The Biggest Moments of the 2025 Oscars

Anora won five of the six awards it was nominated for including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay. Mikey Madison also pulled off a surprise Best Actress win in a race that many thought would come down to a photo finish between Fernanda Torres and Demi Moore. Adrien Brody took home the Best Actor Oscar for his role in The Brutalist, his second win in that very same category. Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldaña both nabbed supporting acting awards for their work in A Real Pain and Emilia Pérez, respectively. The Brutalist, Wicked, Emilia Pérez, and Dune: Part Two all took home awards as well.

Host Conan O’Brien kicked off the night with a bit that put him inside of Substance star Demi Moore, in a nod to that movie's body-switching plot. His monologue included series of jokes that poked fun at Karla Sofía Gascón, Timothée Chalamet, Adam Sandler, and the sandworm from Dune—which became a recurring joke. Later on in the broadcast, a Bond-themed performance left a little to be desired, but near the end of the night, Queen Latifah delivered a high-energy tribute to Quincy Jones and The Wiz.

Here are the biggest moments, winners, and losers of the ceremony.

Anora wins Best Picture

After winning four awards tonight, Anora took home its fifth with the Oscar for Best Picture. The film, starring Best Actress winner Mikey Madison as a sex worker who gets seduced by a high-roller client, is director Sean Baker’s “best movie yet,” our critic writes. Anora became a frontrunner in the Oscars horse race after it won the top prizes at the Critics’ Choice Awards, the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America, as well as the Palme D’Or at Cannes.—Olivia B. Waxman

Hulu goes down at the wrong time

With the awards for Best Actress and Best Picture still to go, the Hulu stream of the Oscars telecast suddenly went dark, leaving viewers clamoring to find out what was going on.—Megan McCluskey

Mikey Madison wins Best Actress

Mikey Madison, 25, won the top prize for actresses for Anora, continuing the movie’s sweep tonight. Director Sean Baker wrote the role for her after seeing her in Scream (2022). Madison took preparation for the role seriously, even moving into the Russian neighborhood of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn where the film is set so she could perfect her accent, according to the New York Times.—Olivia B. Waxman

The Brutalist's AI controversy doesn't hold it back from wins

In the wake of controversy over The Brutalist’s Oscar-nominated editor, Dávid Jancsó, revealing in an interview that the production used AI voice-generating technology to make stars Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones sound more authentic when they spoke Hungarian in the film, the movie ended up still pulling off wins for Best Actor for Brody and Best Cinematography on Sunday. The viral interview, in which Jancsó also suggested the film features renderings of blueprints and completed buildings partially generated by AI, resulted in intense backlash that prompted writer-director Brady Corbet to speak out in defense of the movie’s use of the technology. Although The Brutalist is by no means the only generative AI offender—even among this year’s Oscar nominees—the resulting backlash sparked a heated debate about the ethical and creative implications surrounding the rise of AI in the industry.—Megan McCluskey

Sean Baker wins Best Directing for Anora

Sean Baker took home the Oscar for Best Director, the third Academy Award for Anora tonight. The film, set in New York City and showcasing Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighborhood, was made on a mere $6 million budget and grossed about $35 million worldwide. Starring Mikey Madison as Ani, a Manhattan strip club worker who marries a client in a whirlwind romance that goes very wrong. Anora wasn’t without controversy in the awards season—Baker sparked criticism online after Madison said intimacy coordinators were not required on set.—Olivia B. Waxman

Adrien Brody wins Best Actor

Brody won the top prize for actors for The Brutalist, in which he stars as a Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor who is starting over in America, with the help of a wealthy patron. Brody just won the top acting prize at the Golden Globes and has talked about how playing a Hungarian refugee in The Brutalist is personal to him because his mother fled Hungary in the 1950s. Brody also starred in another Oscar-winning Holocaust drama, The Pianist (2003).—Olivia B. Waxman

What I’m Still Here means to Brazil 

As I’m Still Here’s popularity grows in Brazil, more and more people are reckoning with the country’s brutal history, and seeing parallels with the far-right there today. Crucially, the book and film’s releases coincided with major events in Brazil connected to the true story of the Paivas, providing a sense of urgency and a case of life reflecting art. “At the beginning of this journey, I thought that we were going to offer a reflection of the past to better understand where we're at,” director Walter Salles told TIME, “but little by little, as the zeitgeist in Brazil changed and the far-right acquired an important presence that we didn't anticipate, it soon became clear that the film was also about the present.”—Alexander Durie

I’m Still Here wins Best International Feature

I’m Still Here won the Oscar for Best International Feature—making it the first Brazilian film to win that Academy Award. Inspired by a true story, the film is about a Brazilian woman searching for her husband who goes missing under the military dictatorship in the 1970s.—Olivia B. Waxman

The Brutalist wins Best Cinematography

Lol Crawley won the Oscar for his work on The Brutalist’s cinematography. The film, starring Adrien Brody, is about a Jewish Hungarian architect who comes to America post-World War II and takes on an ambitious commission while waiting for his wife to join him stateside —Olivia B. Waxman

In memoriam honors Gene Hackman

Morgan Freeman introduced the in memoriam segment with a tribute to two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman who died shortly before this year’s Academy Awards along with his wife, Betsy Arakawa. Freeman starred alongside Hackman in both Unforgiven and Under Suspicion. “Gene always said, ‘I don’t think about legacy. I just want people to remember me as someone who tried to do good work,’” Freeman said. The video montage, set to an unusually grim musical selection, went on to memorialize many of the icons we lost this year, including Maggie Smith, James Earl Jones, Donald Sutherland, John Amos, and David Lynch.—Eliana Dockterman

I’m Not a Robot wins Best Live-Action Short Film

The dystopian short I’m Not a Robot, which won the Oscar for Live-Action Short tonight, is the worst nightmare of any cubicle jockey who has had to complete hours of corporate phishing tutorials. A woman who fails CAPTCHA tests repeatedly is forced to confront whether she’s a robot in the film directed by Victoria Warmerdam.—Olivia B. Waxman

Dune: Part Two wins Best Sound and Best Visual Effects

Dune: Part Two is sweeping the technical awards tonight. Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer took the top award for visual effects just after Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill won Oscars for their work on the movie’s sound. Dune: Part One (2021), the first installment of the film adaptation of 1965 novel Dune, previously won 6 Oscars.—Olivia B. Waxman

No Other Land wins Best Documentary

No Other Land, about Israeli forces demolishing homes in the West Bank, won the top prize for a documentary film, even though it has not been shown in many U.S. theaters. It’s been distributed in 24 countries, premiered at several festivals, but only had one brief run at a theater in Manhattan. The filmmakers believe their film has not been picked up by U.S. distributors because of political reasons.—Olivia B. Waxman

The Only Girl in the Orchestra wins Best Documentary Short

The Only Girl in the Orchestra won the Oscar for Documentary Short. Directed by Molly O’Brien, the 35-minute film profiles her aunt, double bassist Orin O'Brien, the New York Philharmonic’s first female musician.—Olivia B. Waxman

‘El Mal’ from Emilia Pérez wins Best Original Song

“El Mal,” performed by Best Supporting Actress winner Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez, Best Original Song. “El Mal,” which translates roughly to “the evil” in Spanish also won the top prize for a song at the 2025 Golden Globes. Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger presented the award in a surprise appearance.—Olivia B. Waxman

Wicked wins Best Production Design

Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales, the wizards behind the production design for Wicked, took home Oscars tonight. “You took us over the rainbow,” Sandales said of director Jon Chu. —Olivia B. Waxman

It’s looking like Anora’s night

Having already secured the wins for Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing, Anora seems like it may be on its way to a pretty solid sweep. Writer-director Sean Baker’s Brooklyn-set drama is still up for Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture—and doesn’t look to be slowing down.—Megan McCluskey

Zoe Saldaña wins Best Supporting Actress

Despite the backlash over Emilia Pérez, the Academy recognized Zoe Saldaña’s outstanding performance as a lawyer who helps orchestrate a male cartel leader’s gender transition.

Saldaña has talked about how the role was personal for her because she has a transgender nephew. “Zoe Saldaña is a total boss who can do it all,” actor Mila Kunis wrote when Saldaña was named one of the 100 most influential people in 2023.

Emilia Pérez went into the 2025 Academy Awards with the most nominations and the most criticism, as star Karla Sofia Gascón’s offensive old tweets resurfaced during the awards season. Saldaña has said that she is “still processing” the controversy, but emphasized, “I don’t have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group.”—Olivia B. Waxman

A strange Bond tribute feels more like a memorial segment

In case you are a movie fan who has been living under a rock for the last week, I regret to inform you that the Broccoli family—who have long been the stewards of the James Bond film franchise—recently handed over full creative control to Amazon in exchange for a major paycheck. The Oscars decided to honor the Broccolis, following Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson’s honor with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award last November, with a tribute to 007. It was…strange.

Though introduced by onetime Bond Girl Halle Berry, the musical medley featured stars with absolutely no ties to the franchise, including Margaret Qualley, Lisa of Blackpink, Doja Cat, and Raye. Read more. —Eliana Dockterman

Nick Offerman throws his voice in the Oscars ring

Nick Offerman—who’s best known for his role as Ron Swanson in Parks & Recreation as well as for his parts in The Last of Us, 21 Jump Street, and Fargo—is serving as the announcer of this year’s Oscars telecast. Offerman’s soothing tones and comedic bits are a welcome addition to the ceremony.—Megan McCluskey

The Substance wins Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli took home Oscars for their makeup and hairstyling work on The Substance. The gory film stars Demi Moore as an aging star who uses a black market drug that allows her to inhabit a younger actress’s body so she can get more parts.—Olivia B. Waxman

Conclave wins Best Adapted Screenplay

Cue the white smoke—you know, the kind that signals a Pope has been chosen—because Conclave has won best adapted screenplay. The film is based on Robert Harris’s novel of the same name and stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow in a story about bombshell secrets coming out as cardinals meet to choose the next Pope—with the biggest one revealed at the end.—Olivia B. Waxman

Anora wins Best Original Screenplay

The award for best original screenplay went to Anora, a movie that follows Mikey Madison’s Ani, a sex worker who marries a wealthy client that disappears on her. Baker told NPR says he’s drawn to writing characters “who are chasing the American dream, but don't have easy access to it…And so they have to find other ways of actually pursuing the American dream.”—Olivia B. Waxman

Wicked wins a historic first award

The record-breaking first installment of director Jon M. Chu’s two-part Wicked film adaptation picked up its first award of the night on Sunday when ​​costumer Paul Tazewell received the Oscar for Best Costume Design. —Megan McCluskey

Wicked wins best Costume Design

Paul Tazewell won the Oscar for Costume Design for his work on Wicked, a movie full of ephemeral gowns that clearly cast a spell on the Academy. He made history tonight as the first Black man to receive an Oscar for costume design.—Olivia B. Waxman

In the Shadow of the Cypress wins the Oscar for Animated Short

Directed by Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani, the Iranian film is about a long-suffering captain with PTSD. Molayemi and Sohani delivered a charming speech in which they revealed that they landed in Los Angeles just three hours ago after obtaining a last-minute visa the day before.—Olivia B. Waxman

Flow wins Best Animated Movie

Breaking in news that mews: Flow— the movie about a cat stranded during a flood that seeks refuge on a boat full of other animals—has won the top prize for an animated film. The film marks Latvia’s first Oscar nomination and win. —Olivia B. Waxman

Kieran Culkin wins Best Supporting Actor

With his best supporting actor win, Culkin appears to have mastered the role of the annoying family member, going from playing a brother vying for power in his father’s media empire in Succession to the pain in his cousin’s butt on a trip to explore their grandmother’s native Poland in A Real Pain. On the experience of filming the movie, directed by Jesse Eisenberg, he told TIME, “It wasn't work.” The award tonight is both his first Oscar win and his first Oscar nomination.—Olivia B. Waxman

Conan’s monologue takes gentle aim at Hollywood

First-time Oscars host Conan O’Brien kicked off Sunday’s show with an opening monologue that got plenty of laughs. In a play on The Substance, a tuxedo-wearing O’Brien made his big entrance via a pre-filmed sequence in which he inserted himself into the scene from the film where Margaret Qualley’s character bursts out of Demi Moore’s spine. He then proceeded to poke fun at many of the night’s nominees, winning the crowd over early with a joke about Wicked in which he referred to the Best Picture nominee as a movie about where the minor characters from The Wizard of Oz went to college. He also took a lighthearted swipe at controversial Emilia Perez star Karla Sofia Gascón and engaged in an extended bit with a shorts and hoodie-clad Adam Sandler. He wrapped up his monologue with a song and dance number about not wasting time that featured…Deadpool. Disney corporate synergy is alive and well, even at the Oscars.—Megan McCluskey

Adrien Brody and Halle Berry reenact their notorious Oscars kiss

At the 2003 Oscars, Adrien Brody controversially celebrated his Best Actor win for The Pianist by planting a surprise smooch on presenter Halle Berry onstage. Twenty-two years later, Berry returned the kiss on the red carpet, locking lips with the actor now nominated for his leading role in The Brutalist. “That was one hell of a night for him, and for me as well. To be a part of his moment… tonight I had to pay him back,” Berry told Variety. “I’ve seen him out at parties, but this is the first time since that night that I’ve seen him on the red carpet somewhere. He’s nominated this year. He deserved that.”—Eliana Dockterman

Karla Sofía Gascón attends the Oscars amid social media controversy

Karla Sofía Gascón skipped most events this awards season, including the SAG Awards in February, amid controversy over several social media posts in which she made offensive comments about Muslims, George Floyd, and the Oscars becoming diverse. The disparaging posts, which resurfaced in January, and the resulting backlash threw Gascón's history-making Oscar campaign into question. Gascón skipped the Oscars red carpet but attended the ceremony, waving to the camera when host Conan O’Brien joked about the controversy during his monologue: “Little fact for you, Anora uses the F word 479 times. That's three more than the record set by Karla Sofia Gascón’s publicist,” he said. “Karla Sofía Gascón is here tonight. And Karla, if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, my name is Jimmy Kimmel.”—Mahita Gajanan

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande open the show

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande showed up ready to put the cherry on top of an emotional and much memed Oscars campaign by performing a medley of hits from Wicked, The Wizard of Oz, and The Wiz to open Sunday night’s big ceremony. With Grande decked out in a ruby slippers-themed number and Erivo in a white gown adorned with flowers, the pair belted out portions of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Home,” and “Defying Gravity” to resounding applause. Although none of the songs from Wicked were eligible for Best Original Song since they were adapted from the Broadway musical, the movie as a whole is up for 10 awards tonight, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Erivo, and Best Supporting Actress for Grande.—Megan McCluskey

Stars shimmer on the red carpet

Stars came out swinging on the red carpet outside the Dolby Theatre—many arriving in mirrored dresses and sparkling outfits to commemorate the big night. Ariana Grande went with a dress inspired by her portrayal of Glinda in John Chu’s Wicked—ethereal and sleek in a soft pink Schiaparelli ballgown. Since Wicked, Grande and her costar Cynthia Erivo have opted for outfits that are inspired by their two witchy characters, and tonight was no different. Demi Moore, nominated for her first Oscar for her leading role in The Substance, arrived in a shining silver dress, and many other A-listers and nominees were also sparkling.

Supporting Actress hopeful Zoe Saldaña showed up to the carpet in a strapless maroon dress with a bodice latticed in crystals—her diamond necklace and studs finishing off the look. Selena Gomez, who starred with Saldaña in Emilia Perez, wore a sparkling pink Ralph Loren dress

Rachel Zegler, presenter and star in Disney’s live action Snow White later this year, arrived in a princess-like pearlescent gown from Dior, while two-time Oscar winner Emma Stone sported an old Hollywood inspired Louis Vuitton gown with sparkles all over.

And Timothée Chalamet, nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of Bob Dylan, made a splash, showing up in a bold pale yellow Givenchy suit, adorned with gold jewelry. The actor has made waves throughout the press tour for A Complete Unknown and award season for his bold fashion choices, often paying homage to the folk star he portrayed in the biopic.—Rebecca Schneid

The pure joy of Timothée Chalamet's Oscar campaign 

Chalamet has been nominated for his work in A Complete Unknown, and his SAG award, which came as something of a surprise (The Brutalist’s Adrien Brody had seemed to be the favorite), only intensifies the Oscar fever around him. Promotional campaigns are nothing new—the studios of old Hollywood sure knew how to put their stars to work for them—but Oscar-campaign insanity is a fairly recent development. Performers and filmmakers have to make themselves visible in a way that will win over awards voters—not just Academy members, but those who fill out ballots for the Golden Globes, the DGA, SAG, and the BAFTAs—without, hopefully, becoming an annoyance. It’s an additional layer of work. Some actors take to it, and others don’t.

In the months and weeks leading to the Oscars, Chalamet has given interviews, particularly a relaxed yet seemingly honest one with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes. But he has also sought other channels of self-promotion that feel less like advertising than simply joyful, if occasionally perplexing, expressions of who he is. Read more on Chalamet's campaign.—Stephanie Zacharek

Jeremy Strong vs. Kieran Culkin

Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin played brothers in Succession and now they’re sparring like siblings in the press as they compete for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. The two men have radically different approaches to acting. A Real Pain’s writer, director, and star Jesse Eisenberg has commented on how Culkin would show up to set with no idea what scene he was shooting, skim his lines, and then deliver a barn burner performance. Strong, by contrast, prepares for months and loses himself in roles. He recently told TIME that embodying Donald Trump mentor Roy Cohn for The Apprentice was like entering “the heart of darkness.”

The public clash between the two actors first came to light in a New Yorker profile of Strong in which Strong’s Succession co-stars expressed annoyance at the actor’s self-seriousness. Culkin told the magazine, “After the first season, [Jeremy] said something to me like, ‘I’m worried that people might think that the show is a comedy.’ And I said, ‘I think the show is a comedy.’ He thought I was kidding.” Culkin shared his distaste for Strong’s approach during last year’s Variety “Actors on Actors” conversation with Colman Domingo, saying that he "object[s] when actors call themselves 'storytellers'" as Strong often does. "I don't really like that," Culkin said. "Sorry, Jeremy.” Strong has since addressed comments like Culkin’s in an interview. “Lately, people have felt a need to take shots at me or say disparaging things, which I don’t really think there’s any need for," he told Deadline. During the Golden Globes, audiences carefully watched Strong’s reaction to Culkin’s Best Supporting Actor win. Expect the cameras to linger on both actors’ faces again during the Oscars awards ceremony.—Eliana Dockterman 

This year’s worst category fraud

It happens every year. Studios run actors in leading (or co-leading) roles in supporting categories at award shows to prevent their stars from competing with one another and maximize their chances for a win. This year, Kieran Culkin is running in Best Supporting Actor even though his character is quite literally the titular “real pain” in A Real Pain. He also has nearly as much screentime as the film’s director and star, Jesse Eisenberg. The same can be said for Ariana Grande, the Glinda to Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba in Wicked. And let’s not forget the most blatant example, Zoe Saldaña, who is onscreen more in Emilia Perez than the movie’s supposed lead, Karla Sofia Gascón. But who can blame them? It’s a winning strategy. Culkin and Saldaña are predicted to win their respective races with Grande as the most likely upset in her category.—Eliana Dockterman

How Anora became an Oscar frontrunner

Following the Emilia Pérez scandal, prognosticators obsessed over which movie might take its place as the most likely movie to win Best Picture. Anora, the film about a stripper who embarks on a whirlwind romance with a young Russian oligarch, initially looked like an Oscar frontrunner after snagging the prestigious Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival last summer. That narrative took a turn when Sean Baker’s latest film got shut out at the Golden Globes.

But Anora recently took the top prizes at several awards shows, including the Producers Guild Awards, which tends to accurately predict the Oscar Best Picture winner. In many ways, Anora fits the mold of recent Best Picture winners like Moonlight, The Shape of Water, Parasite, and Everything Everywhere All At Once. All those movies make daring (and very different) artistic choices but by the end offer a tender moment and clear social statement—in Anora’s case about the illusion of the American dream.—Eliana Dockterman

Who is up for an EGOT tonight

EGOT status is a coveted marker of a legendary career in Hollywood—only bestowed on those who have won all four major entertainment industry awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. So far, 21 people have earned the right to call themselves EGOTs.

At this year’s Oscars, Cynthia Erivo, nominated for Best Actress for her portrayal of Elphaba Thropp in Wicked, will achieve EGOT status if she wins the award. Erivo won all three other awards for her portrayal of Celie in the 2015 Broadway revival of the musical The Color Purple. If Erivo wins her Oscar, she would be the youngest person to ever achieve EGOT status.—Rebecca Schneid

The history that could be made tonight

Should Emilia Perez’s lead, Karla Sofía Gascón, win the Oscar for the Best Actress she would be the first out trans actor to win an Academy Award.

Colman Domingo also has another chance to make history: if he wins the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance as the leader of an incarcerated theater troupe in Sing Sing, he will become the first Afro-Latino to win the award. Domingo was also up for the award last year for his role as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in George C. Wolfe’s 2023 biopic Rustin.—Rebecca Schneid

The acting frontrunners

Kieran Culkin has the Best Supporting Actor race locked up for his work in A Real Pain. Culkin has swept the pre-Oscar awards shows, likely due to the fact that his quirky A Real Pain character bears a striking resemblance to the much-loved Roman Roy, who Culkin played on Succession. Zoe Saldaña has similarly dominated awards season. She will likely manage to snag the Best Supporting Actress statue for her work in the polarizing musical Emilia Pérez, despite the fact that that film has been embroiled in controversy after a journalist unearthed a trove of vile tweets from Saldaña’s co-star, Karla Sofía Gascón. Demi Moore is running an effective “it’s about time” campaign for her role in the horror film The Substance—despite her long career, she’s never been nominated for an Oscar before. But Mikey Madison could ride Anora’s recent surge in the race to a victory in that category. Adrien Brody will probably win a second Academy Award for yet another performance as a Holocaust survivor in The Brutalist—he won for The Pianist 2004—but Timothée Chalamet has pulled off a viral press tour that will keep him top-of-mind for voters. If he beats Brody, Chalamet could become the youngest Best Actor winner ever.—Eliana Dockterman

How the LA wildfires impacted the Oscars

The devastating Los Angeles wildfires, which ravaged the city in January, has impacted Hollywood in a number of ways. Workers across the industry have shared how the wildfires impacted them personally: Actors like Billy Crystal and Mandy Moore have spoken up about losing their homes, while others have raised money in support of the many people who might not be household names but are crucial in making Hollywood run.

The fires also affected awards season: the Critics Choice Awards had to be delayed from January 12 to February 7, and the Academy extended its Oscars nominations voting window and postponed the nominations announcement. In a statement, Academy leadership detailed how tonight’s ceremony would reflect on the devastation. “We will honor Los Angeles as the city of dreams, showcasing its beauty and resilience, as well as its role as a beacon for filmmakers and creative visionaries for over a century,” read a letter from Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang. “We will reflect on the recent events while highlighting the strength, creativity, and optimism that defines Los Angeles and our industry.”—Rebecca Schneid

What to know about the presenters

Over the course of the past month, the Academy has announced a slew of names who will be handing out the awards tonight.

The presenters will include actors Selena Gomez, Scarlett Johansson, Willem Dafoe, Sterling K. Brown, Joe Alwyn, Lily-Rose Depp, Goldie Hawn, Ben Stiller, Connie Nielsen, and Ana de Armas, Bowen Yang, Elle Fanning, Whoopi Goldberg, Goldie Hawn, and Oprah Winfrey.—Rebecca Schneid

Our film critic’s favorite 2025 Oscar nominees

There are plenty of people in the business of predicting Oscar winners. But unless you’ve got money in the game—and no judgment if you do—isn’t it more fun just to root for your favorites? That’s what I do every year. I generally view the Oscars with a healthy dose of skepticism: As far as I’m concerned, Academy voters don’t always choose the best films or performances. Sometimes they’re influenced by campaigns, the thinking of their friends, the general mood in the air. And sometimes—sorry—their choices just boil down to bad taste. In the runup to the Oscars, I sternly decree that it’s only my taste that matters, and you should feel the same about yours. To that end, here’s a handful of my favorite nominees this year, including Timothée Chalamet for A Complete Unknown, Yura Borisov for Anora, and Flow.—Stephanie Zacharek

The films with the most amount of nominations tonight

Jacques Audiard’s controversial Emilia Perez—a French-made, Spanish-language musical about a Mexican drug cartel leader—is in front with 13 nominations. Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist—an ambitious three-hour epic about a brilliant architect who emigrates to the United States post-World War II— and John M. Chu’s Wicked—the first part of the beloved Broadway musical’s film adaptation— followed closely behind with 10 nominations each.

Bob-Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown, and Edward Berger’s papal drama, Conclave, both bagged eight nominations, and Sean Baker’s Cinderella story, Anora, garnered six. All six are in the running for Best Picture.—Rebecca Schneid

The most exciting award to watch

This is the rare year with a Best Picture race that’s totally up in the air. Emilia Pérez seemed to be leading the pack after winning Best Picture - Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes. But scandal beset that film after a journalist uncovered star Karla Sofia Gascón's history of sending wildly racist tweets.

So what will win? The Brutalist won the Golden Globe for Best Picture - Drama but is a polarizing film that has struggled with its own controversy involving the use of AI. Anora won several recent awards, though naysayers think that dramedy set largely in a strip club might prove too scandalous for some Academy voters. A Complete Unknown checks many of the traditional Oscar boxes: a biopic starring an actor who taught himself a new skill (how to sing) helmed by an oft-nominated director in James Mangold. Conclave is a crowd-pleaser. The Academy employs ranked choice voting, so the real question we should be asking may be: What is the second most popular film among Academy members? It’s anyone’s guess.—Eliana Dockterman

How voting works for the Oscars

According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Oscars' 23 categories are voted on by that body’s more than 10,500 members in a democratic process.

In the first round of voting, members vote to narrow down nominations, and oftentimes categories are only voted on by voting members of a specific corresponding branch—the actors branch votes for actor categories, the directors branch votes for director categories, and so on. Some categories may be available to all members. In the final round of the voting process, though, all Academy members can vote in all 23 categories.

Voting occurs in rounds through a secret online ballot tabulated by an independent accounting firm hired by the Academy. Most awards are pretty simple: whatever gets the most votes, wins. For the coveted Best Picture category, though, voting is slightly different. Eligible voters rank the nominees from their favorite to their least favorite, and whichever movie gets 50 percent or more of the votes is the winner. The Academy changed their Best Picture voting to this ranked choice system back in 2009, at the same time they increased the number of nominees in that category to as many as 10 films.

For the 2025 Oscars, preliminary voting ran from Dec. 9, 2024 until Dec. 13, 2024 and nominations voting was supposed to run from Jan. 8, 2025 to Jan. 12, 2025, but was extended to Jan. 17 due to the L.A. wildfires. The final round of voting began on Feb. 11 and ended on Feb. 18, meaning ceremonies that took place later, like the SAG Awards, didn't impact voters' choices.—Rebecca Schneid

Conan O'Brien will host tonight

For the first time, Conan O'Brien is hosting the Academy Awards. The comedian is following in the footsteps of fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who has hosted the Oscars four times, including in 2023 and 2024.

“This is incredible. I’ve been handed an Oscar. I’m an Oscar winner,” O’Brien said in a video posted to the Academy’s X account announcing that the organization had tapped the comedian for the job. Someone off-screen then takes the Oscar from his hands and reminds him that he’s hosting the awards, not winning one. Still, he asked: “Oh, but do I still get to keep the Oscar?”

O’Brien hosted late-night talk shows for more than two decades, winning awards for Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and Conan. The five-time Emmy winner was also a writer for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons.

O’Brien left late night in 2021, and since then has been hosting his podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.”

“So I did an independent film at Sundance. I headlined at the Newport Folk Festival. I'm just saying yes to things that I wouldn't have done before,” he told ABC ahead of his big hosting night. “I'm a black belt in karate now. I'm a licensed neurosurgeon. I mean, there are all these things I'm doing now that I didn't think I would ever do before.”—Rebecca Schneid

How to watch the Oscars

The 97th Oscars broadcast, like last year's ceremony, will start a bit earlier than the show used to: 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST. You can watch the Oscars on cable with a local ABC station or stream via Hulu (for the first time), Youtube TV, Fubo TV or AT&T TV.

The red carpet starts earlier, as well, at 3:30 p.m. EST/12:30 p.m. PST, and can be streamed at ABC’s On The Red Carpet’s website, Facebook, and Youtube pages.—Rebecca Schneid

Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com, Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com and Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com.