Anora and Conclave traded blows at the 2025 Oscars on Sunday, with Sean Baker’s movie winning two to the papal drama’s one some two hours into the ceremony.
Baker won both for original screenplay and editing of his action-tinged black comedy and class commentary about the relationship between a stripper and a Russian oligarch’s heir. The wins marks Baker’s two of four attempted Oscars for the same movie, a feat that has never been achieved.
“I saved this film in the edit. That director should never work again,” Baker quipped from the Dolby stage, referring of course to himself.
Adapted screenplay honors went to Conclave, which is seeking to stop the Anora train. Peter Straughan took the prize for his story of the jockeying beyond the scenes at the Vatican to replace a recently departed pope.
The two films are considered frontrunners for best picture after having each won major precursor awards, the top PGA and DGA prizes for Anora and BAFTA and SAG for Conclave.
Earlier, Baker said upon accepting the original screenplay prizes, “I want to thank the sex worker community. They have shared their stories; they have shared their experiences over the years,” noting his “deep respect” for those in the industry.
Supporting actor prizes went to the expected contenders. Kieran Culkin won the first prize of the night, taking the supporting actor award for playing Benji Kaplan, a fast-talking and vulnerable lost soul in Jesse Eisenberg’s Holocaust-history dramedy A Real Pain.
The win mark’s Culkin’s first Oscar in a roughly 25-year career; he had been getting awards attention lately for his former hit HBO show Succession. “I don’t know how I got here. I’ve just been acting my whole life,” said Culkin, 42. He also told a detailed story about negotiating with his wife to have more kids if he wins more awards, which he has now done.
And Zoe Saldaña took supporting actress for her role as Rita Mora Castro, a Mexico City lawyer who helps a drug kingpin transition in Jacques Audiard’s musical drama Emilia Pérez. She cited “the quiet heroism and power in a woman” like her character and also noted that she is “a proud child of immigrant parents” and the “first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award; I know I will not be the last.” (See the star-studded Oscars red carpet 2025 arrivals.)
In the animated category, Flow pulled off a surprise win over DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures’ The Wild Robot. The wordless Latvian environmental parable had a much smaller budget and distributor (Sideshow/Janus) than Robot, but charmed voters with its unusual approach. Writer-director Gints Zilbalodis thanked his “mom and dad, and cats and dogs” in his acceptance speech.
“I hope it will open doors to independent animated filmmakers around the world,” he said. The movie could well have been the beneficiary of a newer, more international-minded voting bloc, which is less invested in the Hollywood studio system than traditional Academy members.
Zilbalodis offered a message of global unity amid crisis. “We are all in the same boat; we must overcome our differences and find ways to work together,” he said, as he accepted an honor for a movie which also has creatures facing cataclysm.
Wicked won many of the crafts prizes after stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande opened the Oscars with an Oz medley, including “Defying Gravity.” Production design honors went to Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales for their elaborate work in the Ozian world. Crowley took home an Oscar after six previous nominations left him empty handed.
And costume design saw Wicked’s Paul Tazewell continue his streak of awards this season for his whimsical aesthetic populating the cinematic world of the Broadway hit. Tazewell became the first Black man to win an Oscar for costume design, a fact he noted jubilantly from the stage and O’Brien echoed a few moments later. Tazewell also has an Emmy and Tony on his mantle.
The show had a languid pace with long tributes to supporting actors, costumes and, especially, James Bond and the Broccoli family, which took on an added undertone in the wake of the sale of creative control of the property to Amazon-MGM. And Mick Jagger turned up to present the award for original song.
“I wasn’t the first choice,” he said. “The producers really wanted Bob Dylan to do it.” He said Dylan deferred to someone younger, leading to the appearance of the Rolling Stones frontman. (Dylan is 83, Jagger is 81.) He then announced the prize for El Mal, the thumping anti-elites anthem from Emilia Perez by Audiard, Camille and Clément Ducol, marking Audiard’s first-ever Oscar.
“We hope it speaks to the role music and art can continue to play as a force of the good and progress in the world,” Camille said accepting the prize as Jagger looked on.
Political moments have otherwise been few and far between, though presenter Daryl Hannah said “Slava Ukraini” and saluted the Ukrainian people as “badasses” when she took the stage.
The awards began after an extended opening that lasted nearly a half hour. It brought a cinematic tribute to Los Angeles, the Erivo and Grande duet, an Adam Sandler cameo, and host Conan O’Brien riffing, singing and saluting “the magic, madness, grandeur and the joy of film” in the face of tragedy. There were also many jokes about Timothée Chalamet’s youth and yellow suit.
This year’s Oscars hold plenty of drama. It is a wide-open show concluding a wide-open season; one could plausibly make a case for four different movies taking best picture, a scenario that has not happened in decades.
This is a developing story.
