Oscar 2025 Nominations: ‘Emilia Pérez’ makes history with 13 nominations

After two delays due to the severe fires that have ravaged Los Angeles, the Oscar nominations have finally arrived. At 5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, comedians Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang announced who will be in the running for the most famous statuette in Hollywood. This year, the list of nominees is led by Emilia Pérez, Anora, Conclave, Wicked and The Brutalist.

Emilia Pérez — a musical about drug trafficking directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard — has received 13 nomination, just shy of the record 14 nominations received by Titanic, La La Land and All About Eve. Last year, Oppenheimer was also nominated for 13 Oscars. It is also the foreign language movie to receive the highest number of nominations in Oscar history. What’s more, Karla Sofía Gascón has been nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her work in the movie, making her the first trans person to be nominated for an Oscar in the acting category.

The film gives Netflix — which bought the U.S. and U.K. rights to the movie — a serious shot to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Also in the running are Anora, The Brutalist, Conclave, Dune Part 2, The Substance, A Complete Unknown, Wicked, I’m Still Here, and Nickel Boys.

This year, the competition is more open. While some movies have been nominated for 10 Oscars, they have equal chance of winning all of them or none at all.

The category of Best Actress, is especially close: the nominees are Demi Moore for her role in The Substance — which won her the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy —, Mikey Madison for Anora; Cynthia Erivo for Wicked; Karla Sofía Gascón for Emilia Pérez, and Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here. Brazil’s Torres was the surprise winner of the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. She is following in the footsteps of her mother, the grande dame of Brazilian acting Fernanda Montenegro, who was nominated in 1999 for the Brazilian movie Central Station.

Neither Nicole Kidman for Babygirl, Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas, Pamela Anderson in The Last Showgirl, nor Kate Winslet in Lee managed to make the cut.

The race for Best Supporting Actress appears to be led by Zoe Saldaña, who delivered a standout performance in Emilia Perez. She faces stiff competition from veteran Isabella Rossellini, who earned her first-ever nomination for a brief but memorable seven-minute appearance as Sister Agnes in Conclave. Also in contention are Ariana Grande, as the witch Glinda in Wicked; Monica Barbaro, portraying Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown; and Felicity Jones, for her portrayal of the self-sacrificing Erzsébet in The Brutalist.

In the race for Best Actor, Adrien Brody is a frontrunner for his role in The Brutalist, marking his second nomination after his win for The Pianist in 2003. Another favorite is Timothée Chalamet, for his performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. It is his second nomination, following Call Me by Your Name. And the other contenders are Ralph Fiennes for Conclave, Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice, and Colman Domingo for Sing Sing.

In the supporting actor category, the race remains wide open, though there is a clear frontrunner: Kieran Culkin, for his role in the indie drama A Real Pain, leads the list of nominees. He is joined by Guy Pearce for The Brutalist, Yura Borisov for Anora, Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown, and the category’s dark horse, Jeremy Strong, for The Apprentice.

Among directors, only one woman earned a nomination this year: Coralie Fargeat for The Substance. Leading the pack as favorites are Edward Berger for Conclave and Brady Corbet for The Brutalist. Rounding out the quintet are Sean Baker for Anora, James Mangold for A Complete Unknown, and Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez. Audiard may also take the stage to collect the award for Best International Film, where Emilia Pérez faces strong competition from Brazil’s I’m Still Here, Germany’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Denmark’s The Girl with the Needle, and Latvia’s Flow, which recently won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature. Additionally, the Palestinian documentary No Other Land has earned a notable nomination in the category Best Documentary Feature Film.

In the Original Screenplay category, Anora — already boasting numerous nominations — heads the list alongside The Brutalist, A Real Pain, The Substance, and September 5. For Adapted Screenplay, Conclave stands as the favorite, though it faces stiff competition from Emilia Pérez, Sing Sing, A Complete Unknown, and Nickel Boys. Notably absent from the list is Pedro Almodóvar, whose movie The Room Next Door missed out on a nomination.

The Animation category promises a tightly contested race. While the release of Inside Out 2 initially positioned it as the frontrunner, the momentum has shifted in favor of Flow and The Wild Robot, which now lead the betting odds. These three will battle it out with Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Memoirs of a Snail.

In the Best Original Song category, Emilia Pérez is the favorite with El Mal, performed by Zoe Saldaña, which won a Golden Globe on January 5. The French production doubles its chances with Mi Camino, sung by Selena Gomez. Other contenders are The Journey, performed by H.E.R. in The Six Triple Eight; Like a Bird from Sing Sing, performed by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada; and Never Too Late, sung by Sir Elton John for the documentary Elton John: Never Too Late.

In the Original Score category, the soundtracks from The Brutalist, Conclave, The Wild Robot, Defiant Ones, and Emilia Pérez will compete for the Oscar. Notably absent are Wicked, despite its massive budget, and Alberto Iglesias for The Room Next Door.

The Oscars have experienced a few scheduling shifts, moving from January 17 to January 19 and then to January 23, out of respect and consideration for the Academy’s voters, 60% of whom reside in Los Angeles. To allow academics extra time, voting was extended by five days. Now, with just under six weeks remaining, the Oscar winners will be revealed on March 2. The major film awards and their red carpet preview will take place at the Dolby Theatre on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, hosted by Conan O’Brien.

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