Oscars 2025: Conclave, Emilia Pérez, Anora, and More; Here Are Our Predictions For Who's Going to Snatch the Big Categories

The 2025 Oscars will conclude this year’s awards season with a bang. It wouldn’t be entirely offbeat to say that the Academy Awards follow a pattern when it comes to their winners. This is likely because the voting is influenced by the results of other awards shows.

Demi Moore was considered the frontrunner in the Leading Actress race after her Golden Globe victory, but Mickey Madison’s win for Anora at the BAFTAs may have slightly diminished Moore’s chances of winning.

Before the awards season began, Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez was presumed to be the Best Picture frontrunner. However, after lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón faced backlash on social media over a resurfaced offensive tweet, controversy ensued, jeopardizing the film’s Oscar prospects.

Will this year’s Academy Awards be unpredictable? Here’s our prediction:

Best Picture 

Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part II, Emilia Pérez, I’m Still Here, Nickel Boys, The Substance, and Wicked are the nominees in this category. Our bet’s on Conclave, considering the love and acclaim the Edward Berger-helmed movie has been getting throughout the awards season. 

The thriller mystery seems to be the frontrunner unless the Academy decides to honor a unique indie film like Anora. It would definitely send a message about the changing face of the Academy. 

Actress in a Leading Role

Although it’s difficult to predict a winner for this category, our bets are still on Demi Moore for The Substance. Her smooth road to the Oscars had some roadblocks, like Mickey Maddison’s BAFTA win and Fernanda Torres’s winning best actress in the drama category at the Golden Globes. 

Still, the love Moore has received throughout the awards season was unparalleled. Moreover, her performance in the body horror film deserves all the awards.

Actor in a Leading Role

Adrien Brody ruled this category by winning a Golden Globe, Critics Choice award, and BAFTA for his performance in The Brutalist. Sebastian Stan bagged the Best Actor Golden Globe in the musical or comedy category. Lastly, Timothée Chalamet took home the SAG award for playing Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. 

This case seems similar to Cillian Murphy and Oppenheimer’s winning streak last year. Based on popularity, we predict Brody will take Oscar home.  

Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role

Zoe Saldana for Emilia Pérez and Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain have consistently ruled this category throughout the season. They both took home every Supporting Role award this year. We wish the Oscars were less predictable, but it seems like the Supporting category winners are locked in. 

 

Best Director

This is another uncertain category, and anybody could take the trophy home. Most popularity polls suggest that Anora director Sean Baker might win the award for his work in the indie movie. However, we are also rooting for Jon M Chu to win one for the beloved blockbuster musical, Wicked.