This year’s Academy Award nominees feature a set of particularly topical films exploring stories of fascism, corruption, the immigrant experience in the U.S. and the horrors of today’s beauty standards. They all remind us of the significance of the film industry as a commentary on our contemporary culture. With concerns and controversy over queer and Mexican representation in Emilia Perez (Jacques Audiard, 2024), the use of AI in The Brutalist (Brady Corbet, 2024) and the prominence of musicals across awards categories, will the 2025 Academy Awards break boundaries or be the most controversial year yet?
The most nominations this season have been awarded to Anora (Sean Baker, 2024), A Complete Unknown (James Mangold, 2024), Conclave (Edward Berger, 2024), The Brutalist, and notably Emilia Pérez, and Wicked (Jon M. Chu, 2024). This year marks the first time since 1968 that more than one musical has been nominated in the Best Picture category. Has the academy finally decided to celebrate the often less acknowledged genre of Musical Theatre? The celebration of musical films this year may be as telling of our contemporary culture as the films which deal directly with themes of identity and politics. The increasing popularity of fantastical stories that imagine worlds very different from our own suggests a societal desire for escapism. Evidently, this year escapism was worthy of recognition at the Academy Awards.
Additionally, the celebration of immigrant stories as seen in Anora, The Brutalist and Emilia Perez may be a response to the increasingly restrictive immigration policies in the U.S. Let’s take a look at how these nominations represent the constantly changing industry and how this year’s awards will differ from what we have seen over the last few decades.
In an era where the promotion of plastic surgery and unhealthy body images are inescapable, The Substance has been credited as an epic and vulnerable horror story critiquing the industry which has celebrated it. The Substance (Coralie Fargeat, 2024), explores beauty standards and celebrity, following Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) a recently fired Academy Award-winning actress who goes to extreme lengths to regain her youth. The film received five Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Makeup and Hairstyling as well as Lead Actress, for first-time nominee Demi Moore.
Another first time nominee, Sebastian Stan, has been nominated for Best Actor for playing recently inaugurated President Donald Trump in The Apprentice (Ali Abassi, 2024). The biographical drama has been heavily criticised by Trump. The U.S. president has referred to the picture as a “defamatory, politically disgusting hatchet job”. In spite of this, the film received two nominations with Jeremy Strong also being nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as notorious lawyer and Trump’s mentor Roy Cohn.
The Brutalist received the second most nominations this year, placing in 10 categories, including Best Picture, Director, Cinematography and Screenplay. However, the use of AI in the film has reignited conversations around the employment of technology in the film industry. The film uses voice cloning to improve Felicity Jones and Adrian Brody’s Hungarian dialogue and allegedly employed generative AI to create architectural designs. Both Jones and Brody have been nominated for acting awards. Some have claimed The Brutalist has pushed the boundaries of what technology can achieve in cinema while others have reiterated concerns about the ethics around replacing human artists with AI tools.
Emilia Perez received a record-breaking 13 nominations, the most awarded to any picture this year. The French made Spanish-language film, depicts the experience of a Mexican trans woman. The film has been heavily criticised by both LGBTQ+ and Mexican critics. LGBTQ+ commentators have stated that the film inaccurately represents the trans experience. Additionally, Mexican audiences panned the film for its “stereotypical” cultural representation and its use of Spanish dialogue. However, the Academy seemingly felt differently about the merits of this musical drama. The question that emerges is: if a film has been heavily criticised by the people who it supposedly represents then who does the story ultimately serve?
Some have compared Emilia Perez to I’m still here (Walter Salles, 2024) the Brazilian political biopic which explores military dictatorship in Brazil. Unlike Emilia Perez, the filmmaker and cast of I’m still Here are natives of the country they depict. Like Emilia Perez, the film earned nominations for Best Picture, International Feature Film and Best Actress for Fernanda Torres. This marks the first time a Brazilian production has been nominated for the Best Picture award.
As always there are conversations about who the public feels were snubbed by this year’s Academy Awards. Notably, Challengers (Luca Gaudagnino, 2024) despite having recently been nominated for four Golden Globes, where it won Best Score, received no nominations. Additionally, Ireland’s streak of recognition at the Academy Awards has ceased for this season. Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt, 2024), Ireland’s highly celebrated entry for Best International Feature, failed to receive an Academy Award nomination. Additionally, Saoirse Ronan’s moving portrayal of addiction in The Outrun (Nora Fingscheidt, 2024), failed to get a nod for the four time Academy Award nominee.
The 2025 Academy Awards will take place on the 3rd of March with Conan O’Brien hosting the show for the first time. It will be interesting to see how and if the Academy takes this moment to respond to the unique socio-political landscape we find ourselves in today. This year, complex questions around whether art should be separated from politics will likely be at the forefront of discussion. Is film as a medium intrinsically political ? Would the film industry be neglecting its social responsibility by not challenging and examining the cultural context in which these films are made and consumed ?
Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang recently reflected on the significance of the Academy stating that it “has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship”. Between shifting political spheres in the U.S. and the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires, the choices the Academy makes at this year’s show has the opportunity to make significant political statements regarding matters in the U.S. and globally. We will have to wait and see what this year’s Academy Awards have in store.
Originally published in print February 25th 2025.
