This year’s Oscar nominations have garnered a lot of talk – and not the good kind – since its announcement on Thursday, January 23. As usual, netizens have taken the onus to educate the Academy on where they went wrong when selecting or perhaps not selecting nominees. However, this year, their voices are louder than ever.
ALSO READ | Indian short film 'Anuja' nominated for Oscars 2025: Check full list here
Many are dissatisfied with this year’s Academy Award nominees, particularly Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez, which had swept this year’s Golden Globes, including Best Film. The film received 13 nominations, just one shy of tying with the most nominated films ever – Titanic, All About Eve and La La Land. “Emilia Pérez is officially one of the worst films to ever be nominated for an academy award,” one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Likewise, the internet did not fail to put in their two cents on the films and performances that deserved a spot in the prestigious ceremony. Here are a few of the most surprising Oscar snubs.
Angelina Jolie – Best Actress
Netizens are enraged that Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, who was lauded for her performance in embodying famed opera singer Maria Callas in Pablo Larrain’s Maria, was left out of the Best Actress category.
The psychological drama film, which follows the soprano’s final years in Paris after a dazzling yet turbulent life in the public eye, had many rooting for Jolie to secure a nomination, following the footsteps of past nominees in Larrain women-led films, like Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in Spencer and Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy in Jackie. So, Jolie’s name excluded from the nominees list turned quite a few heads.
Challengers – Best Original Score
How is it that the 2025 Golden Globe’s Best Original Score winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross failed to secure a nomination at the Oscars? Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers – starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist – centres on the love triangle between Tashi, her husband, Art, and her ex-lover, Patrick – all professional tennis players. The intense, sweat-dripping film calls for an intense, sweat-dripping soundtrack which Reznor and Ross deliver.
Each swing of the racket – particularly the intense slow-motion first serve that Patrick delivers to a shocked Art – entices emotions that are all the more elevated by the EDM-infused music. Reznor and Ross are Academy Award winners, having won the Best Original Score award for The Social Network and Soul. Safe to say, the internet is not happy with their omission.
Denis Villeneuve – Best Director
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two received half the nominations of its predecessor – five. Though the sci-fi film – an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 book Dune – bagged a nomination for Best Picture, many are disappointed that Villeneuve was not spotted among the five nominated for Best Director.
This is not the first time the Villeneuve snub debate has come up. The French-Canadian director has never won a major individual award for his role as a director despite delivering critically acclaimed films like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. His time to shine is yet to come.
Margaret Qualley – Best Supporting Actress
Though everyone is over the moon for Demi Moore securing her first Oscar nomination for her performance in Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, many were quick to point out an obvious snub for her counterpart, Margaret Qualley.
Qualley portrayed the “younger” version of Moore in the body-horror film and was lauded for her emotionally raw performance. While the 30-year-old left the audience in shock with her brutal portrayal, she has received no love from any major award competitions.
Daniel Craig – Best Actor
Despite his overflowing credits in Hollywood, Daniel Craig is still waiting for his Oscar nomination. Known best for playing the secret agent James Bond, with the quality of sweeping women off their feet, Craig is yet to swoon the Academy.
Having failed to secure a nomination for his performance as the straightest man on the planet, many expected that he would be given at least a nomination for his role in Luca Guadagnino’s Queer. Craig portrays a lonely gay American expat in New Mexico who develops a crush on a much younger man, a similar trope to Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name. The actor was lauded for his unique and emotionally charged performance, so what made the Academy overlook him? Only time will tell what role will Craig take up next that will be worth the coveted golden statue?