Oscars 2025 highlights: big losses for Wicked and Demi Moore as Anora sweeps

The Oscars took place last night, bringing what has been one of the most unpredictable and drama-filled award seasons to a close finally.

Following last year’s inevitable Oppenheimer sweep, many major categories including Best Picture and Best Actress felt like they could go any number of ways this year, with multiple titanic candidates vying for the top spots and all of the satellite award ceremonies in the run up producing different results.

We’ve pulled the highlights from the evening together to get you quickly up to speed this morning.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande open the show with a Wizard of Oz themed medley

Although neither actress took home a trophy, it was still a great evening for Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande who opened the show with a performance of songs from the great lineage of works inspired by The Wizard of Oz. Grande kicked things off with a rendition of ‘Over the Rainbow’, a nod to Judy Garland’s turn as Dorothy, followed by Erivo singing ‘Home’ from The Wiz. The pair brought their memorable awards season campaign to a close by then joining together for a moving and handheld rendition of ‘Defying Gravity’ from Wicked.

Although Erivo later lost out on Best Actress to Mikey Madison and Grande was pipped to the post in Best Supporting Actress by Emilia Peréz star Zoe Saldaña, both have undoubtedly been two of the brightest stars in film in the last year, and with the Wicked: For Good just around the corner, we are relieved to know we can look forward to them doing it all over again next winter.

Anora sweeps the night

Despite heavy competition from films like The Brutalist, Wicked and I’m Still Here, it turned out to be Anora’s night. The film took home a total of five awards, and director Sean Baker made history as the first director to ever take home four Oscars for one film – Best Director, Best Editing, Best Original Screenplay and, of course, the evening’s top prize, Best Picture.

The film tells the story of a sex worker in New York who marries the son of a Russian oligarch and mayhem ensues as his family attempt to get the marriage annulled.

Mikey Madison pips Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres to the post

Best Actress is always one of the most closely watched categories and this year’s race was tighter than ever with multiple heavyweights battling it out and each picking up trophies across the season. In the end though, Anora star Mikey Madison defied expectations of many critics and predictors by taking home the prize in what was both her first Oscar nomination and win.

Madison most notably beat star of The Substance Demi Moore who has been been on a mighty campaign trail and most recently succeeded against Madison at the SAG Awards. Fernanda Torres was another actress in serious contention for her moving performance in the Brazilian film I’m Still Here. In what was a stacked category, Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo and Emilia Peréz star Karla Sofía Gascón were also vying for the prize.

Karla Sofía Gascón’s anticipated reappearance

Gascón, the trans actress who plays the titular Emilia Peréz, has been at the centre of the biggest awards season drama in what has been a truly cinematic arc to follow. The actress made history as the first trans person to be nominated for Best Actress and was an early frontrunner for the win. However, her hopes were dashed amid a scandal involving the resurfacing of a number of her old tweets which saw the actress making racist and derogatory remarks about a variety of topics, including the Oscars itself.

Netflix and Gascón’s co-stars Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez quickly sought to distance themselves from the actress as they attempted to salvage their own campaigns, with the streamer removing her from press materials and pulling her from the awards circuit.

Given the furore surrounding her, fans and the media alike were waiting with bated breath to see if she would attend the Oscars and sure enough, she was there. After strategically swerving the red carpet, the actress was sat in attendance and appeared on camera as host Conan O’Brien made jokes about her scandal in his opening monologue. “A little fact for you, Anora uses the ‘F-word’ 479 times,” O’Brien said. “That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist.

He later pointed out the actress’s presence, saying: “Karla Sofía Gascón is here tonight. And Karla if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, remember, my name is Jimmy Kimmel.” The star maintained composure as she was seen smiling from the audience.

The New York Times reported the actress appeared to be in good spirits at the ceremony, despite Netflix preventing her from speaking to press.

Conclave takes home Best Adapted Screenplay

In the only victory for LGBTQ+ representation on the night, Conclave took the prize for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film, which stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini, beat out competition from A Complete Unknown, Emilia Peréz, Nickel Boys and Sing Sing.

Conclave tells the story of a group of cardinals who must decide who will be the next pope following the death of the previous pope. The film’s climax comes at the very end after it is revealed that the newly annointed pope is intersex and had, at one point in their past, been due to undergo gender affirming surgery. It has been praised by some as a rare example of intersex representation on the big screen.

Emilia Peréz wins twice – but winners fail to mention trans community

Emilia Peréz has been one of the most divisive and controversial Oscars contenders in recent memory. Despite being the most nominated film of the night with a staggering 13 nominations, just one less than the most nominated film of all time, the film has also attracted a huge amount of criticism from various communities over its depiction of trans issues and its representation of Mexico where much of the film is set.

In the end, the film succeeded in just two categories – Zoe Saldaña beat out competition from Felicity Jones, Isabella Rossellini, Ariana Grande and Monica Barbaro to win Best Supporting Actress, whilst ‘El Mal’ from the film’s soundtrack was awarded Best Original Song. Sadly, neither Saldaña nor the songwriters took the opportunity to speak about the trans community in their acceptance speeches which seems like a shame given their wins are off the back of a film that relies so heavily on the story of a trans woman’s transition.

The film’s director Jacques Audiard later acknowledged this omission at the post-ceremony press conference, saying that as he did not win Best Picture or Best Director he did not have the opportunity to do so but had he won he would have mentioned the trans community. The director did take to the stage with the songwriting duo Clement Ducol and Camille when they accepted their award.

You can find the full list of winners below:

Best Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldana for Emilia Peréz

Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain

International Film: I’m Still Here

Documentary Feature: No Other Land

Original Song: ‘El Mal’ from Emilia Peréz

Original Screenplay: Sean Baker for Anora

Adapted Screenplay: Peter Straughan for Conclave

Animated Film: Flow

Visual Effects: Dune: Part Two

Costume Design: Paul Tazewell for Wicked

Cinematography: Lol Crawley for The Brutalist

Documentary Short Film: The Only Girl in the Orchestra

Best Sound: Dune: Part Two

Production Design: Wicked

Makeup and Hairstyling: The Substance

Film Editing: Sean Baker for Anora

Live Action Short Film: I’m Not a Robot

Animated Short Film: In the Shadow of the Cypress

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