After a long and controversial awards season, the Oscars 2025 are in the bank. Under the stewardship of very solid host Conan O'Brien, the stars marched on to the stage of the Dolby Theatre for nearly four hours of surprisingly fun entertainment. It was a big night for Anora, which emerged with five awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Mikey Madison.
There was a lot of discussion before the show about how the Oscars would address the turbulent state of world politics, if at all, as well as the spectre of controversy hanging over several of this year's nominees. But it was cinema that took centre stage, with a ceremony geared far more towards celebration of the craft than we have seen in recent years.
If you weren't brave or stupid enough to stay awake all night and watch the festivities, here are the major moments you missed.
There have been a lot of ups and downs in this year's Best Picture race, so perhaps it's fitting that a movie as strange and messy as Anora emerged as the clear winner. The sex worker drama turned its six nominations into five victories, winning an impressive sweep of the major categories. Director Sean Baker celebrated his film's low-budget roots on the stage, yelling "long live independent film" as he ended the show on a heck of a message for the industry.
Baker used his acceptance speech for Best Director, meanwhile, to deliver a "battle cry" in preservation of the theatrical experience. He pointed out that thousands of cinemas had closed since the pandemic and encouraged other filmmakers to continue to make movies primarily designed for "the great tradition of the moviegoing experience".
Wicked star Ariana Grande opened the show in a ruby dress singing Over the Rainbow, with Cynthia Erivo then singing Home — made famous by Diana Ross in 1978 movie The Wiz. Then the stars came together to sing part of Defying Gravity, with Grande ceding centre stage to Erivo so she could take the song's final segment and knock it squarely out of the park. It was a true show-stopper.
"Acting is a very fragile profession," said Brody in his acceptance speech. "No matter where you are in your career and no matter what you've accomplished, it can all go away. And I think what makes this night most special is the awareness of that and the gratitude I have to still do the work that I love."
Brody also brilliantly cut off the music played into the auditorium to encourage him to wrap up, promising he had "done this before" and would bring things to an end. "I pray for a healthier, happier, and more inclusive world," he said in his final comments, calling out racism and antisemitism.
Mikey Madison upsets Demi Moore again
The Best Actress race this year has been a back and forth between two performances. The frontrunner was Demi Moore's self-referential, bold performance in the body horror carnage of The Substance, though she was neck and neck throughout the race with Mikey Madison's performance as a brash sex worker in Anora. Even in the final few weeks of the race, Madison won the Bafta and Moore won at the SAG Awards. But at the Oscars, it was Madison who came out on top.
In her speech, a visibly nervous and overwhelmed Madison said she would "continue to support and be an ally" for the sex worker community. This was a surprising victory, but one that marked the swell of affection for Anora across the Academy. And let's face it, Madison's energy and charisma more than deserved awards recognition.
Supporting actors deliver speeches for the ages
The first award of the night went to Kieran Culkin for his supporting performance in A Real Pain. Within seconds of opening his mouth, he pronounced fellow nominee Jeremy Strong to be "f***ing amazing" — a moment bleeped on the US broadcast, but not here in the UK — and then delivered a witty, earnest speech. He concluded with a lengthy anecdote about how his wife had promised him that they could have a fourth child if he won an Oscar, declaring that they need to "get cracking" as soon as possible.
These were immediately memorable speeches by a pair of actors who have dominated their respective categories throughout the 2025 awards season.
Singers pay tribute to James Bond
Was it slightly odd for the Oscars to feature a 10-minute homage to James Bond? Yes. Was it weird to watch Margaret Qualley twirl around with men in tuxedos? Yes. Was it an odd decision to get Lisa from Blackpink, Doja Cat, and Raye to sing randomly selected Bond theme tunes? Yes.
Despite derision on social media and in the ITV studio, this was a fun tribute to a franchise that has just been irrevocably changed with the news that Amazon now has full creative control. And in the year that Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were honoured by the Academy at the Governors Awards, this was the perfect time to celebrate their legacy at the helm of the Bond franchise.
No Other Land is the night's most important winner
The Oscar for Best Documentary Feature went to No Other Land — a potent look at forced displacement of Palestinian people. It was filmed predominantly before the events of 7 October 2023 by four filmmakers, including Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham. “We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people,” said Adra on stage. Abraham added: “We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together, our voices are stronger."
Incredibly, No Other Land still doesn't have distribution in the United States, making its Oscar win all the more significant. The film is streaming now in the UK via Channel 4 and it's a powerful, thought-provoking doc that everybody should find the time to watch.
Gene Hackman receives special tribute
Prior to the traditional 'In Memoriam' montage to honour the film industry figures who have died in the last year, Morgan Freeman stepped up to offer a special tribute to his friend and co-star Gene Hackman. The movie world has been in mourning this week following the news of Hackman's death at the age of 95, so it was only fitting that Hackman got a special moment of recognition at the Oscars.
Speaking about his Unforgiven and Under Suspicion colleague, Freeman said: "Gene told me, ‘I don’t think about legacy, I just hope people who remember me as someone who did good work’. Gene, you’ll be remembered for that and so much more." The montage ended with a selection of Hackman's most memorable characters, having already featured tributes to the likes of Shelley Duvall, David Lynch, James Earl Jones, and many more.
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