Anora, the comedy-drama about a sex worker who marries a wealthy Russian playboy, has emerged as the big victor at the 2025 Academy Awards.
The Oscar-winning film, which stars 25-year-old Mikey Madison, took home Best Picture, as well as awards for Best Director (for Sean Baker), Best Actress (for Madison), Best Editing, and Best Original Screenplay.
Talk show stalwart Conan O’Brien compered the event at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the first time, delivering a hosting stint that was well-received by viewers. The Independent’s Adam White wrote that O’Brien “focused on silliness and self-deprecation, [and was] far more comfortable mocking himself than the stars in attendance or movie culture at large”.
Going into the evening, many of the biggest awards had no out-and-out frontrunner, with Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Actor all too close to definitively call. Best Actor ultimately went to Adrien Brody, for his turn as troubled architect László Tóth in The Brutalist.
Brody previously became the youngest ever Best Actor recipient in 2003, at the age of 29, for his role in Roman Polanski’s The Pianist. Accepting the prize for The Brutalist, Brody delivered an unusually lengthy speech, shutting down producers’ efforts to hurry him along.
Brody pipped 29-year-old Timothée Chalamet to the post; Chalamet had been nominated for his role as Bob Dylan in the musical biopic A Complete Unknown. Madison’s win, meanwhile, came at the expense of Demi Moore, who had been the favourite in the category for her career-best performance in the body horror The Substance.
In his opening monologue, O’Brien made reference to the controversy that last month enveloped Best Actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón.
Gascón, the star of the polarising Netflix musical Emilia Pérez, attended the awards ceremony despite the controversy, which concerned offensive social media posts made over a period of several years.
The scandal is widely considered to have damaged Emilia Pérez’s Oscar prospects. Emilia Perez was in contention for 13 awards on the night, but won just two: Best Original Song (for “El Mal”), and Best Supporting Actress, for Zoe Saldana.
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A Real Pain star Kieran Culkin dropped an inadvertent “F-bomb” while accepting the award for Best Supporting Actor – paying tribute to his fellow nominee and ex-Succession co-star Jeremy Strong in the process.
Unlike previous years, the ceremony did not feature a set of live performances from the Best Original Song nominees. However, there were multiple musical interludes throughout the night.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo opened the ceremony with a rendition of three Wizard of Oz-adjascent songs, including a truncated version of “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. Later in the show, the stage gave way to a musical tribute to the James Bond franchise, following the news that longtime 007 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson would be ceding creative control of the franchise. Queen Latifah also delivered a tribute to the late music giant Quincy Jones, via a performance of “Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz.
Two of last year’s most widely seen films – sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two and musical extravaganza Wicked – took home the prizes for Best Sound and Best Production Design respectively.
In one of the most enthusiastically received results of the night, the award for Best Documentary went to No Other Land, a film about the Israel-Palestine conflict created by a collective of Palestinian and Israeli artists. Accepting the award, director Basel Adra said: “We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people.”
A number of cameos were made throughout the night. Mick Jagger introduced the award for Best Original Song, while Morgan Freeman teed up the In Memoriam segment with a moving tribute to the recently departed Gene Hackman. Goldie Hawn also introduced an award with the aid of Andrew Garfield.
When Harry Met Sally stars Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reunited to present the night’s final award, handing the Best Picture prize to Anora. Conclave, the papal thriller that had been tipped as a potential rival to Anora, walked away with just one win, for Best Adapted Screenplay.
You can find the full list of winners here.
