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This Year's Oscar Best Picture Nominees, Ranked By Critics
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande star in one of this year's best picture nominees, "Wicked."
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
- The nominees for the 2025 Academy Awards were announced on Thursday.
- Ten films were chosen by the Academy to compete for best picture, the biggest award of the night.
- Here's how all 10 films stacked up, according to critics.
The nominees for the 2025 Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025, were announced Thursday after being delayed twice due to the devastating fires across Los Angeles.
Among the most-nominated films are "Emilia Pérez," "The Brutalist," and "Wicked." There were also a few surprises, such as "The Apprentice" snagging a couple of nods, and there was even one for the Robbie Williams monkey movie, "Better Man" (for visual effects).
But the biggest prize of the night is always best picture. Since 2010, every year, 10 films are recognized as the potential best film of the year.
This year, the 10 nominees are: "Anora," "The Brutalist." "Conclave," "A Complete Unknown," "Dune: Part Two," "Emilia Pérez," "I'm Still Here," "Nickel Boys," "The Substance," and "Wicked." While all of these films have their fans, critics did not love them equally. Here are this year's best picture nominees, ranked by critics.
10. "Emilia Pérez"Zoe Saldaña in "Emilia Pérez."
Netflix
"Emilia Pérez" is Netflix's entry into the best picture race this year. The movie, a musical performed almost entirely in Spanish, is the story of a trans woman played by Karla Sofía Gascón, who goes from the leader of a Mexican cartel to an activist trying to atone for her actions with the help of a lawyer, played by Zoe Saldaña.
It's been a polarizing film, to say the least, though it scored the most Oscar nominations of any film this year, at 13.
"[Director Jacques] Audiard commits the cardinal sin of the musical comedy — he has made a movie that is neither funny nor features any good music," wrote Soham Gadre for Chicago Reader.
9. "A Complete Unknown"Timothée Chalamet in "A Complete Unknown."
Searchlight Pictures
Timothée Chalamet transforms into the freewheelin' Bob Dylan himself in "A Complete Unknown," a biopic that follows the musician from his very early days in 1961 New York City through his meteoric rise to stardom and his fateful electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
Chalamet and Monica Barbaro (who played Joan Baez) both scored Oscar nominations for their performances.
Adam Graham of The Detroit News called the film "a maddeningly enjoyable piece of pop cinema."
8. "Wicked"Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in "Wicked."
Universal Pictures
"Wicked" is the highest-grossing film of this year's 10 nominees and was a full-blown sensation upon its release in November. It's an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, an alternate history-esque prequel to "The Wizard of Oz," told from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West.
"Wicked" scored 10 Oscar nominations this year, including best actress and best supporting actress for Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, respectively.
"Indulgent and unwieldy as it is, 'Wicked' is a thrill, at times wildly funny, heart-soaring, and ultimately inspirational in spite of itself," wrote Kristy Puchko for Mashable.
7. "The Substance"Demi Moore in "The Substance."
Christine Tamalet/Mubi
Easily the most stomach-churning film on this list, "The Substance" stars Demi Moore in one of the most audacious performances of the year as a has-been, middle-age starlet who decides to take a mysterious drug called The Substance to bring back her youth.
What she doesn't realize is that the drug actually causes a younger version of herself, played by Margaret Qualley, to be created, and the two have to share the same consciousness.
Moore was nominated for best actress for her performance.
"The last 20 or so minutes of this movie — the best part — is wall-to-wall, nonstop blood and gore, mostly done with those old-school practical effects fans like me prefer. The delightful yuck factor made me forgive the film's numerous problems," wrote The Boston Globe's Odie Henderson.
6. "Nickel Boys"Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson in "Nickel Boys."
Orion Pictures
Based on the Colson Whitehead novel of the same name, "Nickel Boys" is the harrowing story of Elwood, a young Black boy sent to a horrific "reform school" that's more like a prison in the early '60s. It's shot almost entirely in a first-person POV, so the viewer really feels like they are immersed in Elwood's environment.
"'Nickel Boys' is a life, made up of pieces; some of them lovely, some devastating. It's a mesmerizing, uniquely told story — of memory, of injustice, of friendship, of survival," wrote Moira Macdonald for The Seattle Times.
5. "Dune: Part Two"Timothee Chalamet in "Dune: Part 2."
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
"Dune: Part 2" continues the story of Paul Atreides as he seeks revenge on the Harkonnens, who were behind the attack that killed Paul's father and most of his family's supporters. But as he gains power, Paul learns that his success will come with a terrible price — and he may even lose his love, Chani, to get it.
"The second 'Dune' installment is jaw-on-the-floor spectacular. It elegantly weaves together top-tier special effects and arresting cinematography; it layers muscle, sinew and savagery on to the bones of 'Part One,'" wrote Wendy Ide for The Guardian.
2 (tie). "Conclave"Ralph Fiennes in "Conclave."
Focus Features
Oscar-nominated Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Lawrence in "Conclave," a priest who is losing his faith … just as the Pope dies and he's tasked with running the papal conclave. What follows is a twisty journey of papal politics, disagreements about the future of the Catholic Church, and a surprise archbishop from Mexico.
"It challenges us to challenge ourselves and is wildly entertaining, one of the year's standout films," wrote Nell Minow for RogertEbert.com.
2 (tie). "The Brutalist"Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones in "The Brutalist."
A24
"The Brutalist" is a three-and-a-half-hour epic complete with an intermission. It stars Adrien Brody as László Tóth, a Hungarian architect who moves to the US in the aftermath of the Holocaust. As the story unfolds, we follow Tóth and his family across decades as he tries to make a mark on his new country.
Brody was nominated for his performance, as were his costars Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce.
"'Vox Lux' was a film that had me crying out 'I get it!' in frustration; with 'The Brutalist,' I said the same line with more satisfaction. Much of the credit goes to Brody," wrote The Atlantic's David Sims.
2 (tie). AnoraMikey Madison in "Anora."
Neon
"Anora" is a modern-day Cinderella story with a twist: Mikey Madison stars as Ani, a young woman living in Brooklyn and working as a stripper for the rich and famous. She meets Vanya, the son of an uber-wealthy Russian oligarch, and quickly the two fall in something like love. But Ani soon learns there are worse things than losing a glass slipper when the clock runs out on their relationship.
Madison was nominated for best actress.
"At once a frenzied fairy tale and a tender-hearted character study, 'Anora' is an intoxicating pairing of director and star. [Director Sean] Baker's unique, humanistic approach to filmmaking is as riveting and rewarding as ever," wrote Empire Magazine's Beth Webb.
1. "I'm Still Here"Fernanda Torres in "I'm Still Here."
Sony Pictures Releasing
"I'm Still Here" is the second of two primarily non-English films nominated for best picture this year — and the best, according to critics.
The Brazilian drama stars Fernanda Torres (who was also nominated) as Eunice Paiva, the wife of a congressman who was forcibly disappeared in a military raid in the 1970s. The film follows her search for answers about her husband and her new responsibility as a single mother to five kids.
"To say that Torres digs into the role of Eunice Paiva, who spent a good deal of her life trying to demand accountability for her husband's disappearance, would be an understatement," wrote Rolling Stone's David Fear.
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