Another year, another award show season for film buffs to share their unwarranted opinions. Whether it’s your mother saying she didn’t understand “Anora” or your pop music stan bestie asking why Ariana Grande didn’t win Best Supporting Actress for “Wicked,” we all have our own gripes with the Academy Awards.
On March 1, the 2025 Academy Awards ceremony served us looks, long speeches and interesting award winners. However, since many of us don’t have the luxury of sitting down for hours to watch a live award show, I am here to give you a digestible version to save time. So, let’s recap all the most notable moments from this year’s Oscars.
We can’t ignore “Anora”
If there is one true winner from this show, it has to be the film “Anora,” which illustrates the life of a young sex worker who impulsively marries a Russian oligarch. The film won five awards, including Best Picture, Sean Baker for Best Director and, most notably, Mikey Madison for Best Actress. 25-year-old Madison became one of the youngest winners of the night, and this didn’t come without some backlash.
Many believed Demi Moore deserved to win for her role as Elisabeth Sparkle in “The Substance,” with some referencing the movie’s themes of aging and claiming that Madison only won because she is younger than Moore. However, Madison fully embodied this role even at her young age, which made me personally think she deserved it.
“Wicked” got its time to shine
Ignoring the cries of many who said “Wicked” got snubbed all throughout award season, the film finally got its moment during the show’s opening performances. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo gave a jaw-dropping performance that paid homage to the history of “Wicked.”
Grande sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from the original 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz,” which brought a tear to many viewers’ eyes. This was the same song she performed back in 2017 for her One Love Manchester benefit concert.
Erivo performed “Home” from the landmark musical “The Wiz,” which first premiered in 1974 and was adapted into a 1978 film with an all-Black cast, including stars like Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. This song, sung by Dorothy (played by Ross), allowed Erivo to flex her vocal prowess with a beautifully performed cover.
The performance ended with a duet of “Defying Gravity,” the final song from the first part of the “Wicked” film performed by the two actresses. This beautiful conclusion marked a fitting end to the musical’s award season.
“No Other Land” film contributor delivers powerful speech
The most memorable speech of the night came from the directors of “No Other Land,” winner of Best Documentary (Feature). The film displays the brutal nature of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and its effect on the people of the West Bank. With its win, the speech became an opportunity for the directors and faces of the documentary — Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, and Yuval Abraham, an Israeli journalist — to speak directly to the American public about the atrocities.
“The foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path [where Palestinians and Israelis can be equal],” Abraham said at the Oscars event. “Why can’t you see that we are intertwined and that my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe? There is another way.”
This passionate speech from the two directors showed their alliance and brotherhood, even during turbulent times.
Some of my honorable mentions for best Oscars moments this year include Jack Antonoff’s reaction to Demi Moore not winning Best Actress, host Conan O’Brien taking jabs at the industry (and even Drake—the rapper, not the University) and the majority of Kieran Culkin’s speech being censored on the broadcast.
Overall, the 2025 Oscars reminded us that, while the night is about honoring excellence in film, it’s also a platform for powerful moments and important conversations that transcend the silver screen.
