The nominations for the 97th Academy Awards were released on Thursday, January 23rd. With them came the usual amount of celebration, controversy, and confusion from those less than familiar with the ceremony.
This year’s nominations didn’t present many surprises, but the horror genre did find unexpected recognition in The Substance and Nosferatu, while many online arguments were sparked by the divisive Emelia Perez.
This post will serve as a comprehensive guide to the 97th Oscar nominations, as well as a breakdown of the controversies, and some personal opinions, courtesy of yours truly.
Technical
A select few titles dominated the nominations this year, including the technical categories. The technical awards consist of Outstanding Achievement in Visual Effects, Sound, Production Design, Score, Original Song, Makeup and Hairstyling, Editing, Costume Design, and Cinematography.
Typically, these categories serve as an opportunity for films that are otherwise not awards contenders to get their flowers. Projects that aren’t necessarily acting showcases, or backed by a strong screenplay, can still accomplish remarkable feats through the use of technology. Although this was the case for some lone nominees such as Alien: Romulus in Visual Effects, and Maria in Cinematography, many of the categories only varied in their selection from the 10 most popular films. Possibly the worst offender was the controversial (we’ll get to it) Emelia Perez.
The film received 13 nominations overall, out of 23 total categories – the second most in Oscar’s history. While many of these were expected, it occupied extra space in categories that other films may have been better suited for. Several entries it beat out were Challengers in Best Original Score and Best Editing, Civil War in Best Sound, and even Conclave in Best Cinematography. The former two, I personally was rooting for. Their transformative uses of sound and editing truly elevated the medium, which is exactly what The Academy should aim to recognize. Many notable snubs in technical categories can be traced back to Emelia Perez’s powerful influence.
Above the Line
‘Above the Line’ refers to the major roles in filmmaking, including the writers, directors, and principle cast. Many films that have consistently scored nominations at precursor ceremonies also made an appearance at the Academy Awards, but five films in particular seemed to be favorites among Academy members: Anora, The Brutalist, Conclave, Emelia Perez, and A Complete Unknown.
Each of these films received nominations in Best Picture, as well as at least two acting categories each, among other above the line nominations. Awards voters tend to gravitate towards films such as these – dramatic, character driven stories, that don’t always appeal to the wider public. This is seen in the Academy’s preference for musical movies. Although musical movies don’t always strike a chord with audiences, three out of the ten Best Picture slots went to musical movies (Emelia Perez, A Complete Unknown, and Wicked.)
In past years, the Academy has also shown preferential treatment to biopics (biographical pictures) and films based on true stories. This year, however, has expressed a possible shift from that trend. The 2025 nominations have demonstrated a willingness amongst voters to reward more diverse stories, including those of sex workers in Anora, transgender women in Emelia Perez, and even horror, science-fiction, and non-english language stories in The Substance, Dune: Part Two, and I’m Still Here respectively, all of which received nominations in Best Picture. This year’s nominations didn’t present many surprises to those who followed the lead-up to the announcement, but did continue many positive trends within the industry.
The race to the Academy Awards wasn’t without its own bloodshed, however, as evidenced by the messy battle for the Best Actress slots. The season began with many film influencers predicting nominations for Amy Adams (Nightbitch), Angelina Jolie (Maria), Nicole Kidman (Babygirl), and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths), none of whom ended up receiving nominations at the Oscars. The category instead yielded its more open-ended slots to Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Demi Moore (The Substance), and Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here), the latter of whom serves as a major point of pride for the country of Brazil, and now poses a serious threat to frontrunners Demi Moore and Mikey Madison (Anora).
Even in a relatively predictable year for the Oscars, some categories are sure to give cinephiles something to chew on.
Controversy
This post has made several cheeky allusions to a controversy surrounding Emelia Perez, a film which has made a disproportionate splash amongst critics, considering its lack of broader name recognition. An original plot, complimented by A-List actors and the use of musical sequences, have allowed the film to shine in the critical sphere, while not appealing to general audiences. The polarizing transgender-gangster-musical has received pushback for what some consider its lack of accuracy in portraying either transgender or Mexican experiences, an accusation that is difficult to rebut considering its direction by a cisgender frenchman. Others have criticized the film for its music, whether it be the leading actors who struggle to hold their own vocally, or the distasteful song about transgender surgeries: “La Vaginoplastia.”
Some have compared the film to 2004’s Crash, which is widely considered the worst film to have ever won Best Picture. At the time, Crash was considered a boundary-breaking commentary on race relations in America, but in hindsight its win over the queer western Brokeback Mountain has aged remarkably poorly. Despite the backlash it has sparked, the standout performances by Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofia Gascon, and unique directorial vision have earned it a staggering number of nominations at this year’s Academy Awards.
Emelia Perez wasn’t the only film to face controversy this year. Brady Corbet’s 3 ½ hour epic The Brutalist also had its own debates to quell. Following wide release, the editor of the film revealed his use of Artificial Intelligence in the making of the film. Much of the dialogue is spoken in Hungarian by non-native actors, posing a challenge regarding the accuracy of their pronunciation. In several of the long, voiceover narration sequences, the editor admitted to using AI to tweak the actor’s accents. There have also been conflicting reports regarding the use of Generative AI in an architectural montage towards the end of the film. Coincidentally, Emelia Perez also utilized AI to alter Karla Sofia Gascon’s singing voice.
While these specific uses of AI are minor, questions have arisen regarding the potential of AI in future film projects. Many netizens argue that if the Academy doesn’t set a precedent against AI now, the envelope will continue to be pushed with its use in the future. As a frontrunner to win both Best Picture and Best Actor, the Oscar race could be seriously shaken up if the backlash against The Brutalist continues to build in the coming weeks.
Only time will tell how these controversies will impact the final awards, which take place on March 2nd. Until then, precursor ceremonies such as Screen Actors Guild, the BAFTAs, and Critic’s Choice will provide more clues as to the outcome of the awards season.
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