Emilia Pérez Makes History with 13 Nominations at the 2025 Oscars

Ikenna ChurchillJanuary 23, 20252 Mins read24

The Oscars announced the nominees for the 97th Academy Awards on Thursday, with a spate of films based on progressive themes. Emilia Pérez, a musical about trans identity, and The Brutalist, a three-and-a-half-hour epic about immigrant trauma and antisemitism, were among the leaders, earning nominations in nearly every major category, including Best Picture.

This year’s race for Best Picture is especially tight, with no clear favourite. Whereas last year’s Oppenheimer led the awards season from the opening gun, several films are still vying for Hollywood’s highest honour. They include:

• Emilia Pérez, a groundbreaking study in trans identity

• The Brutalist, a potent exploration of immigrant struggles and antisemitism

• Conclave, a Vatican thriller with a twist involving gender identity

• The Substance, a feminist body-horror film

• Nickel Boys is a period drama about a racist reform school in 1960s Florida

• Anora, a Cinderellaesque story of a sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch

• A Real Pain, a comedy-drama about two cousins trying to carry on their grandmother’s legacy

• A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic

• Two blockbusters, Wicked and Dune: Part Two

In 2022, the Academy expanded the Best Picture category to 10 slots as part of its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative.

As expected, Adrien Brody was nominated for Best Actor for his role in The Brutalist, as were Timothée Chalamet for A Complete Unknown, Colman Domingo for Sing Sing, and Ralph Fiennes for Conclave. But the wild card in the category was Sebastian Stan, who played a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice.

Demi Moore (The Substance) has been the clear frontrunner in the Best Actress category since her emotional Golden Globes acceptance speech on Hollywood typecasting. She’s joined by Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Mikey Madison (Anora), Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here), and Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), who made history as the first openly trans actress to receive an Oscar nomination.

Fresh off his win for a Golden Globe for A Real Pain, Kieran Culkin earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Yura Borisov joins him for Anora, Guy Pearce for The Brutalist, Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown and Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice.

For Best Supporting Actress, Zoe Saldaña, as Emilia Pérez, and Ariana Grande, as Wicked, both of whom chose to go supporting despite lead-worthy performances, scored nominations. Rounding out the category were Isabella Rossellini for Conclave, Monica Barbaro for A Complete Unknown, and Felicity Jones for The Brutalist.

For Original Screenplay, nominees include Anora, The Brutalist, A Real Pain, The Substance, and September 5. Nominees for Adapted Screenplay include Conclave, Emilia Pérez, A Complete Unknown, Nickel Boys, and Sing Sing.

With 13 nominations, Emilia Pérez became the most-nominated non-English film in Oscar history, passing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000 and Roma in 2018 at 10 nominations each.

Most-Nominated Films

• Emilia Pérez – 13 nominations

• Wicked, The Brutalist — 10 nominations

• A Complete Unknown, Conclave — 8 nominations

Notable Snubs

Several expected nominees were not cut this year. Denis Villeneuve was once again overlooked for Best Director for Dune: Part Two, despite that film’s success in a number of other categories. Selena Gomez, who earned praise for her performance in Emilia Pérez, was snubbed. Margaret Qualley – The Substance and Challengers, considered contenders for Best Original Score, did not receive nominations.

The 97th Oscars are set to air on March 2, hosted by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott at the Academy headquarters in Beverly Hills, California.

Check out the full list of nominations here.

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