A collated list of reviews for all the films that have been Oscar nominated for Best Picture. It is a very eclectic list, which means these Oscar nominees have generated a lot of polarising opinions.
I know which movie I want to win an Oscar, but I have an idea of who will actually win. Which movie do you think deserves to take the prize?
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ANORA
Sean Baker’s new film, Anora stars a transcendent Micky Madison in the titular role of a young stripper swept up in the haze of a happily ever after fairytale with Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), a wealthy, free-spirited son of a Russian Oligarch. While their romance at first plays like a modern fairytale, reality eventually rears its ugly head, dragging Anora (Ani), down to earth kicking and screaming.
Other Nominations
Best Actress – Mikey Madison, Best Supporting Actor – Yura Borisov, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay – Sean Baker, Best Editing
THE BRUTALIST
This extraordinary film charts the life of a Hungarian born architect and holocaust survivor who starts a new life in the land of freedom and opportunity. Director, Brady Corbet, underlines the fine print of this American ideal that, for migrants, with freedom and opportunity comes tolerance and isolation.
Dear Film Diary: This movie was utterly compelling. This is one of the few times the hype is true – but why couldn’t it have come out last year or next year?! It’s going to steal the red capped crown another film deserves. *Cries in courier font*
Other Nominations
Best Actor – Adrien Brody, Best Supporting Actress – Felicity Jones,
Best Supporting Actor – Guy Pierce, Best Director – Brady Corbet,
Best Original Screenplay – Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold,
Best Original Score, Best Production Design,
Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
This Oscar nominated movie, charts the life of musician Bob Dylan. From his rise as a folk singer, instrumental in giving the genre a global platform, to rebelling against the very thing he helped build. However, despite the popularity this movie has gained during the 2025 awards season, it isn’t made for everyone.
Other Nominations
Best Actor – Timothée Chalamet, Best Supporting Actress – Monica Barbaro,
Best Supporting Actor – Edward Norton, Best Director – James Mangold,
Best Adapted Screenplay – Jay Cocks & James Mangold,
Best Costume Design, Best Sound,
CONCLAVE
When the Pope dies, the Vatican is thrust into an enduring and clandestine ritual: the conclave. Cardinals from around the world gather as one to decide who will ascend to the papacy, but coming to a unanimous decision is far from easy. Directed by Edward Berger, Conclave dives into a fascinating clash between politics, power, and piety as the line between faith and ambition blurs.
Dear Film Diary: Please make Conclave win Best Picture.
Other Nominations
Best Actor – Ralph Fiennes, Best Supporting Actress – Isabella Rossellini,
Best Adapted Screenplay – Peter Straughan, Best Original Score,
Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Film Editing
DUNE: PART TWO
Dear Film Diary: Well this is awkward, I was on hiatus when this movie came out, but thank goodness I’ve got my Letterboxd review to volunteer as tribute.
Other Nominations
Best Production Design, Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects
EMILIA PÉREZ
Emilia Pérez, directed by Jacques Audiard is a slightly psychedelic movie trip that fuses crime, comedy and musical genres. It stars Zoe Saldaña alongside Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón as three women tied together by deception and a desire to write their own happily ever after.
Dear Film Diary: Personally, I’m shocked this is so far in the running for Best Picture, let alone all the other nominations the movie received.
Other Nominations
Best Actress – Karla Sofía Gascón, Best Supporting Actress – Zoe Saldaña,
Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay – Jacques Audiard,
Best Original Song – El Mal & Mi Camino, Best Original Score,
Best International Feature – France, Best Make-Up & Hairstyling, Best Sound,
Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography,
I’M STILL HERE
At its heart, I’m Still Here is a story about waiting. Set in Rio during the 1970s, the film follows the Paiva family as they navigate the sudden and unexplained disappearance of their patriarch. Through a restrained but emotional lens, the film explores how absence can weigh just as heavily as presence, and how a family—particularly a mother—is left to pick up the pieces.
Other Nominations
Best Actress – Fernanda Torres, Best International Feature – Brazil
NICKEL BOYS
In Jim Crow era America, a chance encounter puts Elwood (Herisse) on the wrong side of the law, and he is taken to Nickel Academy, a segregated reform school in Florida. Here, the promise of freedom is dangled by the corrupt staff, who preach a tiered system for good behaviour while they abuse the children in their care. It is here that Elwood meets Turner (Wilson), and the two young men form a lifelong bond.
Dear Film Diary: Crazy that Nickel Boys wasn’t nominated for Best Cinematography or Best Editing, to be honest. I blame Emilia Pérez.
Other Nominations
Best Adapted Screenplay – RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
THE SUBSTANCE
There is a lot to be said about this sci-fi horror that has hoovered up praise during awards season. The Substance is a beautifully constructed film that draws a perverse line between reality and our desires for perfection…. And it doesn’t get much more complicated than that.
Other Nominations
Best Actress – Demi Moore,
Best Director & Best Original Screenplay – Coralie Fargeat,
Best Make-Up & Hairstyling
WICKED
Based on the West End musical, Wicked is the untold story of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. The film explores the relationship between two school rivals-turned-friends, Elphaba and Glinda, and what really happened to mar one of them as good, and the other as wicked.
Dear Film Diary: This was very bloody good but I wouldn’t have called it Best Picture very bloody good. Definitely deservest to be in the cinematography, score and even best actress and director categories but… Oh. Oh wait, maybe all of these things culminate to best picture…
Other Nominations
Best Actress – Cynthia Erivo, Best Supporting Actress – Ariana Grande,
Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, Best Make-Up & Hairstyling,
Best Production Design, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects
What filmic hopes and dreams are you writing in your film diary?
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