On March 2nd, the 97th Academy Awards were held. Previously, in January, the nominations caused some controversy during their announcement, so it’s no surprise the winners caused some uproar as well.
The night started off well, with Kieran Culkin winning the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in ‘A Real Pain’, which ended his awards season sweep strong. After that, ‘Flow’ won best animated feature, a movie many film fans find endearing. As the night continued on, many wins happened that most people were happy about, such as ‘Wicked’ winning best costume design, ‘Conclave’ winning best adapted screenplay, and ‘The Substance’ winning best makeup and hairstyling.
When the category for best original screenplay came around, many people were confused and even disappointed with the outcome. Sean Baker won for ‘Anora’, but at previous awards shows, it went to Jesse Eisenberg for ‘A Real Pain’. Compared to the screenplay for ‘Anora’, ‘A Real Pain’s’ screenplay was filled with detailed actions and meaningful dialogue that tacked heavy emotions compared to the lackluster conversations and descriptions in the ‘Anora’ screenplay.
The ceremony continued on by Zoe Saldaña winning best supporting actress for her role in ‘Emilia Pérez’. While Saldaña was on a winning streak this entire awards season, many people weren’t happy with her receiving these awards. The film has been in many controversies this awards season in regards to how it handles the treatment of marginalized groups in the movie, so many felt Saldaña wasn’t deserving of an Oscar for this particular film.
After that was the award for best original song, which went to ‘Emilia Pérez’ again for El Mal. The song nominees this year weren’t very strong, so it’s no surprise it went to Emilia Pérez even though it was the worst out of all the nominated songs. It didn’t help that the songwriters, Camille and Clément Ducol, tried leading the whole theatre in a very awkward sing-a-long during their speech.
Next, ‘Dune: Part Two’ had a double win for best sound and best visual effects. Everyone was expecting ‘Dune: Part Two’ to sweep at the Oscars, but unfortunately, it only got nominated in five categories and won two, so these two awards were very special to ‘Dune’ fans. In the future though, many predict that the ‘Dune’ franchise will sweep the awards with ‘Dune: Messiah’, so this offers some consolation to fans.
Continuing through the night, ‘The Brutalist’ won its first two awards of the night for best cinematography and best original score. Following that was the best international feature which went to ‘I’m Still Here’. This was the first Brazilian film to ever win the category, so film lovers from Brazil were very happy to see history be made that night.
Best Director went to, again, Baker for ‘Anora.’ In the nominated pool of directors, no one was surprised that it went to him, but many were still upset with the Denis Villeneuve nomination snub for ‘Dune: Part Two’, so many wanted it to go to him. In general, the best director category wasn’t as strong as it could’ve been, especially compared to the 2024 best director lineup.
Then came the two most anticipated categories of the night, best actor and best actress. Best actor went to Adrien Brody for his role in ‘The Brutalist’, which many felt was undeserved. Brody used Respeecher, an AI voice generating program, to enhance his Hungarian accent for a scene in the film, which many believed should’ve disqualified him.
Instead, people believed it should’ve gone to Timothée Chalamet for his role in ‘A Complete Unknown’ as Bob Dylan. Chalamet spent over five years working on this role, proving his passion for portraying Dylan and his dedication to the craft. Chalamet not only had an award-worthy performance, but a generation press tour including doing film screenings at places significant to Dylan’s life, hosting double-duty on SNL, and having seven premieres for the film around the world.
For best actress, Mikey Madison took home the award for her role in ‘Anora’. Many were shocked, expecting the Oscar to go to Demi Moore for her role in ‘The Substance’ because she won the Golden Globes and SAG awards while Madison only won the BAFTA. In the end though, Madison swooped in for the Oscar, becoming one of the youngest women ever to win best actress.
The final category of the night was best picture and it went to ‘Anora’. This year, there was no frontrunner for best picture, so there were mixed emotions from people about this win. Some speculated there was a chance it could go to ‘Conclave’ or ‘The Brutalist’, but Baker and his team pulled through in the end.
This awards season was nothing short of messy with lots of controversy and uncertain frontrunners, but everyone came together at the end to share their love for one thing, cinema.
