A set of devastating fires, two delays, and much soul-searching later, the Oscar nominations are finally here—and, as always, they include some truly baffling picks, heartbreaking omissions, and truly galvanizing plot twists. Here are the 14 most shocking snubs and surprises from the 2025 Academy Awards shortlist.
Surprise: Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here
In the run-up to the nominations announcement, the best-actress race felt entirely up in the air in a way that none of the other acting contests did. Would The Last Showgirl’s Pamela Anderson somehow sweep in, following her recent Golden Globe and SAG nominations? Would Maria’s Angelina Jolie, deemed out of the race after having missed out on SAG and BAFTA nods, experience an unexpected resurgence? Literally anything seemed possible. But then came the list, and it featured four names many had predicted—Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo, Emilia Pérez’s Karla Sofía Gascón, Anora’s Mikey Madison, and The Substance’s Demi Moore—alongside a thrilling wild card: the Brazilian stalwart who surged in the race after her best-actress-in-a-drama Golden Globe win for Walter Salles’s sweeping political saga.
Remarkably, the film also received a best picture nod—something few awards season prognosticators saw coming—as well as the best-international-film nomination it was always poised to get. The Oscars have a history of sometimes recognizing one slightly left-field, critically adored, international name in its best-actress line-ups alongside the usual Hollywood heavyweights—see: Anatomy of a Fall’s Sandra Hüller, Roma’s Yalitza Aparicio—and this year, some had hoped that’d be Hard Truths’s Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Alas, that was not to be, but with Torres now gaining momentum as this race’s dark horse, frontrunner Demi Moore should watch her back.
Snub: Nicole Kidman for Babygirl
Yes, it was not entirely surprising that the Oscar winner and five-time nominee missed out on a nod for Halina Reijn’s sizzling romp—she failed to be recognized by SAG or BAFTA, either—but given her immense popularity with this voting body (her last nod was for the under-seen and divisive Being the Ricardos), many still believed she could squeeze in here. Our commiserations—though as the hardest-working woman in show business, she will, no doubt, be back on this podium soon enough.
Surprise: Monica Barbaro for A Complete Unknown
The enchanting rising star is a magnetic Joan Baez in James Mangold’s toe-tapping Bob Dylan biopic, but she was ignored by the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, and BAFTAs, making her something of an outlier in this year’s best-supporting-actress race. Then came the SAG nominations, where her surprise inclusion (along with the likes of Wicked’s Jonathan Bailey and The Last Showgirl’s Jamie Lee Curtis and Pamela Anderson) prompted a discussion around that awards body’s so-called “alphabet bias,” which some believe favors those whose names appear towards the top of the alphabetised ballot. Now though, she’s defied her doubters, landing a coveted spot alongside Emilia Pérez’s Zoe Saldaña, Wicked’s Ariana Grande, The Brutalist’s Felicity Jones, and Conclave’s Isabella Rossellini.
Snub: Selena Gomez for Emilia Pérez
Among those who missed out as a result of Barbaro getting in, though, are The Piano Lesson’s formidable Danielle Deadwyler, Nickel Boys’s scene-stealing Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and The Substance’s slippery Margaret Qualley, but also the prolific multi-hyphenate who scored both a Golden Globe and BAFTA nod for her all-singing, all-dancing supporting turn in Jacques Audiard’s head-spinning cartel musical. Aside from Gomez, though, the film did incredibly well, landing a staggering 13 nominations—the most for any non-English language release in Oscar history.
The Brutalist’s Adrien Brody, A Complete Unknown’s Timothée Chalamet, Sing Sing’s Colman Domingo, and Conclave’s Ralph Fiennes were always going to make the best-actor shortlist, but there was a question mark hanging over the final spot. In the end, the double Golden Globe nominee, who took home the statuette for best actor in a musical or comedy for A Different Man, got in for his other notable performance of the year: a much-discussed transformation into a young Donald Trump. Oscar voters clearly liked the Ali Abbasi-directed biopic: his always excellent co-star, Jeremy Strong, thankfully made the cut, too, in best supporting Actor alongside Anora’s Yura Borisov, A Real Pain’s Kieran Culkin, A Complete Unknown’s Edward Norton, and The Brutalist’s Guy Pearce. At one point—when Stan was reportedly prevented from participating in Variety’s Actors on Actors series because publicists were afraid of letting their clients discuss the controversial film with him, in case it’d draw Trump’s ire—it looked like The Apprentice might disappear from the awards race entirely, but this is quite the comeback. I imagine the newly installed president will have much to say about this development.
Snub: Daniel Craig for Queer
Stan’s success came at the expense of the former Bond, who is undeniably fantastic in Luca Guadagnino’s surreal William S. Burroughs adaptation. He racked up Critics’ Choice, Golden Globe, and SAG nods, though his omission at the BAFTAs—which allowed Heretic’s Hugh Grant to squeeze onto that shortlist—may have been the writing on the wall.
Snub: Denzel Washington for Gladiator II
Once talked about as a potential winner, the two-time Oscar recipient slowly slid out of the race after missing out on SAG and BAFTA nominations, but there was always a slim chance that he’d somehow get in here. However, Academy members, it seems, were not particularly entertained by Ridley Scott’s swashbuckling sequel, giving it only one nod: for best costume design.
This year’s best-director shortlist was predicted by many to be an all-male lineup, so it was a joy to see at least one woman among them: the French auteur behind the mind-melting satire, which received an impressive five nods—for best make-up and hairstyling, original screenplay, best actress (for Demi Moore) and, to the shock of some, best picture, too. For a film which has unquestionably been a challenging sit for some voters, one which, at the beginning of this race, some expected to be ignored entirely, it’s an incredible outcome.
Surprise: James Mangold for A Complete Unknown
The filmmaker made the Directors’ Guild of America shortlist for his Timothée Chalamet-led drama, but having missed out on Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice, and BAFTA nods, no one really expected him to make it onto the Oscar best-director lineup, alongside the likes of Emilia Pérez’s Jacques Audiard, Anora’s Sean Baker, and The Brutalist’s Brady Corbet. His inclusion here indicates strong support across the board for A Complete Unknown, which snagged eight nominations, including best picture.
Snub: Edward Berger for Conclave
Perhaps the most jaw-dropping snub of the entire nominations list, though, is the exclusion of the respected auteur behind the beloved papal thriller. A Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice, and BAFTA nominee this time around, who had enormous success at the 2023 Oscars with the nine-time nominated All Quiet on the Western Front (though, crucially, he missed out on a directing nod then, too), he was a presumed lock. It’s a move which suggests that Conclave, despite its eight nominations, may not be quite as strong of a best-picture contender as some initially suspected.
Snub: Sing Sing
Colman Domingo made it into best actor, thank God, but the life-affirming ensemble piece was notably absent from the best-picture lineup, as was the incomparable Clarence Maclin from best supporting actor. Still, the latter is now, at least, an Oscar nominee for co-writing the film’s adapted screenplay, and it received an additional surprise nod in the best-original-song category, for the gorgeous ballad “Like a Bird.”
Surprise: Nickel Boys
I was, however, over the moon to see RaMell Ross’s wonderfully intimate take on Colson Whitehead make it into both best picture and best adapted screenplay. It deserved recognition for its direction, cinematography, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor’s beautiful supporting turn, too, but given that it had gotten lost in the noise of awards season in recent weeks and could have been snubbed entirely, I’m immensely grateful.
Snub: All We Imagine as Light
One release that did get lost in the end was Payal Kapadia’s quiet mood piece, which had a chance of sneaking into both the best director and original screenplay categories. If it had been submitted by India as the nation’s best international film contender, it would surely have secured a slot there–and had a genuine chance of winning—but sadly, that was not the case.
The raucous Irish trio made the Oscar shortlists for both best international film and original song for their earworm of a hit, “Sick in the Head”—and scored a startling six BAFTA nominations to boot—but were, ultimately, ignored by the Academy. They responded with their characteristic insouciance, proving they were always too cool for the Oscars anyway.