Who will win, could win and should win the 2025 Oscars, and who should have been nominated this year? Read our predictions for the 97th Academy Awards!
The Oscars 2025 are approaching, and it’s time to make our predictions! Who will win, could win, and should win at the 97th Academy Awards, and who should have been nominated? The Loud and Clear Reviews writers take a look at this year’s nominees and guess the winners!
Keep scrolling for all our predictions on who will, could and should win the Oscars on March 2, 2025! And if you’d like to make your own guesses, download our Oscars 2025 printable .pdf ballot sheet! Do you agree with our picks? Let us know on our socials!
Best Picture
- Anora
- The Brutalist
- A Complete Unknown
- Conclave
- Dune: Part Two
- Emilia Pérez
- I’m Still Here
- Nickel Boys
- The Substance
- Wicked
The Best Picture race is an interesting category this year. Ever since I first saw The Brutalist, back at the Venice Film Festival, I was so sure that the film was going to win all the awards this year. Yet by the time the nominations were announced, it was already clear that Brady Corbet’s epic was going to have some competition, given the success of movies like A Complete Unknown and Conclave. Then came the first awards, which were completely dominated by Sean Baker’s Anora. The Palme d’Or-winning movie won the top prizes at the Critics Choice Awards, Directors Guild of America, Producers Guild of America, and Spirit Awards, and received acclaim in the UK too, winning Best International Independent Film at the British Independent Film Awards.
Right now, it looks like Anora‘s only real competition might be Conclave, which has just won a BAFTA for Best Picture, and earned the Best Ensemble prize at the Critics Choice Awards and SAG. Most of the nominees are fantastic films and it’s particularly exciting to see I’m Still Here among them, which absolutely deserves recognition, yet it’s a shame that Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing, one of the year’s best films, didn’t make the cut. (Serena Seghedoni)
Achievement in Directing
- Sean Baker — Anora
- Brady Corbet — The Brutalist
- James Mangold — A Complete Unknown
- Jacques Audiard — Emilia Pérez
- Coralie Fargeat — The Substance
At the start of this awards season, one of the categories I was most confident in was directing. There wasn’t a world where I did not believe Brady Corbet would sweep, especially with such a high achievement as The Brutalist. Then came the Critics Choice Awards and DGA, where John Chu and Sean Baker won against Corbet respectively. With Anora being a frontrunner in almost all of the categories it is nominated for, it is a toss-up for which one The Academy will actually go for, but I think director is one of them. I might be putting too much weight into Corbet losing the Critic’s Choice because he or Baker not winning is truly baffling, but at this point, I believe going with the DGA win makes the most sense. (Jonathan Vargas)
- Will Win: Sean Baker — Anora
- Could Win: Brady Corbet — The Brutalist
- Should Win: Coralie Fargeat — The Substance
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Ramell Ross — Nickel Boys
Best Actor in a Leading Role
- Adrien Brody — The Brutalist
- Timothee Chalamet — A Complete Unknown
- Colman Domingo — Sing Sing
- Ralph Fiennes — Conclave
- Sebastian Stan — The Apprentice
This is a fascinating race because it seems like, according to all conventional wisdom, this should absolutely be Adrien Brody’s race to win. He’s taken home all three major precursors that have been given out so far, with wins at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and BAFTA, and the smart money would be on him to take home the big prize on Oscar night as The Brutalist looks to be poised for a big showing.
But the race has gotten a much-needed shake-up in the form of the generational press run that Timothée Chalamet has been on over the past few months, as he’s been promoting A Complete Unknown and his performance as Bob Dylan. Especially after his win at SAG, there is definitely a lot of momentum swinging in Chalamet’s direction to pull off the potential upset and break Brody’s record to become the new youngest Best Actor winner ever.
But with that said, it’s still hard at this point to go with anyone but Brody to win the award this year. (Michael Carvelli)
- Will Win: Adrien Brody — The Brutalist
- Could Win: Timothee Chalamet — A Complete Unknown
- Should Win: Colman Domingo — Sing Sing
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Jesse Eisenberg — A Real Pain
Best Actress in a Leading Role
- Cynthia Erivo — Wicked
- Karla Sofía Gascón — Emilia Pérez
- Mikey Madison — Anora
- Demi Moore — The Substance
- Fernanda Torres — I’m Still Here
Best Actress has been one of the most turbulent and unpredictable categories throughout this year’s awards season, and with little over a week until the Academy Awards, the race isn’t looking any clearer. Anora’s Mikey Madison was the predicted frontrunner for a long while, given her immense success at the critics guilds in the back end of last year, but this dominance was later shattered by the industry’s decision to favor Demi Moore for her work in The Substance. The two actresses have been battling for first place ever since, with Madison’s momentum gradually slowing down as the industry awards have become more prominent and Moore has found clearer success. The latter won both the Golden Globe and the Critics Choice Award, which seemingly confirmed her as the frontrunner.
However, the race is far from over. Mikey Madison recently took home the BAFTA for Best Actress instead of Demi Moore, proving that she’s still putting up a fight. And there’s also the outside threat of Fernanda Torres to compete with, who carried her film I’m Still Here to a Best Picture spot without any other acting or directing nominations. There’s a lot of passion behind Torres’ performance, and while she only has the Golden Globe for Drama under her belt, it could ultimately prove enough. The only nominees without a clear path to victory are Cynthia Erivo and Karla Sofía Gascón, the latter of which has been embroiled in a public controversy over recent months regarding exposed social media posts from her past. (Jack Walters)
- Will Win: Mikey Madison — Anora
- Could Win: Demi Moore — The Substance
- Should Win: Mikey Madison — Anora
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Angelina Jolie — Maria
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- Yura Borisov — Anora
- Kieran Culkin — A Real Pain
- Edward Norton — A Complete Unknown
- Guy Pearce — The Brutalist
- Jeremy Strong — The Apprentice
There’s a clear frontrunner in the Best Supporting Actor category, and it’s A Real Pain‘s Kieran Culkin. The Succession star has been winning all the awards these past few months, including a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice Award, a BAFTA, and just a few days ago, a SAG too. This is a very strong category though, as every single nominee gave Oscar-worthy turns in their respective movies. It looks Kieran Culkin’s main competition is Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown), but I think we shouldn’t rule out Anora‘s Yura Borisov either. Personally, I would be very happy if any of these actors won. (Serena Seghedoni)
- Will Win: Kieran Culkin — A Real Pain
- Could Win: Edward Norton — A Complete Unknown; Yura Borisov — Anora
- Should Win: Yura Borisov — Anora; Kieran Culkin — A Real Pain
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Denzel Washington — Gladiator II; Stanley Tucci — Conclave; Jonathan Bailey — Wicked
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- Monica Barbaro — A Complete Unknown
- Ariana Grande — Wicked
- Felicity Jones — The Brutalist
- Isabella Rossellini — Conclave
- Zoe Saldaña — Emilia Pérez
Zoe Saldaña’s first Oscar win seems set in stone. She has already won awards at Cannes, the Golden Globes, and the BAFTAs, and is a leading light in an otherwise unsavoury, unenjoyable film. Saldaña showcases a wide range of emotions, but also gives us a very physical performance with some terrific vocals too.
Other standouts from the category are Ariana Grande and Felicity Jones. In Wicked, Grande’s character is supporting, but she is very much Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba’s equal. It’s one of the best and funniest supporting turns in years. Jones doesn’t appear until the second half of The Brutalist (although that still weighs in at over 90 minutes), but she is a wonderful addition who completes this spectacular film. She also gives one of the scene-stealing moments of the year near the end of Brady Corbet’s epic.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor’s omission for her deeply emotive and transfixing role in Nickel Boys is a real shame. (William Stottor)
- Will Win: Zoe Saldaña — Emilia Pérez
- Could Win: Felicity Jones — The Brutalist
- Should Win: Ariana Grande — Wicked
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor — Nickel Boys
Best Original Screenplay
- Sean Baker — Anora
- Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David — September 5
- Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold — The Brutalist
- Jesse Eisenberg — A Real Pain
- Coralie Fargeat — The Substance
In some ways, we head into the Academy Awards with this being one of the more wide open categories out there. Sean Baker’s Anora won at WGA, Jesse Eisenberg picked up a win at BAFTA for A Real Pain, while Critics Choice went to Coralie Fargeat and The Substance. Throw in Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold’s screenplay for The Brutalist and the potential for such a big night for that film, and this really seems like things are up in the air.
Even with all of this, it seems like Baker is in line to have a monster night and Anora’s rise as a Best Picture frontrunner puts this up at the top of the list. I think there’s a good chance that voters will likely see The Substance as too polarizing and niche to earn the screenplay prize, and the fact that it’s been 20 years since a film not nominated for Best Picture won Best Original Screenplay makes it feel unlikely that A Real Pain will be able to break through.
It could be a win on the road to a record-setting night for Baker, who could be just the second person in Oscar history to win four awards in one night. (Michael Carvelli)
- Will Win: Sean Baker — Anora
- Could Win: Coralie Fargeat — The Substance
- Should Win: Jesse Eisenberg — A Real Pain
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Sean Wang — Dìdi; Mike Leigh — Hard Truths
Best Adapted Screenplay
- A Complete Unknown — James Mangold and Jay Cocks
- Conclave — Peter Straughan
- Emilia Pérez — Jacques Audiard, In collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi
- Nickel Boys — RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
- Sing Sing — Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John “Divine G” Whitfield
Adapted Screenplay always proves to be an exciting category during award season and, especially, at the Oscars. This year, the Academy Awards have recognised some excellent films for their writing, some of which definitely deserved more attention during this year’s award season, especially Nickel Boys and Sing Sing. After its recent win at the BAFTAs, where the film ended up winning a lot of the categories it was nominated in, Conclave seems to be the most likely recipient in this category. However, Nickel Boys might very well surprise us. The latter was very well received by critics and won various awards for its screenplay, including the Satellite Awards and the Writers Guild of America Award.
While either of those would deserve a win, A Complete Unknown and Emilia Pérez, on the other hand, seem to be the weakest nominees. Neither of them particularly stood out to me in terms of their writing and screenplay, despite their respective achievements in other areas. There are also some notable absences. It is especially sad to see the winner of the Award for Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival, I’m Still Here, missing out on an Oscar nomination in this category. While expected for a film not in the English language, it would have been nice to see the movie recognised for its writing as well. (Clotilde Chinnici)
- Will Win: Conclave
- Could Win: Nickel Boys
- Should Win: Nickel Boys
- Should’ve Been Nominated: I’m Still Here
Best Animated Feature
- Flow
- Inside Out 2
- Memoir of a Snail
- Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
- The Wild Robot
Similarly to last year, Animated Feature is a tight two-horse race. Both Flow and The Wild Robot are remarkable achievements in animation, and if they hadn’t both come out in the same year, I think they each could have swept this category. However, from the moment I saw The Wild Robot, I had a feeling it would be our winner here, and I still think that is the case.
Flow is putting up one hell of a fight, though. It has remained in theatres consistently during the last few months, and it went on Max right when final voting started. It has a great narrative to win, especially because director Gints Zilbalodis has been very vocal about how he made this movie on a free platform and how unexpected all this acclaim is, but I think this is a situation where the nomination is the award.
With The Wild Robot being the more “traditional” winner, the director, animation legend Chris Sanders has never won an Oscar before and this being Dreamworks’ last self-produced film, it just feels too right to change predictions now. (Jonathan Vargas)
- Will Win: The Wild Robot
- Could Win: Flow
- Should Win: The Wild Robot
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Transformers One
Best Cinematography
- The Brutalist — Lol Crawley
- Dune: Part Two — Greig Fraser
- Emilia Pérez — Paul Guilhaume
- Maria — Ed Lachman
- Nosferatu — Jarin Blaschke
Best Cinematography is another open-ended category at this year’s Academy Awards, as three of the five nominees have all been nominated at every single precursor. The only films that haven’t performed consistently are Emilia Pérez and Maria, which were both included at the Oscars despite no preexisting nominations. Of the remaining three, it’s The Brutalist and Nosferatu that are leading the charge. These are the movies that won the BAFTAs and Critics Choice Awards in this category, and the Oscars could easily go with either one. The most obvious solution is to predict the film that’s performing the best in other categories, which is clearly The Brutalist – but this isn’t always a safe assumption.
While the Best Cinematography award sometimes goes to a Best Picture frontrunner (such as last year, with Oppenheimer), there are many recent examples where this isn’t the case: both All Quiet On The Western Front and Dune took home this award, despite never standing a chance at Best Picture. However, it’s also worth noting that in these cases, the eventual Best Picture winners weren’t even nominated for Best Cinematography. So needless to say, the statistics aren’t particularly helpful here. It’s tempting to favor The Brutalist for two reasons: its several other nominations (also in technical categories, such as Best Original Score and Best Editing), and the fact that Nosferatu’s cinematographer Jarin Blaschke was snubbed for both The Northman and The Witch. (Jack Walters)
- Will Win: The Brutalist
- Could Win: Nosferatu
- Should Win: Nosferatu
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Conclave
Best Costume Design
- A Complete Unknown — Arianne Phillips
- Conclave — Lisy Christl
- Gladiator II — Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
- Nosferatu — Linda Muir
- Wicked — Paul Tazewell
Costume Design is fascinating: this year, the Academy Awards are celebrating a wide range of achievements in this category. From the stunning period costumes in Nosferatu to the real-life inspired ones in a biopic like A Complete Unknown, the nominees for the 2025 Oscars are very strong. Widely successful both at the box office and critically, as the film was nominated in an impressive amount of categories during this award season, Wicked has so far gone on to win multiple accolades for its costume design, including many Film Critics Society awards, the Satellite Awards, the BAFTAs, and the Critics Choice just to name a few. It is relatively easy, then, to guess that the movie might score a well-deserved win at the Academy Awards too for its excellent work in using costume design to tell the story on screen.
Unfortunately, Maria seems to be the forgotten film of the season, since it only got one nomination for Best Cinematography this year. It is a shame not to see it included in this category, especially as a movie that definitely distinguished itself for its costume design in recreating some of the most iconic outfits Maria Callas wore in real life. After all, Massimo Cantini Parrini’s work in the film has been recognised on other occasions during this award season, such as the Critics Choice Awards and Satellite Awards, and would have deserved a nod at the Oscars too. (Clotilde Chinnici)
- Will Win: Wicked
- Could Win: Conclave
- Should Win: Conclave
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Maria
Best Film Editing
- Anora — Sean Baker
- The Brutalist — David Jancso
- Conclave — Nick Emerson
- Emilia Pérez — Juliette Welfling
- Wicked — Myron Kerstein
The race will be between Conclave and Anora, but with the recent BAFTA results, Conclave is the favorite. It would be a well-deserved win for editor Nick Emerson (Eileen, Lady Macbeth, Emma.), whose work was essential in making Conclave flow as well as it does. It would also be a long overdue win for Anora‘s writer-director Sean Baker, who also edits all his movies – and who clearly had a vision for Anora that couldn’t have been executed as well by anyone else. It feels like a Best Editing award has been a long time coming for Baker, given his fantastic work in gems like The Florida Project and Red Rocket too, so the Academy might choose to recognize that instead. Still, with all the awards that Anora is going to win this year, a win for Conclave feels like the most likely result. (Serena Seghedoni)
- Will Win: Conclave
- Could Win: Anora
- Should Win: Conclave
- Should’ve Been Nominated: The Substance — Jerome Eltabet, Coralie Fargeat & Valentin Féron
Best Makeup & Hairstyling
- A Different Man — Mike Marino, David Presto, Crystal Jurade
- Emilia Pérez — Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier, Jean-Christophe Spadaccini
- Nosferatu — David White, Traci Loader, Suzanne Stokes-Munton
- The Substance — Pierre-Oliver Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, Marilyne Scarselli
- Wicked — Frances Hannon, Laura Blount, Sarah Nuth
What a fantastic year for this particular category. Emilia Pérez and Nosferatu are both worthy nominations, the latter utilising hair and make-up to solidify its characters and the former using it to enhance its irresistible gothic atmosphere. A Different Man is a film about physical appearances and transformation; Sebastian Stan spends the first part of the film in heavy prosthetics that respectfully and accurately depict his character’s neurofibromatosis.
A Different Man could be a dark horse contender, but the frontrunners seem to be Wicked and The Substance, two wildly different films. Wicked seems like the most obvious choice on paper: every character is heavily stylised, from Elphaba’s green skin and Glinda’s cosmetic-heavy face to Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh’s extravagant hairstyles. The Substance is a fascinating film with some tremendous body horror elements. There is the impressive full-body transformation that Elisabeth Sparkle goes through, but also subtler notes such as scars on a body or the juxtaposition of younger and older faces. (William Stottor)
- Will Win: The Substance
- Could Win: Wicked
- Should Win: The Substance
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Longlegs — Felix Fox and Harlow Macfarlane
Best Production Design
- The Brutalist — Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia
- Conclave — Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter
- Dune: Part Two — Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
- Nosferatu — Production Design: Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová
- Wicked — Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
Production design is one of the easiest categories of the night for me. Oftentimes, this award goes to the film that does the best “world-building,” which particularly lends itself to a new property that audiences have never seen on the big screen in this way before such as Poor Things, Dune, and Black Panther. This year, the movie that best fits this category is Wicked. Especially since the campaign team has been doing such a great job highlighting a lot of the intricate details in these massive set pieces, I don’t see how it does not win with ease. (Jonathan Vargas)
- Will Win: Wicked
- Could Win: The Brutalist
- Should Win: Nosferatu
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Best Sound
- A Complete Unknown — Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco
- Dune: Part Two — Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill
- Emilia Pérez — Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta
- Wicked — Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis
- The Wild Robot — Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts
Best Sound is one of the tougher categories to predict because there are not a lot of precursors to go off of. The Cinema Audio Society went with A Complete Unknown here, but I don’t see that repeating, especially since that would be my only predicted win for this film. Even with this lack of precursors, I believe Dune: Part Two will be the winner here. In 2022, Dune won six Oscars, and sound is one of the two I think it will repeat here. On Wicked’s best day, I could see it winning this category too, since it is a musical with a lot of stellar crafts, but I think this is Dune: Part Two’s category to lose at this point in the race. (Jonathan Vargas)
- Will Win: Dune: Part Two
- Could Win: Wicked
- Should Win: Dune: Part Two
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Nosferatu
Best Visual Effects
- Alien: Romulus
- Better Man
- Dune: Part Two
- Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
- Wicked
Dune: Part Two seems to be the favorite so far, and deserves the win as a visual spectacle with effects that are crucial to the storytelling in the film and done so well that you’re able to not think about how many VFX shots were needed to do it.
Among the other possibilities, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which won recently with the Visual Effects Society, seamlessly integrates motion capture to have its characters function in the world created by the film — as did Better Man. Wicked, like Dune: Part Two, will get a boost from its Best Picture nomination and had a number of fantastic moments using CG to create the magic and wonder of Oz.
Even with the franchise winning once already, it does feel like this is going to be Dune: Part Two’s award to lose. But it would be a fun upset to see Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes come in and pick up an upset to earn recognition for the franchise’s outstanding work in visual effects. (Michael Carvelli)
- Will Win: Dune: Part Two
- Could Win: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
- Should Win: Dune: Part Two
- Should’ve Been Nominated: The Substance
Best Original Score
- The Brutalist — Daniel Blumberg
- Conclave — Volker Bertelmann
- Emilia Pérez — Clément Ducol and Camille
- Wicked — John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
- The Wild Robot — Kris Bowers
The Best Original Score category at the 97th Academy Awards is a baffling one. There are some incredible highs in the form of The Brutalist and Conclave, and excruciating lows in the divisive musical Emilia Pérez. The latter is made up of forgettable, often painful songs (somehow two of them have made it into the Best Original Song category).
John Powell and Stephen Schwartz’s original score for Wicked, which eloquently accompanies the film’s soundtrack of songs from the original musical, is a strong contender, but perhaps not containing anything special enough to warrant a win. The Wild Robot is neither high nor low; instead, it is so depressingly mid that it is hard to remember a single note from it.
The Brutalist seems like the most likely, and deserved, winner. Blumberg’s epic, sweeping score is the perfect conduit to Brady Corbet’s fascinating American Dream epic. From the opening swells of “Overture (Ship)” to the haunting melancholy of “Heroin”, The Brutalist will be richly warranted winner of this award. (William Stottor)
- Will Win: The Brutalist — Daniel Blumberg
- Could Win: Conclave — Volker Bertelmann
- Should Win: The Brutalist — Daniel Blumberg
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Queer— Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Best Original Song
- “El Mal” – Emilia Pérez (Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard)
- “The Journey” – The Six Triple Eight (Diane Warren)
- “Like a Bird” – Sing Sing (Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada)
- “Mi Camino” – Emilia Pérez (Camille and Clément Ducol)
- “Never Too Late” – Elton John: Never Too Late (Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
With two songs in this category, it seems that Emilia Pérez is the overwhelming favourite here. However, whilst “El Mal” won the Golden Globe and is still the likely choice, those recent controversies surrounding the film may open the door for a history-making moment. Diane Warren has been nominated here a whopping 16 times yet has never won a competitive Oscar (she won an honorary award in 2022). Could now finally be her time? Her song for Tyler Perry’s war drama The Six Triple Eight is the closest challenger to Emilia Pérez.
Personally, I think the best nominee here is Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada’s catchy and soulful closing song for Sing Sing, “Like A Bird”. And where is “Compress, Repress”? Challengers has been unfairly shut out of this year’s Academy Awards, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ brilliant track is no exception (Daniel Allen)
- Will Win: “El Mal” – Emilia Pérez
- Could Win: “The Journey” – The Six Triple Eight
- Should Win: “Like a Bird” – Sing Sing
- Should’ve Been Nominated: “Compress, Repress” – Challengers (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
Best Documentary Feature
- Black Box Diaries
- No Other Land
- Porcelain War
- Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
- Sugarcane
There isn’t a clear favourite here, which means there is an opportunity for a remarkable film to take this honour. No Other Land certainly fits that description, perhaps because it still has no US distribution deal (which is unheard of for a film in any of the major categories). A collaborative documentary that chronicles Israel’s forced demolition of Palestinian villages (and the acts of unwavering resilience and resistance), it is a truly fearless piece of filmmaking.
No Other Land would absolutely be a deserved winner. However, Black Box Diaries or the Ukraine war documentary Porcelain War might pose a shock in what is a strong category (shout out to the engagingly ambitious Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat). It would have been an even stronger category if Daughters – a complex and powerful film about a daddy-daughter prison dance – had made the final five. (Daniel Allen)
- Will Win: No Other Land
- Could Win: Black Box Diaries/Porcelain War
- Should Win: No Other Land
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Daughters
Best International Feature Film
- I’m Still Here
- The Girl with the Needle
- Emilia Pérez
- The Seed of the Sacred Fig
- Flow
While it may only seem like a minor category to most, International Feature Film is always one of my favourites. I do wish there was more space to celebrate non-English language films during the award season, but this category always shines a spotlight on movies that can broaden our minds to entirely different words and realities we may not be familiar with. For example, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, is an incredible story of political unrest in Iran, mirrored by the real-life tale of censorship that affected the making of the film. Some of these movies were also nominated in more than one category, such as Emilia Pérez, which received a grand total of 13 nominations, and Flow, which was selected for both International Feature Film and Animation.
Most notably, Walter Salles’ film is in the running for two other major categories: Best Picture and Best Actress in a Leading Role. Interestingly, almost every movie that was nominated in both the Best International Feature Film category and in Best Film then went on to win the former, which makes I’m Still Here a very likely candidate for this Oscar race. The fact that I’m Still Here is nominated in more than one category is extremely promising for the movie. Not only is this a sign of how much the Academy liked this film, but it is also quite rare – even if less so in recent years – for non-English language films to be nominated in multiple categories at the Academy Awards. (Clotilde Chinnici)
- Will Win: I’m Still Here
- Could Win: The Seed of the Sacred Fig
- Should Win: I’m Still Here
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Vermiglio
Best Animated Short Film
- Beautiful Men
- In the Shadow of the Cypress
- Magic Candies
- Wander to Wonder
- Yuck!
While the shorts categories often go overlooked at the Oscars, there are always some brilliant hidden gems among the nominees that deserve recognition. This year boasts a particularly strong lineup, with films from several different countries and production studios. The race essentially comes down to two candidates: Iranian family drama In The Shadow Of The Cypress and Dutch/British sentimental comedy Wander to Wonder. These are the films that have performed strongest among critics, with the latter picking up the BAFTA for Best British Short Film.
However, this category is never easy to predict, and it’s rarely a good idea to stick too closely with the precursors. The Oscars love to throw in some surprises with the shorts, which has many experts leaning towards In The Shadow Of The Cypress as the favorite. The film is an extremely powerful and topical story about how mental health (particularly PTSD) can manifest in different situations and how best to navigate these struggles – and it may prove impossible for voters to resist. In combination with its multiple critics’ nominations throughout awards season, this may be enough to push In The Shadow of The Cypress over the edge. (Jack Walters)
- Will Win: In the Shadow of the Cypress
- Could Win: Wander to Wonder
- Should Win: In the Shadow of the Cypress
- Should’ve Been Nominated: A Bear Named Wojtek
Best Live Action Short Film
- A Lien
- Anuja
- I’m Not a Robot
- The Last Ranger
- The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
This category’s award usually goes to films about important subjects, and Nebojša Slijepčević’s The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, about the 1993 Štrpci massacre, would fit that description. The film chronicles the abduction and execution of nineteen passengers of a train as part of an ethnic cleansing operation by the Serbian militia. The film is a bleak but effective watch, and it would be consistent with the Academy’s track record in this category. Still, last year the award went to Wes Anderson’s much lighter The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, which gives Netflix’s (slightly) more uplifting Anuja – about a 9-year-old garment factory worker who gets the chance to attend school – a chance as well. (Serena Seghedoni)
- Will Win: The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
- Could Win: Anuja
- Should Win: Anuja
- Should’ve Been Nominated: The Ice Cream Man
Best Documentary Short Film
- Death by Numbers
- I Am Ready, Warden
- Incident
- Instruments of a Beating Heart
- The Only Girl in the Orchestra
If you haven’t already done so, watch Incident. This documentary short from Bill Morrison (Dawson City, Frozen Time) uses bodycam footage and other surveillance footage to capture a horrific act of police brutality and the chaotic aftermath. It is formally daring and emotionally angering, and you can check it out on YouTube right now.
Although Incident is the undisputed highlight of the Best Documentary Short nominees, the category is an open one. Instruments of a Beating Heart tells the story of Japanese first graders rehearsing ‘Ode to Joy’ for an assembly and might charm voters. As for snubs, Planetwalker was shortlisted and is a thought-provoking portrait of a man who travelled across America to raise awareness of environmental catastrophe. (Daniel Allen)
- Will Win: Incident
- Could Win: Instruments of a Beating Heart
- Should Win: Incident
- Should’ve Been Nominated: Planetwalker
The 97th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 2, 2025 at at 7e|4p! Download our Oscars 2025 printable ballot sheet to make your own predictions!
