Oscars 2025 Nominations: The Substance, Nosfertau And Demi Moore Bring Horror To The Awards
Usually, we – horror fans – don’t look forward to January when the list of nominees for the Oscars is announced. The reason is that the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ignores horror films, which rarely receive nominations. Actors and actresses who star in horror films also don’t get to be included in the final lists, no matter how much praise they receive.
However, the 97th Academy Awards – which will take place on March 3, created a different feeling. Some films have spoken very loudly in recent months, such as “The Substance” and breathtaking performances led by Demi Moore. The good news is that the representation of the horror world at the Oscars 2025 nominations list is here, with five nominations for “The Substance” (including Best Picture), four nominations for “Nosferatu,” and even one technical nomination for “Alien: Romulus.”.
The Substance Oscar Buzz Is On
“The Substance” is undoubtedly one of the finest horror films of recent years. The film earned respect in the current list of nominees, with five nominations. There were indeed films with longer lists of nominations – the French musical crime comedy “Emilia Perez” (13 nominations, the highest number of nominations for a film not in English); the excellent historical blockbuster “Wicked,” the origin story about Glinda the Good and Wicked Witch of the West witch, before the events of “The Wizard of Oz; the epic historical drama “The Brutalist” (ten nominations), which tells the story of the Hungarian-Jewish architect Laszlo Tou after World War II; and “Anora” (six nominations), the romantic comedy-drama about the relationship between a stripper and the spoiled son of a Russian oligarch.
“The Substance” will compete in the Best Picture category against “The Brutalist,” “Anora,” “Conclave,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Emilia Perez,” “Dune: Part Two,” “I’m Still Here,” “Nickel Boys,” and “Wicked.” Likely, it won’t win, but the very nomination of a horror film in this category is quite rare, as it was preceded by seven films in total: “The Exorcist” (1973), “Jaws” (1965), “The Sixth Sense” (1999), “Black Swan” (2010), “Get Out” (2017) and, of course, “The Silence of the Lambs,” the only horror film to come out with the coveted statuette.
Oscars 2025 Nominees In Acting: Demi Moore And Few Who Got Snubbed
Demi Moore, who gave the role of her life in the film (in fact, she said that she even considered retiring from the world of cinema after losing her status over the years), received her first Oscar nomination in the Best Actress category.
Moore, who won the Golden Globe Award a few weeks ago in the category of Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical, and her moving speech was one of the highlights of the evening, will face the Best Actress in a Leading Role category again Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”), Karla Sofía Gascón (“Emilia Perez”), Fernanda(“I’m Still Here”) and Mikey Madison (“Anora”), who we remember as Amber in “Scream 5”, as one of the most disappointing – – um… something – in the history of the franchise.
Margaret Qualley, who starred in “The Substance” as the younger, sexier version of Demi Moore, was not nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – but I am pretty sure we will see her on the list of nominees in the future because she is a super talented actress. Other actors mentioned as candidates for nominations also ended up being left out, like Hugh Grant, the psychotic guy who locks two girls in his house in the excellent “Heretic.”
Will The Substance Come Away With Any Prize? Maybe!
The wonderful Coralie Fargeat, the director of “The Substance,” will compete in the best director category against Sean Baker (“Anora”), Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”), James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”) and Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Perez”).
The film received two additional Oscars 2025 nominations in the categories of Best Original Screenplay (where it will compete against “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “A Real Pain” and “September 5”,) and Makeup and Hairstyling (against “Emilia Perez,” “A Different Man,” “Wicked” and “Nosferatu,” which we will get to in a moment).
It may come away with the statuette in the original screenplay category because it has already won the screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival. In the makeup and hairstyling category, at least in my opinion, it should receive the prize without a shadow of a doubt.
Nosferatu Shines With Four Nominations
“Nosferatu” by Robert Eggers (“The Witch,” “The Lighthouse”) has received excellent reviews and a reasonably impressive success at the box office, with grossings of about $ 158 million worldwide to date. The film – which is essentially a remake of the German expressionist film “Nosferatu” by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, which is itself an unofficial remake of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” (due to copyright issues) – received four nominations, and it may come away with at least one award.
“Nosferatu” did not receive nominations in the main categories of the 2025 Oscars – that is, best picture, directing, or acting (although Lily-Rose Depp received a lot of praise for her role) – but only in the categories considered more technical.
Nevertheless, alongside the makeup and hair styling category, it will also compete in the categories of Best Cinematography (against “The Brutalist,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Maria,” and of course “Emilia Perez”), Best Production Design (against “The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two” and “Wicked”) and Best Costume Design (against “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave”, “Gladiator 2” and “Wicked”).
Alien Franchise Gets One More Nomination
Another representation of horror films at the 2025 Oscars is in the category of Best Visual Effects, where the very enjoyable “Alien: Romulus” (one of the most successful films in the franchise since the first two, in my opinion) will compete for the coveted award against “Dune: Part Two,” “Wicked,” “Kingdom of the Planted of the Apes” and “Better Man: The Robbie Williams Story,” which received a nomination probably because a chimpanzee, voiced by Robbie Williams plays the character of the pop artist.
Of course, this is not the first nomination for a film in the successful “Alien” franchise, which has been with us for about 45 years and which, with “Alien: Romulus,” has already reached seven films. The first “Alien” (1979) won the Academy Awards for Visual Effects and was nominated for Best Art Design. The excellent sequel “Aliens” (1986) got nominations for seven awards, including a deserved nomination for Sigourney Weaver as Best Actress, and won two awards: Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Effects Editing. The next film in the franchise, “Alien 3” (1992), which was less successful by all accounts, received a nomination for Best Visual Effects, as did “Prometheus” from 2012. “Alien Resurrection” (1997) and “Alien: Covenant” did not receive Oscar nominations.
The announcement of the nominations for the 97th Academy Awards was delayed by several weeks following the unprecedented fires in Los Angeles, which also affected the prestigious Pacific Palisades neighborhood and the homes of several celebrities associated with the genre, such as Anthony Hopkins (“The Silence of the Lambs”) and scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis (“Halloween,” “The Fog,” “Prom Night,” “Terror Train”) and many others. The ceremony, which will take place on March 2, will be hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien.