Rating Oscars 2025 Movies Based on Vibes

Hello! Last year, I followed the Oscars pretty closely. I even made a post about the 2024 Oscars and movies I saw from 2023. Well, this year, I have been obsessed with the 2025 Oscars, from drama to predictions. I could tell you every movie that was up for Best Picture, but how many of them have I seen? Zero. I know way too much about the Oscars but have not seen a single movie from 2024 that was up for awards. Just about all of them are on my watchlist, and I will watch them eventually, one day, I swear. But for now, here are my thoughts on a couple of the best Best Pictures nominees, based solely on what I have heard about them. This is all just for fun and my silly opinions. Do not expect deep insightful critiques or analysis. Since the 2025 Oscars just wrapped up, I'll share some thoughts on the ceremony as well.

Anora

Anora is a movie I hold close to my heart. It tells the story of a woman from Brooklyn who gets to marry a Russian oligarch, but then everything falls apart. It completely swept at the Oscars, taking home five different awards, including Sean Baker for Best Directing, Mikey Madison for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Best Picture. I'm happy since I was rooting for Anora to win, but it seemed like such an unlikely top dog: the movie deals with the subject of sex work, the film was made independently, and the protagonist is a young woman. It's not something I thought voters would be drawn to. There must be a change occurring, though, after Parasite won in 2020 and Everything Everywhere All at Once won in 2023, with more out-of-the-box films winning.

I adore Anora for all of its unique aspects coming together as well as it just being a well-made movie that people with a wide range of experiences can be drawn to. It's basically a fairy tale princess movie for adults. It covers an underrepresented group (sex workers) that often face stigmatization and misrepresentation. I have seen some people say that Sean Baker is exploiting this community by covering it, but I really don't think that's the case. I don't know much about him, but it seems like he makes movies about everyday people being people and has focused on the experiences of sex workers in his previous films. He also portrays them realistically. Anora, or Ani, is just a woman in Brooklyn living her life, not a caricature. I know I shouldn't applaud a white cis straight man just for having good representation in his films, but he genuinely seems to care about the communities he portrays. Anyway, all I know is what I've seen from Anora looks amazing. It's just a New York woman cursing for two hours, and it's awesome. The ending is absolutely heartbreaking. From what I've heard other people say, their only complaint is that it has a lot of improvised dialogue and is a bit messy at some parts, but like... I feel like that's fitting. In all seriousness, I've only heard good things about Anora, and I'm so glad it's a Best Picture winner and can't wait to watch it. 9/10

(Credited to Neon and Los Angeles Times)

The Substance

Dude, I love this movie. I have been following it since it came out, I know the whole story, and I've seen analysis after analysis... I can't tell you why I haven't seen it yet. I'm just not a big movie watcher. I just like pretending I've seen movies that I know too much about. The Substance is about a star fading from the spotlight and taking a sketchy injection to not be replaced at her job then ending up with a younger version of herself. First of all, it's body horror. Second, it is about women's experiences. Third, it has a female director. What's not to love? It's one of those campy horror movies but not the bad kind. Every scene feels dreamlike and confusing. There are insane gross shots of just... people eating. The horror is so human. It's also a critique of celebrity culture: on executives that prioritize youth and hyper-femininity over genuine beauty. It makes you sympathetic towards its protagonist, Elisabeth, who goes to incredible lengths to retain her appearance and thinks she's ugly because of industry standards. She literally has a conflict with the embodiment of her younger image. It's on the nose and in your face but in a good way.

On top of all that, Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are icons. I was honestly hoping that Moore would win Best Actress, but of course, I'm super happy for Mikey Madison. I've heard both performances were amazing, so it's hard pitting two amazing actresses against each other. The fact that The Substance, a horror movie (a genre that never gets nominated), was up for Best Picture is mind-blowing in the first place, so a major win like Best Actress would be even more revolutionary. Of course, I still think you're valid if you think Moore, an industry veteran, should have won over Madison, an indie actor and relative newcomer. I think they both deserve it, but that's just me. Anyway, I love The Substance probably more than Anora, and that's saying something. I will see it one day if it's the last thing I do. 10/10

(Credited to Mubi and The Guardian)

Emilia Pérez

If you've seen anything about the Oscars this year, then you have likely seen some heated discourse about Emilia Pérez. Before the controversy, I had never even heard of this movie and assumed it was a boring biopic... boy, was I wrong. When I heard about it in really broad detail, I honestly thought it was kind of cool. I thought it was about a Mexican trans woman making a nonprofit to support victims of cartel violence and reconnecting with her family. I also just thought it was about lesbians, but I was not correct. The actual plot of the movie is a lawyer helping a cartel leader transition to start a new life. That's still fine, I guess, in concept. It's just the execution is horrendous. There are so many other people saying this and in more detail, but the short version is that it doesn't take transitioning seriously and treats it as a solution for the violence Emilia brought upon people as a cartel boss, a real and serious problem in Mexico. Then you learn, oh, none of the star actresses are Mexican because the director, Jacques Audiard, said there isn't any good talent in Mexico? And it was filmed by said French director in France who does not actually care about recreating an authentic Mexican experience?? Then the actress who plays Emilia, Karla Sofía Gascón, had some controverisal tweets from only a couple years ago resurface??? It's just a big mess.

That's not even getting into the fact that this movie is a musical, but the songs are not good. I think "El Mal," which won the Oscar for Best Original Song, is likely the best of the bunch, but it's not that great in my opinion. I'm sure you know "La Vaginoplastia," aka the "from penis to vagina" song. After more people were discussing all the issues with the movie, didn't receive much at the Oscars, only two awards out of 13 nominations. Zoe Saldaña was the best part of the movie in my opinion, so it makes sense that she won Best Supporting Actress. It just seems like Emilia Pérez was supposed to be campy but was played too seriously. I think it's sad because it could have been a good representation if anyone involved in its production cared about accurately portraying the material. There was so much drama that I had to yap about it. It was probably the biggest conversation surrounding the Oscars with people freaking out and thinking Emilia Pérez was going to win Best Picture. I would like to watch it to see how bad it truly is and feel it would be a funny experience. 2/10

(Credited to Netflix and The New York Times)

(Credited to Film News Blitz)