The 2025 Critics Choice Awards: Chaos, Controversy, and a Wild Oscar Preview
Let's cut to the chase: award shows love drama, but the 2025 Critics Choice Awards? They invented it. In a night where frontrunners stumbled, dark horses galloped, and one director joked about his own Oscar doom, Hollywood's precursor season just got a whole lot messier. Buckle up.
Anora's Quiet Triumph (and the Elephant in the Room)
Sean Baker's Anora, a gritty tale of a Brooklyn stripper's rollercoaster ride through love and survival, won Best Picture—but nothing else. No acting nods, no screenplay love. Just the top prize. Is this a Moonlight-style slow burn, or a fluke in a fractured field? Baker's films (The Florida Project, Red Rocket) have always been critics' darlings, but Oscar voters prefer their underdogs with a side of sentiment. With The Substance and Wicked hogging three wins each, Anora feels like a lone wolf. Cue the existential crisis: can a film win Best Picture without momentum elsewhere?
Jon M. Chu's “I'm Not Winning the Oscar” Speech (And Why He's Probably Right)
Jon M. Chu, the maestro behind Wicked's $1 billion spectacle, nabbed Best Director—a shocker, since the Academy snubbed him entirely. His speech? A masterclass in self-deprecation: “I'm gonna win the Oscar! … Just kidding, I'm not.” Brutal. Honest. Very un-Hollywood. But let's be real: Wicked is a crowd-pleaser, not a critics' pet. The CCA's love might be a nostalgia trip for Crazy Rich Asians fans, but the Oscars? They'll likely crown Lanthimos (Kind of Kindness) or Glazer (The Zone of Interest). Still, props to Chu for keeping it real.
Demi Moore's Resurrection (and Karla Sofia Gascón's Implosion)
Demi Moore, 61, winning Best Actress for The Substance—a body horror flick about aging in Hollywood—is poetic justice. Her comeback's been brewing since Margin Call, but this? This feels like a victory lap. Meanwhile, Emilia Pérez's Karla Sofia Gascón—absent from the ceremony amid “wild controversies”—saw her Oscar hopes implode faster than you can say “method acting.” Zoe Saldaña's Supporting Actress win keeps the film alive, but Gascón's no-show screams “damage control.”
The Elephant in the Voting Booth
Here's the kicker: CCA voting ended weeks before Gascón's scandals erupted. Had ballots opened later, would Emilia Pérez have tanked? And what about The Brutalist's Adrien Brody, whose Best Actor win feels… safe? The Critics Choice Awards prides itself on predicting Oscars, but this year? It's less a crystal ball and more a funhouse mirror.
Personal Take: Chaos is Good for Cinema
Awards fatigue is real, folks. But nights like this? They're a reminder that art is messy, unpredictable, and gloriously human. Anora's win celebrates quiet audacity. Chu's speech skewers Hollywood's ego. Moore's victory? A middle finger to ageism. Sure, the Oscars might “play it safe” come March—but for now, let's savor the chaos.
Engage With Me:
Could Demi Moore's Critics Choice win finally land her an Oscar—or will the Academy overlook The Substance's gnarly satire?
Here's the full list of winners from the 2025 Critics Choice Awards
2025 Critics Choice Awards Winners
- Best Picture: Anora (Sean Baker)
- Best Director: Jon M. Chu (Wicked)
- Best Actor: Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)
- Best Actress: Demi Moore (The Substance)
- Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)
- Best Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)
- Best Original Screenplay: The Substance, A Real Pain,
- Best Foreign Language Film: Emilia Pérez
- Best Song: TBD from Emilia Pérez (specific track unnamed in source)
Additional Context:
- Most Wins (Tie): Wicked, Emilia Pérez, and The Substance each took home 3 awards, though only select categories were specified.
- Wicked: Best Director + 2 unnamed wins (likely technical categories like Costume Design or Cinematography, but unconfirmed).
- Emilia Pérez: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Supporting Actress (Saldaña), Best Song.
- The Substance: Best Actress (Moore), Best Original Screenplay + 1 unnamed win.
- Notable Absences: Karla Sofia Gascón (Emilia Pérez) skipped the ceremony amid controversies.
- Voting Timeline: Ballots closed weeks before the event, meaning recent scandals/fan campaigns didn't influence outcomes.
