Oscar voting is over for the 97th Academy Awards, and now we are just patiently waiting until the awards are handed out on March 2nd. Matt Neglia and I spoke with several Academy voters about what they are voting for and why. We’ll be posting some of those thoughts for your amusement in the lead-up to the Oscars (because that’s all this is at the end of the day). Here are the first, second, third and fourth 2025 Anonymous Oscar voters we spoke with. Remember, as you read these, they represent only a tiny fraction of the 10,000+ people who vote on the Oscar winners. While these may help provide some insight into how voters make their selections, they are far from the be-all-end-all of what will win the Oscars and should be taken with a grain of salt.
Best Picture:
I felt it was a good year for nominations, with a couple of exceptions…As a A member of the Production and Technology Branch, I take my duties as a voter very seriously, so I see everything nominated and don’t vote for any categories if I haven’t seen everything. Here’s a caveat: I vote with my heart and vote for what emotionally moved me. I recognize that a significant chunk of what I voted for will not win.Â
- “Dune: Part Two” – This was such a stunning achievement of word-building and storytelling. Denis Villeneuve has such breathtaking ambition and the ability to pull it off. He’s flying at an altitude as a filmmaker where he’s basically by himself. No one is doing what he is doing right now. I think it isn’t doing better because it was a genre movie, which is a real shame. I’d have voted for him if he’d been in Best Director.
- “Anora” – I liked this a lot, and I think this will win because of the preferential ballot.
- “A Complete Unknown” – I really like James Mangold’s work. He’s making the kind of old-school studio movies that I grew up loving. I think he doesn’t get as much love as he deserves.
- “Conclave” – Really great storytelling here. It’s about as good of a movie as could be made from that story.
- “Wicked” – Great songs. Great production. Worked really well for a mass audience.
- “I’m Still Here” – Powerful. Emotionally resonant. This one snuck up on me.
- “The Brutalist” – I felt it didn’t actually have much to say despite running over three hours, and the ending was a complete mess. Self-indulgent, sometimes messy filmmaking. There’s a needle you have to thread where you try to stay ahead of the audience without losing their emotional engagement, and this kind of went past that.
- “Emilia Perez” – I thought Zoe was fantastic, but the whole time I was watching, I kept thinking, “Why was this a musical?” When I finished it, there were things I liked, but not the whole. To use a baseball analogy, I saw a bunch of singles, doubles, and even a few triples but no home runs.Â
- “Nickel Boys” – I really hated the POV filmmaking. I think there’s a reason we do closeups on actors: to get an emotional response to the story. I fully recognize that I’m an outlier here because many people love it and see it as groundbreaking storytelling, but I thought it was a disastrous decision.
- “The Substance” – I deeply disliked this. The first 45 minutes were fantastic and fresh, but it became repetitive, lost focus, and kept playing the same note over and over.
Best Director:
Denis Villeneuve by write-in. I’m kidding, haha. I voted for Sean Baker. He’s been doing great work for a long time. If I had one, my second vote would’ve been for Mangold.
Best Actress:
Mikey Madison. I liked Demi but she was the only thing I liked about “The Substance,” and I almost went with her, but Mikey takes it by a nose. I actually would have voted for Saoirse Ronan if she’d gotten in here. After last Sundance, I would never have imagined she wouldn’t have been nominated for “The Outrun.”
Best Actor:
Sebastian Stan. I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to see “The Apprentice” because the last thing I wanted to do was watch a movie about Donald fucking Trump right now, but I’m glad I did because this was a fantastic performance. You watch him slowly become more and more like the Trump we know in his mannerisms as the film progresses. He did something I didn’t think in a million years was possible: to make me feel even the tiniest bit sympathetic for Donald Trump. And I shouldn’t consider this, but I am, so I’m also supporting Sebastian’s “A Different Man” performance by voting for him for this.
Best Supporting Actress:
Isabella Rossellini. I was just so arrested by her performance and her stillness. And it’s definitely a bit of a career acknowledgment on my part, but why can’t it be both?
Best Supporting Actor:
Edward Norton. I know Kieran Culkin is going to walk off with this, but I feel like you watch an interview with him, see him on “Succession,” and that’s just…him. Norton gave a complete, actualized performance. He’s not doing an imitation; he’s got this folksy earnestness that he channeled.
Best Original Screenplay:
I thought the script for “September 5” was really strong, and I wanted to show some love to that movie, and I was glad it got in here.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
“Conclave,” easily. That’s as good of a movie as you could have made from that source. I was really impressed with the tautness of the screenplay.
Best Animated Feature:
“Flow.” I love, love, love “The Wild Robot.” I really do. But “Flow” was so innovative.
Best Documentary Feature:
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” really caught me off guard. It’s a relatively obscure event in world history but a fantastic documentary. Of the five, it was the most fully realized film. It uses every aspect of the medium so well. All five of these were so powerful, though.
Best International Feature Film:
Between the two Best Picture nominees in this category and really compared to the rest of the nominees, I don’t see how you go for anything else other than “I’m Still Here.”
Best Cinematography:
I voted for Ed Lachmann for “Maria.” He is like what I was talking about earlier with Denis, he’s just operating on another level from most other working DPs. He’s never won before and deserves to win at some point. I’d be happy with four out of five of these nominees winning. The only one I don’t think belonged was “Emilia Perez.” Greig Fraser already won for “Dune: Part One,” so I didn’t feel as compelled to vote for him this time around.
Best Costume Design:
I chose “Nosferatu.” The period accuracy and attention to detail were so impressive.
Best Film Editing:
I voted for “Anora” here. I basically was voting for that one crazy scene where they come into the house and try to abduct her. That sequence was just incredibly constructed.
Best Makeup & Hairstyling:
I didn’t like the movie, but there’s no denying what went into the makeup work on “The Substance.”
Best Production Design:
Despite my issues with the script, the production design for “The Brutalist” was an integral part of the storytelling for that film.
Best Original Score:
“The Wild Robot” had a fantastic score that really got to me emotionally. “Emilia Perez” and “Wicked” are more about their songs than their score.
Best Original Song:
I just presumed that I was gonna vote for “Emilia Perez.” But I didn’t think either of those songs was the strongest in the film. I would’ve gone for the first one where Zoe Saldana is on the stand and dancing through the streets. I have a constitutional allergy against voting for songs that only play at the end of the film, but I did vote for “Like a Bird” from “Sing Sing.” Even though it technically plays in the final scene, I tell myself this is ok. Also, did you watch “The Six Triple Eight?” I did. And what the hell!? I mean, oh my god. How did that get nominated? What a pile of hot garbage.
Best Sound:
“Wicked.” Everybody’s gonna vote for it because they think musical equals sound. But I thought “Wicked” was a fantastic achievement, especially the live work they did capturing everyone’s voices on set…Obviously, I won’t mind seeing “Dune: Part Two” win, but they won the first time.
Best Visual Effects:
I went with “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.” I could’ve easily voted for “Dune: Part Two,” but I’m a good Academy voter. I watched all the bakeoff reels, and after doing that, I felt I had no choice but to vote for Apes. The work is next-level great.
Best Animated Short Film:
I voted for “In The Shadow Of The Cyprus.” It’s ethereally beautiful, with really powerful animation and no dialogue required to tell its story.
Best Documentary Short Film:
It’s a really schizophrenic category this year. There are three that are very political, two very heartwarming, and one that is fun. Ultimately, I went with “Incident.” It was an amazing use of the medium. Told entirely through surveillance footage with some really skillful editing.
Best Live Action Short Film:
I’m sensing a lot of support for “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent,” but I went with “I’m Not A Robot.” That was a really fantastic concept and funny.
Please let us know your thoughts on our X account and be sure to listen to our final Oscar predictions podcast episode coming this Sunday. Here are the first, second, third and fourth 2025 Anonymous Oscar voters we spoke with about their ballots. Please click here for more important upcoming dates this awards season and here for the most recent tally of awards season winners for the current year.
You can follow Matt & Will and hear more of their thoughts on the Oscars & Film on Twitter at @NextBestPicture& @mavericksmovies
