Awards Season: Part One - Golden Globe Nominations Cap Off First Round of Oscar Hopefuls

by Jacob Jones

​Awards season is in full swing as the Golden Globes unveiled their nominations this morning for the best in film and television, having followed a slew of critics group and other indie organizations’ nominating and win ceremonies, which began with the Gotham Awards earlier last week. The Gothams handed out a major surprise in Best Picture, handing the trophy to Aaron Schimberg’s dark self-image comedy A Different Man – which received no other awards that evening – while the National Board of Review selected Wicked as Best Film, also electing Jon M. Chu the Best Director prize despite the musical adaptation not appearing in the NBR’s official Top 10 for the year. Neither NBR nor the Gothams are typically expected to exert major influence over the Oscar nominations in January, but smaller films such as A Different Man and Sing Sing (which took home two Gotham Awards) can be offered a much-needed boost to keep them front of mind for industry voters. In all truth, the first major domino to fall in any awards season is usually the Golden Globes, whose imperfect but notable impact on many films’ awards season prospects warrants a bit more attention than organizations like the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Boston Society of Film Critics, or the New York Film Critics Circle, all of whom selected their honorees within the last week (The Critics Choice Awards is the most consequential of the critics groups overall.) Globe nominations don’t always translate to Oscar glory – category distinction by the Globes and the lack of available slots at the Oscars are just two major factors preventing some of the more fringe contenders from appearing on the AMPAS’ honorees list – but they can act as an important bellwether for what direction things are likely to be going.

​It was a very good morning for films like Anora, The Brutalist, Emilia Pérez, and Wicked, all of which are expected to be major players in the Oscar race going forward, the first two competing it seems neck-and-neck for the top prize of Best Picture, though Anora – Sean Baker’s excellent comedy about a Brooklyn sex worker who marries the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch, for which Baker was nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay – does seem to currently have the edge. The day was also not without its surprises, both good and bad, as Paramount’s September 5 landed a twist nomination in the Best Picture (Drama) category over A24’s Sing Sing, while The Substance walked away with no less than five nominations, including Best Picture (Comedy or Musical), Best Director (Coralie Fargeat), Best Actress (Demi Moore), Best Supporting Actress (Margaret Qualley), and Best Screenplay in a much-needed supercharge to its awards momentum. Unfortunately, Dune: Part Two missed two key nominations in Best Director for Denis Villeneuve, as well as Best Screenplay, though the film did show up in Best Picture (Drama), and Best Score for Hans Zimmer, whose music was deemed officially ineligible for Oscar competition by the Academy yesterday. Sing Sing and Piano Lesson hopefuls Clarence Maclin and Danielle Deadwyler were also absent from their respective Supporting performance categories. The larger crop of nominations in both the film and television categories more or less followed the expected trends with limited exceptions, but we’ll have to see just how consequential those trends become in the months ahead. A full list of the 2025 Golden Globe nominees is below.

FILM

​Best Motion Picture (Drama):

• The Brutalist
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Nickel Boys
• September 5

​Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy):

• Anora
• Challengers
• Emilia Pérez
• A Real Pain
• The Substance
• Wicked

​Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama):

• Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl
• Angelina Jolie, Maria
• Nicole Kidman, Babygirl
• Tilda Swinton, The Room Next Door
• Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
• Kate Winslet, Lee

​Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama):

• Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
• Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
• Daniel Craig, Queer
• Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
• Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
• Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

​Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy):

• Amy Adams, Nightbitch
• Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
• Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
• Mikey Madison, Anora
• Demi Moore, The Substance
• Zendaya, Challengers

​Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy):

• Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
• Hugh Grant, Heretic
• Gabirel Labelle, Saturday Night
• Jesse Plemons, Kinds of Kindness
• Glen Powell, Hit Man
• Sebastian Stan, A Different Man

​Best Supporting Actress in Any Motion Picture:

• Selena Gomez, Emilia Pérez
• Ariana Grande, Wicked
• Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
• Margaret Qualley, The Substance
• Isabelle Rossellini, Conclave
• Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

​Best Supporting Actor in Any Motion Picture:

• Yura Borisov, Anora
• Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
• Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
• Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
• Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
• Denzel Washington, Gladiator II

​Best Director (Motion Picture):

• Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
• Sean Baker, Anora
• Edward Berger, Conclave
• Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
• Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
• Payal Kapadia, All We Imagine as Light

Best Screenplay (Motion Picture):

• Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
• Sean Baker, Anora
• Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist
• Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
• Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
• Peter Straughan, Conclave

Best Motion Picture (Animated):

• Flow
• Inside Out 2
• Memoir of a Snail
• Moana 2
• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Foul

​Best Motion Picture (Non-English Language):

• All We Imagine as Light (USA/France/India)
• Emilia Pérez (France)
• The Girl with the Needle (Poland/Sweden/Denmark)
• I’m Still Here (Brazil)
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany)
• Vermiglio (Italy)

​Best Original Score (Motion Picture):

• Volker Bertelmann, Conclave
• Daniel Blumberg, The Brutalist
• Kris Bowers, The Wild Robot
• Clément Ducol & Camille, Emilia Pérez
• Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Challengers
• Hans Zimmer, Dune: Part Two

Best Original Song (Motion Picture):

• “Beautiful That Way,” The Last Showgirl
• “Compress/Repress,” Challengers
• “El Mal,” Emilia Pérez
• “Forbidden Road,” Better Man
• “Kiss the Sky,” The Wild Robot
• “Mi Camino,” Emilia Pérez

​Cinematic and Box Office Achievement:

• Alien: Romulus
• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
• Deadpool & Wolverine
• Gladiator II
• Inside Out 2
• Twisters
• Wicked
• The Wild Robot

TELEVISION

Best Series (Drama):

• The Day of the Jackal
• The Diplomat
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith
• Shōgun
• Slow Horses
• Squid Game

Best Series (Musical or Comedy):

• Abbott Elementary
• The Bear
• The Gentlemen
• Hacks
• Nobody Wants This
• Only Murders in the Building

Best Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television:

• Baby Reindeer
• Disclaimer
• Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
• The Penguin
• Ripley
• True Detective: Night Country

​Best Actress in a Television Series (Drama):

• Kathy Bates, Matlock
• Emma D’Arcy, House of the Dragon
• Maya Erskine, Mr. and Mrs. Smith
• Kiera Knightly, Black Doves
• Keri Russell, The Diplomat
• Anna Sawai, Shōgun

Best Actor in a Television Series (Drama):

• Donald Glover, Mr. and Mrs. Smith
• Jake Gyllenhaal, Presumed Innocent
• Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
• Hiroyuki Sanada, Shōgun
• Billy Bob Thornton, Landman

​Best Actress in a Television Series (Musical or Comedy):

• Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This
• Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
• Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
• Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
• Kathryn Hahn, Agatha All Along
• Jean Smart, Hacks

Best Actor in a Television Series (Musical or Comedy):

• Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This
• Ted Danson, A Man on the Inside
• Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
• Jason Segel, Shrinking
• Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
• Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television:

• Cate Blanchett, Disclaimer
• Jodie Foster, True Detective: Night Country
• Cristin Milioti, The Penguin
• Sofía Vergara, Griselda
• Naomi Watts, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans
• Kate Winslet, The Regime

Best Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television:

• Colin Farrell, The Penguin
• Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer
• Kevin Kline, Disclaimer
• Cooper Koch, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
• Ewan McGregor, A Gentleman in Moscow
• Andrew Scott, Ripley

Best Supporting Actress in Any Television Series:

• Liza Colón-Zayas, The Bear
• Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
• Dakota Fanning, Ripley
• Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer
• Allison Janney, The Diplomat
• Kali Reis, True Detective: Night Country

Best Supporting Actor in Any Television Series:

• Tadanobu Asano, Shōgun
• Javier Bardem, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
• Harrison Ford, Shrinking
• Jack Lowden, Slow Horses
• Diego Luna, La Máquina
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear

​Best Stand-Up Comedy Performance:

• Jamie Foxx, Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was
• Nikki Glaser, Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die
• Seth Meyers, Seth Meyers: Dad Man Walking
• Adam Sandler, Adam Sandler: Love You
• Ali Wong, Ali Wong: Single Lady
• Ramy Youssef, Ramy Youssef: More Feelings

​What do you think of these nominations? Are there any you’re psyched to see, or bummed out not to see? Let us know in the comments section below, and keep your eyes peeled for more awards season content, coming soon!

- The Friendly Film Fan