Golden Globes Movie Recap: Surprises, snubs and what it means for the Oscars

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The 2025 awards season is upon us, folks. The Golden Globes have just wrapped up their 82nd ceremony, honoring the best films and television shows of 2024. Shōgun was the big winner in the world of TV, but I’m here to talk about the cinematic winners and how they indicate who may be winning future awards down the line.

See the full list of winners here.

First of the front-runners

Emilia Pérez was the big winner tonight with four awards, taking home Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Original Song, Best Motion Picture - Non-English Language, and Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña.

Zoe Saldaña’s Oscar chances have gone way up after winning Best Female Supporting Actor tonight. We’ll have to see what the BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards hold for her and Emilia Pérez, but with the hype clearly paying off for Saldaña, she seems to be the one to beat for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in March.

Many of the likely Oscar nominees for Best Actress came from the Musical or Comedy category tonight, so Fernanda Torres' win for Best Female Actor - Drama for I’m Still Here could be an indicator that she’ll sneak into the Oscar conversation as the awards season goes on.

Conclave winning Best Screenplay no doubt secures Peter Straughan’s Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Perhaps it’s my wishful thinking that The Wild Robot may provide some competition down the line, but Conclave seems likely to sweep the upcoming Adapted Screenplay categories in the BAFTAs and Writers Guild awards as well.

This leaves the Best Original Screenplay odds still up in the air. Still, things look pretty good for Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, considering Corbet won Best Director and Best Motion Picture - Drama for The Brutalist. Their screenplay Oscar isn’t a sure thing yet, but along with its Best Actor - Drama win for Adrien Brody, The Brutalist could be the main competition for Emilia Pérez over the next couple of months.

Biggest Surprise

Anora and Wicked were both completely shut out tonight, which was quite a shock. They’re both arguably the most popular movies in their respective independent and blockbuster realms, so to see them gain such little traction tonight was surprising. It’s still early, so things could still shake out well for both of these, but the hill is now a bit steeper.

Mikey Madison has kind of become the awards darling of the season, many claiming the Best Actress Oscar was lock for her when Anora premiered at Cannes last year. Well, Demi Moore kicked off her epic career comeback with her Best Female Actor in a Comedy or Musical win for The Substance tonight, officially putting her in the Oscar conversation.

Moore winning the Oscar isn’t a sure thing yet, as Madison could still take home future awards like the BAFTAs and SAG Awards to raise her Oscar stock. However, just like her title character, Madison’s Cinderella story may be about to strike midnight.

Biggest Snub

He was already snubbed because he wasn’t even nominated, but the fact the Golden Globes didn’t recognize Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin’s performance in Sing Sing is a shame. It’s such a raw and transcendent performance filled with such tough, real-life experiences, and when you consider his backstory, his performance shows the true power of acting.

Don’t get me wrong, Kieran Culkin was phenomenal in A Real Pain, but I still find his campaign for Best Supporting Actor dubious, as he’s really a co-lead with Jesse Eisenberg for that entire film. Even if none of the Sing Sing cast takes home an Oscar, I still believe it will win the Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture award at the SAG Awards because acting is what Sing Sing is all about.

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award

In what’s basically a participation trophy category to appease those who say, “Only movies people don’t watch win awards” (seeing Vin Diesel try to monologue about this was hilarious), the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award went to Wicked. I know I said Wicked was shut out, and here they are now with an award, but come on, let’s be real. This award hardly counts, and while I’m sure the winners are happy for the statue, I feel that winning an actual award in a real category would make me feel much better. Not popular enough, it seems.

Keep an eye out for future 2025 movie awards season coverage on azfamily.com/entertainment!