Note: This article was written before the Oscars aired on March 2nd, 2025.

It’s almost Oscar season, and this year's nominations for each award have been revealed. From history-making nominations to shocking, snuffed no-noms, let’s take a look at what this year of nominations had to offer.

Starting off with some technological awards. First up, we have the award for Best Visual Effects. The nominated films were Alien Romulus, Better Man, Wicked, Dune: Part Two, and Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes. The next award is Best Cinematography. For the nominees, we have Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, Maria, The Brutalist, and Nosferatu. Next up, for Best Sound, we have Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez (not the last time we’ll see this one), A Complete Unknown, Wicked, and, surprisingly, The Wild Robot, making it the first animated film since 2020 to be nominated for this award. 

Next up are some behind the scenes awards. First up is Best Director. There’s Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, James Mangold for A Complete Unknown, Sean Baker for Anora, Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez, and Coralie Fargeat for The Substance. Next up is Best Original Score. There’s Emilia Pérez, Conclave, Wicked, The Brutalist, and The Wild Robot. Much like Best Sound, it was also in 2020 that an animated film was last nominated for this award. Next up are both Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay. For Adapted Screenplay, there’s Conclave, A Complete Unknown, Nickel Boys, Emilia Pérez, and Sing Sing. For Original Screenplay, there’s Anora, September 5, The Substance, A Real Pain, and The Brutalist.

Now, onto some acting awards. First up is Best Supporting Actress; for the nominees, there is Zoe Zaldana for Emilia Pérez, Felicity Jones for The Brutalist, Monica Barbaro for A Complete Unknown, Ariana Grande for Wicked, and Isabella Rossellini for Conclave. Next up is Best Supporting Actor. The nominees are Guy Pierce for The Brutalist, Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown, Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice, Yuriy Borisov for Anora, and Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain. Now, for Best Lead Actress, the nominees are Demi Moore for The Substance, Karla Sofia Gascon for Emilia Pérez, Mikey Madison for Anora, Cynthia Erivo for Wicked, and Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here. Finally for the acting awards, there is Best Lead Actor. The nominees are Adrian Brody for The Brutalist, Timothee Chalamet for A Complete Unknown, Ralph Fiennes for Conclave, Colman Domingo for Sing Sing, and Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice.

Finally, we have some more major awards. First off, there is Best Animated Feature. The nominated films are Inside Out 2, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Memoir Of A Snail, Flow, and The Wild Robot. For Best International Feature, the nominees are The Girl With The Needle, Emilia Pérez, I’m Still Here, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, and Flow. Finally we have this year’s nominees for Best Picture, the Oscars’ most important award. The nominees are Emilia Pérez, Dune: Part Two, Conclave, Nickel Boys, A Complete Unknown, The Brutalist, Anora, I’m Still Here, The Substance, and Wicked. 

Those are the main highlights. It sure will be interesting to see which films win which awards. There were some interesting choices—for instance, Emilia Pérez got 13 nominations, which has angered many fans; The Wild Robot was nominated for more than 1 award; and Denis Villeneuve was not nominated for Best Director for his work on Dune: Part Two. Now that it's finally Oscar season, let's see if it will be a year of disappointment or a pleasant surprise.