After an eventful week, which included winners from the Gotham Awards, NYFCC, LAFCA, NBR, the AFI 10, and the Spirit Award Nominations, CBS unveiled the Golden Globe nominations this morning. As the first televised awards of the season, these nominees get a big early boost as the industry catches up on contenders. Two years into this new iteration of the Golden Globes, the nominations feel different than they used to. While there are always plenty of perceived snubs and surprises, this year, the nominations came with many cool surprises, far more awesome than expected in some cases. Of course, there were some heartbreaking misses, but the days of the Globes nominating embarrassing contenders who are not in the awards conversation at all are clearly over. Let’s break down the Motion Picture nominations to see how they might impact the Oscar race.
“EMILIA PÉREZ” LEADS NOMINATIONS
Netflix came out swinging with “Emilia Pérez,” which scored ten nominations, more than any other film this year. In addition to both Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language, Jacques Audiard landed in Best Director and Best Screenplay, with acting nominations for Karla SofÃa Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, and Selena Gomez. Its score and two songs, “El Mal” and “Mi Camino” also received nominations. The movie didn’t miss in a single category it needed to. It’s a strong start to the divisive film, which has sparked strong reactions across social media despite positive reviews from critics and a glowing reception from the industry overall, as evidenced by its European Film Award wins the other night. All signs still point to the formidable presence of “Emilia Pérez” in this year’s race.
“THE SUBSTANCE” COMES OUT SWINGING
Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” also showed up in a big way this morning. Horror films rarely do well with the Golden Globes, but Fargeat’s over-the-top approach seems to have resonated with the new Globe voting body, nabbing five nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Many predicted Demi Moore could break into the Best Actress – Musical or Comedy lineup, and she did. Still, fewer people expected Margaret Qualley to appear in Best Supporting Actress, mainly when that category isn’t split between Drama or Comedy. Fargeat herself showed up in Best Director and Best Screenplay, proof that this film landed across the board for Globes voters. This is Moore’s first Globe nomination in 28 years, a proper welcome back that helps boost her profile more than anything. “The Substance” has been a sort of bubble contender all season long as we wondered how voting bodies would react to its visceral body horror aspects. It’s a significant boost for the film at precisely the right time, as Oscar shortlist voting gets underway today. It’s beginning to look more likely that “The Substance” could also show up at the Oscars than not.
“SING SING” BARELY REGISTERS
On the other hand, this was a rough day for Greg Kwedar’s “Sing Sing.” Many hoped the film, whose quiet summer release from A24 did the film no favors, would swing back around come winter and become a serious contender. While the film had an excellent week with AFI, NBR, and more, the Golden Globes did not seem to respond to “Sing Sing” all that much. It scored only one nomination, Best Actor – Drama for Colman Domingo. It missed Picture, Screenplay, and Supporting Actor for Clarence Maclin. It’s a disappointing miss for a film that continues to need resuscitation. While these misses are unlikely to damage “Sing Sing” regarding Oscar nominations, its Best Picture hopes aren’t looking great at the moment.
Missing Best Picture here is also strange, given which films booted it out. Both “Nickel Boys” and “September 5” scored Best Motion Picture – Drama nominations despite not receiving a single other nomination. Many, including this writer, hoped that a movie like “Sing Sing” could squeeze through that gap to take home the Oscar in a season without any clear frontrunners for Best Picture. While that hope is still alive, misguidedly, at least, the stats don’t look good. The last films eligible to win Best Picture at the Oscars without a Picture nomination from the Globes were “Crash” in 2005 and “The Sting” in 1973 before that.
“THE BRUTALIST,” “ANORA,” AND “CONCLAVE” SCORE ACROSS THE BOARD
Top Best Picture contenders “The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” and “Anora” all scored exactly the nominations they needed this morning, not missing anywhere of consequence. All three landed in their respective Best Picture categories, along with Best Director, Screenplay, and multiple acting nominations. Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, and Guy Pearce all received nominations for “The Brutalist,” Mikey Madison and Yura Borisov showed up for “Anora,” and Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini were nominated for “Conclave.” Borisov’s nomination is the most needed of the bunch, as it could’ve been easy for a lesser-known performer to miss here. It’s a helpful boost that should keep him in the race even more. There’s a strong case to be made for each of these films to eventually win the Oscar for Best Picture, and these nominations did precisely what they needed to do.
BEST ACTRESS SURPRISES – ANDERSON, WINSLET, AND MORE
Perhaps the nomination that could have the most needed boost is Pamela Anderson for “The Last Showgirl,” which also received a Best Original Song nomination for “Beautiful That Way.” It’s a smaller film, so few have been expecting it to maintain momentum, but this is a good moment for Anderson. Her narrative for this film, in particular, could take her further.
Kate Winslet also showed up for “Lee.” The movie received a mixed reception, but Winslet has recently received a coordinated campaign from fellow actors such as Frances Fisher, Dwayne Johnson, and more. Fisher infamously propelled Andrea Riseborough to a nomination in 2022, and it seems her campaign could be working for Winslet again this year.
Sadly, those nominations came at the expense of Marianne Jean-Baptiste from Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” and Saoirse Ronan from “The Outrun.” Jean-Baptiste is fresh off of wins from both NYFCC and LAFCA, a double-whammy that rarely misses an Oscar nomination. In fact, the last time someone won Best Actress at NYFCC and LAFCA and still missed an Oscar nomination was in 2008 when Sally Hawkins missed for “Happy-Go-Lucky,” coincidentally another Mike Leigh film. Ronan, on the other hand, couldn’t get in for her Sundance flick “The Outrun,” a film that primarily received positive notices for Ronan’s performance more than the film itself.
BEST ACTOR SURPRISES – STAN, STAN, GRANT, AND MORE
No one has really wanted to touch “The Apprentice” this season. Everyone seems to be too scared of Trump. That run appears to have ended at Film Independent Spirit Awards and now the Globes today, with Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong both receiving nominations for Best Actor – Drama and Best Supporting Actor, respectively. While Stan is far from safe for an Oscar nomination, this recognition puts him squarely back in a conversation that had been leaving him out to dry. Stan also showed up in Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for his performance in “A Different Man,” though his co-star, Adam Pearson, was sadly left out of Best Supporting Actor. Stan’s nomination for “The Apprentice” didn’t come as too much of a surprise. The Best Actor – Drama lineup went pretty much as expected. Some predicted Kingsley Ben-Adir to show up for his performance in “Bob Marley: One Love,” but that didn’t come to fruition.
The predicted Oscar lineup primarily comes from the Drama side of things, which left room for more surprises among Best Actor – Musical or Comedy. All but one of the nominees in this category were the sole nominations for their film. Jesse Eisenberg is that expectation, whose film “A Real Pain” appeared in Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Kieran Culkin. While “Saturday Night” was expected to perform a bit better with the Globes, it only managed to get Gabriel Labelle a nomination. Glen Powell landed here for “Hit Man,” a bubble contender that just needs to keep showing up at the right time, and it could land an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
More surprising was the inclusion of Cannes Best Actor winner Jesse Plemons for “Kinds of Kindness,” the Yorgos Lanthimos film that most had written off earlier this summer. While the movie certainly doesn’t seem to be receiving the same level of support as “Poor Things” or “The Favourite,” at least it was kept alive here. And finally, A24’s religious horror flick “Heretic” propelled Hugh Grant to a nomination in this category as well.
OTHER SURPRISES:
- Danielle Deadwyler was left out for “The Piano Lesson,” a painful miss in a crowded category. It’s a painful reminder of her similar Globes snub for “Till” in a run that also found her missing an Oscar nomination. This isn’t a good sign for the film, especially when Deadwyler is the only real nomination in play for the Netflix film.
- Payal Kapadia scored a surprise Best Director nomination for “All We Imagine As Light,” paired with the film’s Best Film, Foreign Language nomination. India failed to submit the film for Best International Feature at the Oscars, and thanks to the Academy’s antiquated rules, the film is ineligible for the category. Nevertheless, it’s still eligible for other categories, such as Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, so this nomination is a huge and welcome boost.
- Despite the Academy and BAFTA deeming Hans Zimmer’s “Dune: Part Two” score ineligible this week, it received a nomination here. This will likely be the last hurrah for the score unless the Critics Choice Association decides to go for it.
- While Best Animated Feature has largely stuck with a clear five contenders, the Globes have a sixth slot in each category. That made space for the recent box office sensation “Moana 2,” which is unlikely to kick any of its fellow nominees out of the running for the Academy Award.
Ultimately, the main takeaway from this year’s Globe nominations is that… they’re actually pretty good. This is the second year of the new Golden Globes Association and their expanded voting body, and both years of nominees have been surprisingly interesting. They’ve shown greater respect toward international films and appear less eager to simply nominate the biggest stars. It’s truly a new era for the Golden Globes, and they could prove to be a much more respectable voting body. There’s still a long road until the Oscar nominations for this year’s crop of films, but the race is winnowing down quickly. We’ll find out who wins the Globes on January 5th, 2025.
What were the biggest surprises to you among these nominees? What was your biggest disappointment? Who do you think got the most significant Oscar boost this morning? Please let us know in the comments below or over on our X account and check out the Next Best Picture team’s latest Oscar predictions here.
