SpoilerFreeReviews’ 2025 Academy Awards Predictions

Five of our SpoilerFreeReviews contributors — Eli Brumfield, Esta Rosevear, Jami Losurdo, Aaron Goldstein, and Tarush Mohanti — throw down their 2025 Oscar predictions. From obvious frontrunners to long shots we’re personally rooting for, here’s where our bets landed.

Best Picture

CONCLAVE

60.0%

ANORA

40.0%

• CONCLAVE 60.0%
• ANORA: 40.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• Winning the BAFTA and the SAG got me excited enough for a serious upset — Eli Brumfield
• This category is neck and neck with CONCLAVE who could win. It is a toss-up.
  — Esta Rosevear
• CONCLAVE and NICKEL BOYS are the only movies that really deserve to be in this list. It was just a weak year. THE BRUTALIST might win but it was just so meh. I wish SING SING was nominated too. — Jami Losurdo
• CONCLAVE is the most Oscar-ish movie in this category. — Aaron Goldstein
• I genuinely think this is one of the strongest years for Best Picture – would be excited for 9 of the 10 of these films to take home the big prize. — Tarush Mohanti

Best Director

ANORA, Sean Baker

100.0%

• ANORA, Sean Baker: 100.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• The DGA pretty much dictates this award. — Eli Brumfield
• Baker simply deserves it this year.Brady Corbet could win, but I doubt it. — Esta Rosevear
• Sean Baker seems to be winning this award everywhere here, even though I found ANORA to just be pretty mediocre. — Jami Losurdo
• Before the DGA awards, I had this locked in with Brady Corbet. — Aaron Goldstein

Best Actress in a Leading Role

DEMI MOORE, “THE SUBSTANCE”

80.0%

MIKEY MADISON, “ANORA”

20.0%

• DEMI MOORE, “THE SUBSTANCE“: 80.0%
• MIKEY MADISON, “ANORA“: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• Madison will get another shot at it. Demi Moore is the better story. — Eli Brumfield
• Momentum at the moment is all in Demi”s court. — Esta Rosevear
• June Squibb should be among these nominees for Thelma, my favorite film of 2024. — Jami Losurdo
• The Oscar for lifetime achievement award goes to… — Aaron Goldstein
• Fernanda Torres’ performance made I’M STILL HERE worth watching. — Tarush Mohanti

Best Actor in a Leading Role

ADRIEN BRODY, “THE BRUTALIST”

60.0%

TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN”

40.0%

• ADRIEN BRODY, “THE BRUTALIST“: 60.0%
• TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN“: 40.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• Literally everybody deserves to win, but I’m going to go with the man who’s won damn near all the precursors here. — Eli Brumfield
• He was simply brilliant in his role and well-deserved. Chalamet could win as an upset. — Esta Rosevear
• My favorite here is Colman Domingo, but I think after the SAG Awards this is Timothee’s to lose. — Jami Losurdo
• Ralph Fiennes was the leader until Brody delivered the best performance of the year. — Aaron Goldstein
• If Timothee Chalamet has 1 million fans I am one of them – if Timothee Chalamet has no fans, I am no longer on this earth… — Tarush Mohanti

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

ZOE SALDAÑA, “EMILIA PÉREZ”

100.0%

• ZOE SALDAÑA, “EMILIA PÉREZ“: 100.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• This needs to be the first award given out so that we can quickly get past any more mention of this movie for the rest of the evening. — Eli Brumfield
• Again huge momentum going her way. — Esta Rosevear
• This category is all over the place. Isabella Rossellini is in like 4 minutes of CONCLAVE and Ariana Grande is in most of WICKED. — Jami Losurdo
• Despite the hate this movie is receiving, it will win at least one award and this is it. — Aaron Goldstein
• Felicity Jones was unrecognizable in her role in THE BRUTALIST, carrying the second half of the movie. — Tarush Mohanti

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

KIERAN CULKIN, “A REAL PAIN”

60.0%

GUY PEARCE, “THE BRUTALIST”

20.0%

JEREMY STRONG, “THE APPRENTICE”

20.0%

• KIERAN CULKIN, “A REAL PAIN“: 60.0%
• GUY PEARCE, “THE BRUTALIST“: 20.0%
• JEREMY STRONG, “THE APPRENTICE“: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• Literally has all the precursors. No shot he loses. — Eli Brumfield
• This is a done-deal. — Esta Rosevear
• I chose Guy Pearce because he’s my favorite actor in this group. I was shocked that Culkin won for A REAL PAIN at the SAG Awards. — Jami Losurdo
• Even if he is playing himself, it’s still a damn fine performance. — Aaron Goldstein
• THE APPRENTICE deserves the nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Stan and Strong made sitting through a movie about Donald Trump worth it. — Tarush Mohanti

Best Original Screenplay

THE SUBSTANCE
Written by Coralie Fargeat

60.0%

A REAL PAIN
Written by Jesse Eisenberg

20.0%

ANORA
Written by Sean Baker

20.0%

• THE SUBSTANCE, Written by Coralie Fargeat: 60.0%
• A REAL PAIN, Written by Jesse Eisenberg: 20.0%
• ANORA, Written by Sean Baker: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• A close race with ANORA, but I am going with the female writer. — Esta Rosevear
• Has a horror-comedy ever won this category? I’m voting for THE SUBSTANCE just to be hopeful. — Jami Losurdo
• I want to see a GOOD WILL HUNTING like upset. — Aaron Goldstein

Best Adapted Screenplay

CONCLAVE
Screenplay by Peter Straughan

100.0%

• CONCLAVE, Screenplay by Peter Straughan: 100.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• It is the only choice. — Esta Rosevear
• This is probably my favorite category of all of them. All of these are deserving. I’m choosing CONCLAVE because I think it’s a rare instance where the film is better than the book. — Jami Losurdo
• That twist ending. — Aaron Goldstein

Best Animated Feature

THE WILD ROBOT

100.0%

• “THE WILD ROBOT“: 100.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• FLOW could win as well. It is very close. — Esta Rosevear
• This is the other great category here. Inside Out 2 was my favorite of these, but they’re all excellent. I think THE WILD ROBOT takes it home. — Jami Losurdo
• If anything else wins, the Oscars are dead to me. — Aaron Goldstein
• I loved all these films – would be happy to see any of these take home the prize for Animated Feature! — Tarush Mohanti

Best International Feature

I’M STILL HERE
Brazil

100.0%

• I’M STILL HERE, Brazil: 100.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• I wish FLOW would win here, but I think I’M STILL HERE takes this because it wont’ win Best Picture. — Jami Losurdo
• Thanks to the EMILIA PEREZ backlash, I’M STILL HERE should win this one. — Aaron Goldstein
• So happy to see FLOW nominated here! — Tarush Mohanti

Best Documentary Feature

PORCELAIN WAR

60.0%

NO OTHER LAND

40.0%

• PORCELAIN WAR: 60.0%
• NO OTHER LAND: 40.0%

Best Cinematography

“THE BRUTALIST”

80.0%

“DUNE: PART TWO”

20.0%

• “THE BRUTALIST“: 80.0%
• “DUNE: PART TWO“: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• A beautifully created film with unique camera angles, Dune could be the upset, — Esta Rosevear
• Another incredibly mediocre category. — Jami Losurdo
• That opening VistaVision shot was sheer perfection. — Aaron Goldstein
• Every frame from DUNE: PART TWO could be an art piece. — Tarush Mohanti

Best Film Editing

CONCLAVE
Nick Emerson

80.0%

ANORA
Sean Baker

20.0%

• CONCLAVE, Nick Emerson: 80.0%
• ANORA, Sean Baker: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• The only choice due to its tight, well-executed story, — Esta Rosevear
• I feel like if Dune should be nominated anywhere, it’s here. — Jami Losurdo
• Tough category, ANORA could surprise here. — Aaron Goldstein

Best Production Design

WICKED

80.0%

NOSFERATU

20.0%

• WICKED: 80.0%
• NOSFERATU: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• Stunning, original sets created for the entire film. — Esta Rosevear
• All of these films have incredible Production Design. I wouldn’t mind NOSFERATU winning, but it won’t. — Jami Losurdo
• It’s Broadway on the film screen done right. — Aaron Goldstein

Best Visual Effects

DUNE: PART TWO

80.0%

ALIEN: ROMULUS

20.0%

• DUNE: PART TWO: 80.0%
• ALIEN: ROMULUS: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• I don’t know why Dune 2 was nominated for so many Oscars but it’s sure to win this one. — Jami Losurdo
• It should go to BETTER MAN! — Aaron Goldstein

Best Original Song

“EL MAL”
FROM EMILIA PÉREZ

40.0%

“THE JOURNEY”
FROM THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT

20.0%

“LIKE A BIRD”
FROM SING SING

20.0%

“NEVER TOO LATE”
FROM ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATE

20.0%

• “EL MAL” FROM EMILIA PÉREZ: 40.0%
• “THE JOURNEY” FROM THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT: 20.0%
• “LIKE A BIRD” FROM SING SING: 20.0%
• “NEVER TOO LATE” FROM ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATE: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• Just maybe SING SING gets 1 Oscar! — Jami Losurdo
• The most powerful song of the films nominated. — Aaron Goldstein

Best Original Score

THE BRUTALIST, Daniel Blumberg

80.0%

CONCLAVE, Volker Bertelmann

20.0%

• THE BRUTALIST, Daniel Blumberg: 80.0%
• CONCLAVE, Volker Bertelmann: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• I listened to NPR’s All Songs Considered about the Original Score and Original Song race and turned me onto CONCLAVE. It also showed me that WICKED isn’t an original score since most of it is taken from the stage musical, so I hope that doesn’t win here. — Jami Losurdo
• The most powerful score of last year. — Aaron Goldstein
• CHALLENGERS was beyond snubbed here. — Tarush Mohanti

Best Sound

DUNE: PART TWO

60.0%

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN

20.0%

THE WILD ROBOT

20.0%

• DUNE: PART TWO: 60.0%
• A COMPLETE UNKNOWN: 20.0%
• THE WILD ROBOT: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• Choosing THE WILD ROBOT in hopes that it wins! But I bet this goes to A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. — Jami Losurdo

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

“THE SUBSTANCE”, Pierre-Olivier Persin, et al.

80.0%

“WICKED”, Frances Hannon, et al.

20.0%

• THE SUBSTANCE, Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli: 80.0%
• WICKED, Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• How does WICKED NOT win this? There’s so much hair and makeup! — Jami Losurdo

Best Costume Design

“WICKED”

80.0%

“CONCLAVE”

20.0%

• “WICKED“: 80.0%
• “CONCLAVE“: 20.0%

Best Animated Short

“Magic Candies”

40.0%

Yuck!

20.0%

“Beautiful Men”

20.0%

“In the Shadow of the Cypress”

20.0%

• “Magic Candies”: 40.0%
• Yuck!: 20.0%
• “Beautiful Men”: 20.0%
• “In the Shadow of the Cypress”: 20.0%

Additional Thoughts:

• I admit, I chose the only one of these I’ve seen. — Jami Losurdo

Best Live-Action Short

ANUJA

100.0%

• ANUJA: 100.0%

Best Documentary Short

“Instruments of a Beating Heart”

40.0%

“Death by Numbers”

20.0%

Incident

20.0%

“I Am Ready, Warden”

20.0%

• Instruments of a Beating Heart: 40.0%
• Death by Numbers: 20.0%
• Incident: 20.0%
• I Am Ready, Warden: 20.0%