Biggest Snubs and Surprises of the 2025 Oscar Nominations
In a perfect world, all deserving nominees would be celebrating their recognition. However, the Academy’s nomination process is inherently subjective, leading to some surprises and omissions.
SURPRISE: Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here” (lead actress)
Torres’ Golden Globes win earlier this month gave her a late boost, as it prompted voters who hadn’t seen “I’m Still Here” to move it to the top of their to-do list. She’s outstanding in Walter Salles’ period drama, playing a defiant woman holding her family together after a repressive regime takes her husband away.
SNUB: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, “Hard Truths” (lead actress)
Jean-Baptiste won lead actress honors from the three major film critics groups — L.A., New York, and the National Society. Six of the last seven women to win honors from both the New York and Los Angeles groups went on to earn an Oscar nod. The exception? Sally Hawkins, who, like Jean-Baptiste, starred in a Mike Leigh movie, “Happy-Go-Lucky.” Granted, “Hard Truths” is a challenging film. But Jean-Baptiste was so skilled at showing us the pain behind her misanthropic character’s brittle exterior, I thought she was undeniable. But like Pansy says in the film: “People. Can’t stand them.”
SNUB: Angelina Jolie, “Maria” (lead actress)
At its Venice Film Festival premiere, “Maria” earned an eight-minute standing ovation, prompting tears from its star, Jolie, who plays legendary opera singer Maria Callas in the film. It turns out that was the high point for the movie and its headliner. Film critics weren’t impressed, calling the film a “chilly, one-note bore.” Music critics who covered Callas wrote that “Jolie would make a great plastic doll of Callas.” The biopic genre has always been (and continues to be) catnip to voters, but “Maria” proved to be an exception.
SNUB: Nicole Kidman, “Babygirl” (lead actress)
With that packed lead actress category, the numbers weren’t on Kidman’s side. Neither was the movie’s marketing, which billed “Babygirl” as an erotic-thriller, leading to some confusion for audiences (and voters) who came in expecting … what? “Basic Instinct”? This feels like it’ll be another risk-taking Kidman performance that, years from now, we’ll look back at and wonder how it failed to connect on a larger scale.
SURPRISE: “I’m Still Here” (picture)
Walter Salles’ excellent “I’m Still Here,” anchored by Torres’ Oscar-nominated performance, snuck in, benefiting from a surge in viewing by voters while ballots were out. The movie also earned a nomination for international feature. Great day for Brazil.
SNUB: Edward Berger, “Conclave” (director)
“Conclave” pulled in eight nominations, including picture, but the directors branch found no room for Berger, even after he earned nominations from the Directors Guild and the British Academy Film Awards. For him, it’s unfortunately reminiscent of how his last movie, “All Quiet on the Western Front,” fared with Oscar voters. Lots of love, but none for the director.
SNUB: Daniel Craig, “Queer” (lead actor)
Most pundits figured Craig could earn his first Oscar nomination for a go-for-broke performance as a lonely expat shaken (and stirred) from mindless debauchery after he becomes obsessed with a younger man in Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer.” But the movie is sluggish to the point of inertia. Maybe ayahuasca would help? I don’t think they hand that out at the academy screenings.
SURPRISE: James Mangold, “A Complete Unknown” (director)
The Directors Guild gave Mangold a nomination too, so, in retrospect, is this really a shock? A little. The academy’s directors branch hasn’t rubber-stamped the DGA’s slate since 2010, so it figured someone might be out. But it wasn’t Mangold, the force behind the Dylan-goes-electric biopic, which has proved immensely popular with the academy’s older voters.
SURPRISE: Sebastian Stan, “The Apprentice” (lead actor)
Stan’s decision to reveal that he couldn’t participate in Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series for his portrayal of a young Donald Trump in “The Apprentice” turned out to be genius. “They were too afraid to go and talk about this movie,” Stan told an audience of awards voters. Suddenly, Stan — and his fascinating, flawed movie — were back in the news. And who doesn’t like an underdog story, not to mention one poking its real-life subject, who can now be counted on to offer his thoughts on this year’s Oscars.
SNUB: “Sing Sing” (picture)
The running theme with “Sing Sing,” the inspirational drama about a real-life prison arts program that uplifts inmates, is that not enough people saw it — not when it premiered in theaters in July and not during awards season screenings. I always thought it would turn a corner because, c’mon, it trumpets the importance of the arts and, in particular, acting. I’ll never understand how it failed to find its audience.
SNUB: “September 5” (picture)
This drama about ABC Sports’ coverage of the hostage drama at the 1972 Summer Olympics hadn’t made much noise until it picked up a Producers Guild best picture nomination. Critics liked it well enough, but often in a backhanded way, calling it a very good television movie. But the fact that it played well on the small screen, as opposed to, say, “Nickel Boys,” gave some hope that it might have a leg up with voters who prefer to stay at home and watch movies on the academy’s screening portal. Turns out “September 5” might have won an Emmy, but not an Oscar.
SURPRISE AND SNUB: “Nickel Boys” (picture, director RaMell Ross)
Ross’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s acclaimed novel about the friendship between two Black boys at a cruel Florida reform school in the early 1960s challenged viewers as he told the story subjectively from the point of view of his protagonists. It was a bold conceit — not too bold though for voters to nominate the movie for best picture. However, the directors branch omitted Ross, strange since “Nickel Boys” felt like the most-directed movie of the year.
SNUB: Denis Villeneuve, “Dune: Part Two” (director)
No nomination for the first one. And now he’s overlooked for the second entry, which was even better. Are voters waiting for the third one to anoint Villeneuve like they did Peter Jackson and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy?
SNUB: Jamie Lee Curtis, “The Last Showgirl” (supporting actress)
Curtis, the (often) self-proclaimed “weapon of mass promotion,” surprised many by picking up nominations from the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the British Academy Film Awards for her brassy turn as Pamela Anderson’s spray-tanned friend in “The Last Showgirl.” But she won’t get the chance to pick up a bookend for the Oscar she won two years ago for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” I imagine the Emmy she earned for “The Bear” will have to do (for now).
SNUB: Margaret Qualley, “The Substance” (supporting actress)
Yes, “respect the balance” was a rule of the movie, designed to impose limits on Elisabeth and Sue’s ventures into the world. But that shouldn’t have kept voters from rewarding both Qualley and Moore with nominations.
SNUB: Denzel Washington, “Gladiator II” (supporting actor)
The real snub: Fun.
Conclusion
The 97th Academy Awards nominations have been announced, and while some deserving films and performances have been recognized, others have been left out. The surprises and snubs will continue to spark debate and discussion in the coming weeks. As the awards season unfolds, we’ll see who will ultimately take home the Oscars.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What were the biggest surprises of the 2025 Oscar nominations?
- Fernanda Torres’ lead actress nomination for “I’m Still Here”
- James Mangold’s direction nomination for “A Complete Unknown”
- Sebastian Stan’s lead actor nomination for “The Apprentice”
- What were the biggest snubs of the 2025 Oscar nominations?
- Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s lead actress snub for “Hard Truths”
- Angelina Jolie’s lead actress snub for “Maria”
- Nicole Kidman’s lead actress snub for “Babygirl”
- What were some of the most notable omissions from the 2025 Oscar nominations?
- “Sing Sing”
- “September 5”
- “Nickel Boys”
- “Dune: Part Two”
- “The Last Showgirl”
- “The Substance”
- “Gladiator II”
- Why were some films and performances left out of the 2025 Oscar nominations?
- Lack of visibility and marketing for some films
- Competition in a crowded lead actress category
- Limited exposure and recognition for some performances
