The 2025 Golden Globes: A golden night for ‘Emilia Pérez,’ ‘The Brutalist’ and ‘Shogun’

Under the hot California sun and with heavy police protection, the 82nd Annual Golden Globes award ceremony was held on the evening of January 5. The Beverly Hilton hotel rolled out its red carpet for the more than 1,300 guests at the dinner event and party where the first major awards of the season are given out each year. But this time, unlike other years, the award winners were less obvious, especially those in film categories, which gave added excitement to the gala. The prizes were widely distributed between series and films: four went to Emilia Pérez, including the best comedy or musical category, and three to The Brutalist, including for best drama. As for series, Shogun won four, Hacks won two and Baby Reindeer won another two, repeating the Emmy scheme.

The Golden Globes have shown their power; long gone is the controversy of four years ago, when a scandal uncovered perks and a lack of diversity in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the event. In 2022, organizers opted for a discreet, damage-control ceremony that was not broadcast on television. Last year, the Globes regained their strength, and in 2025 — with a larger voting body (334), a charitable foundation and now controlled by a company that also owns media outlets such as Rolling Stone, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety — this resurgence is being felt.

As in every great Hollywood gala worth its salt, it all began with a very long red carpet lasting more than three hours and full of glamour, in which not a single star was missing (or almost, because Javier Bardem skipped the entire ceremony). There was the always impeccable Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman with her high ponytail, Angelina Jolie with her daughter Zahara, Karla Sofía Gascón in an orange dress custom-made by Anthony Vaccarello (as she explained when she went on stage to accept the award for the award for best film, “I chose these colors because light always wins”), Salma Hayek shouting “Viva México!”, Demi Moore, Nicolas Cage, Diego Luna, Kerry Washington, Kate Winslet, Ariana Grande, the sisters Elle and Dakota Fanning, Jodie Foster, Andrew Garfield, Sharon Stone, Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor... Also on hand were dozens of police officers patrolling the area: the terrorist attack on January 1 in New Orleans has further reinforced security controls in Beverly Hills and throughout Los Angeles County, especially at an event like this.

The night started with smiles and tears. The laughs were provided by the host, Nikki Glaser, who delivered an ironic but accessible monologue much to the taste of American viewers, lovers of acidic but rather white humor. Faithful to the “roasting” format, she took aim at several members of the audience, from Selena Gomez to Timothée Chalamet, of whom she said that his name seemed to come straight out of an Adam Sandler joke, and Sandler himself played along, naturally. During the gala, Glaser changed clothes countless times (in fact, in each of her appearances). In addition, the award presenters were agile and funny, from Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley who appeared together —contrary to what the script of their film The Substance would seem to indicate— to the evident chemistry between Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, or between Akwafina and Melissa McCarthy.

The tears came soon later with the first award of the night, which went to Zoe Saldaña, best supporting actress for Emilia Pérez, which had gone into the ceremony as the favorite. “My heart is full of gratitude. Thank you to the Golden Globes for honoring this film and the women of Emilia Pérez. It is the first time for me and I am proud to share it with my colleagues,” she said, crying all the while. “You’re magic, you’re all magic, thank you. Merci beaucoup, monsieur [Jacques] Audiard [...] you’re so French and so chic and confident and kind!,” she continued, thanking her director amid laughter from the audience. To her co-star, Karla Sofía Gascón (who ultimately did not win), she said: “And Karla, no one other than you could have played Emilia Pérez. No one,” The best supporting actor in a drama went to Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain, which once again brought back the laughs.

In the film industry, Audiard’s French narco-musical got off to a strong start thanks to Saldaña, but also won the award for best song for “El Mal” and took home the awards for best non-English-language film and best musical or comedy. Demi Moore won the best actress in a comedy award for The Substance. The 62-year-old actress acknowledged in a powerful speech that she hadn’t expected it: “I’ve been doing this a long time, like over 45 years, and this is the first time I’ve ever won anything as an actor,” she said, adding that a few years ago she thought her career was over. “I celebrate this as a reminder of where I belong,” she said, to applause. Best director went was Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, which also won best film (“I had one speech prepared, not two!” Corbet said with a laugh) and best actor for Adrien Brody.

Another big surprise was the win for actress Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here, besting Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Kate Winslet, Pamela Anderson and Tilda Swinton as best drama actress: “I want to dedicate it to my mother, who was here 25 years ago,” tearfully said the daughter of the great lady of Brazilian acting, Fernanda Montenegro.

The best screenplay went to the papal whodunnit Conclave, based on a 2016 novel by Robert Harris. In response to recent criticism that the film is anti-Catholic, its screenwriter, the British playwright Peter Straughan, said: “I don’t think it’s anti-Catholic, I was brought up Catholic, I was an altar boy.” He said the real message is about the Church going back to seeking its spiritual calling. Last year, a new award was created for cinematic and box office achievement, which in 2023 went to the blockbuster Barbie, and this year to Wicked. The best soundtrack trophy went to Rivals.

On the television side, Shogun won the award for best drama series, and also receive prizes for three of its actors, Anna Sawai, Hiroyuki Sanada and Tadanobu Asano. “I am so happy, I am so happy!” the latter shouted incessantly, smiling non-stop. “If I can do this, everyone can do it.”

In television comedy, there were few surprises and some repeats: Jean Smart, in her second award for her role as the despotic and down-and-out Deborah Vance in Hacks; and Jeremy Allen White (who did not attend the gala), his third in a row for the role of the stressed-out cook Carmy Berzatto in The Bear, which the presenter, Jennifer Coolidge, decided to take home for him.

The best miniseries (officially called a limited series) went to Baby Reindeer, which also took home a prize for best supporting actress, for the true story lived, written, directed and performed by Richard Gadd. Colin Farrell won best actor in a limited series for The Penguin, and Jodie Foster was named best actress for True Detective. In one of the night’s surprises, the best animated film award went to Flow, and the best performance in stand-up comedy on television went to Ali Wong, who won last year as an actress for Bronca.

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