley’s omission feels especially unfair given her transformative performance.
This is perhaps up for debate, but there was certainly a lot of goodwill behind Anderson’s movie-star turn in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, especially considering her SAG nomination. But like with Jennifer Lopez and Hustlers a few years ago, it was not meant to be at the Oscars.
Denzel Washington was not about to hit the campaigning trail for Gladiator II, but he was, at least at one point, thought to be a sure thing for a supporting nomination. Critics praised his performance, with one reviewer calling it “a delicious blur of robes and grins” that nearly reached “1990s Al Pacino standards.” Yet, his name was noticeably absent from the final list.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross delivered one of their most popular scores ever this year for Challengers and yet were left off in a batch of nominees that included The Brutalist, Conclave, Emilia Pérez, Wicked, and The Wild Robot. It’s not even that they’re consistently overlooked by the Academy — they’ve already won twice, for Soul and The Social Network.
Zimmer’s iconic score for Dune: Part Two was ruled ineligible due to the Academy’s strict rules about pre-existing themes in franchise films. While the movie still garnered major nominations, this omission stings for fans of Zimmer’s work.
Despite Sing Sing earning nods for Colman Domingo and screenplay categories, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin’s transformative performance was snubbed. He was not only a key actor but also helped write the story.
Fernanda Torres, daughter of Fernanda Montenegro, becomes the second Brazilian actress to receive a Best Actress nomination. Her nod echoes her mother’s groundbreaking recognition in 1999.
The body-horror film The Substance becomes only the seventh horror movie in history to receive a Best Picture nomination, following in the footsteps of Get Out (2017), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and The Exorcist (1969).
Karla Sofía Gascón’s nomination for Emilia Pérez makes her the first openly transgender actress to receive an Oscar nod.
Warren earned her 16th Oscar nomination for “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight, continuing her streak as one of the Academy’s most nominated artists.
Cynthia Erivo, nominated for Wicked, joins Viola Davis as one of only two Black actresses with multiple Best Actress nominations.
At 29, Chalamet becomes the youngest two-time Best Actor nominee since James Dean, earning the nod for A Complete Unknown.
The musical thriller Emilia Pérez sets a new benchmark as the most nominated non-English language film in Oscar history, with 13 nominations.