Golden Globes Noms Analysis: Feinberg’s 5 Biggest Takeaways

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As a film critic with over three decades of experience under my belt, I must say that this year’s Golden Globes nominations have left me both thrilled and puzzled. On one hand, it’s heartening to see new voices and fresh perspectives being recognized, such as the five-nomination sweep for “The Substance” – a film that dares to question Hollywood’s dark underbelly in a way few dared before.

Here are Scott Feinberg’s top five key observations following the unveiling of the 2025 Golden Globe film nominees, as announced on Monday.

1. Emilia Pérez surges back to life

Last week, numerous award announcements were made, with the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Gotham Awards, and the National Board of Review mostly overlooking Emilia Pérez. However, on Sunday, Netflix’s Spanish-language musical made a strong comeback by winning all awards at the European Film Awards. Then, on Monday, it garnered an impressive 10 Golden Globe nominations, surpassing Barbie‘s count with 9, setting a new record for most nominations in the musical/comedy category. It only fell short of drama film Nashville by one nomination for the all-time Golden Globes record.

It was generally anticipated that the extraordinary movie would earn eight nominations – in the categories of best musical/comedy picture, director (Jacques Audiard), screenplay, non-English film, original score, “El Mal” for the song category, Karla Sofía Gascón for lead actress, and Zoe Saldaña for supporting actress. However, it also secured an additional nomination for best supporting actress, for Selena Gomez, and another nod for “Mi Camino” in the song category.

Audiard stands out with five nominations, making him tied for the second most nominated film alongside A24’s “The Brutalist” (seven) and Focus’s “Conclave” (six). He is recognized in multiple categories: as a producer of a best picture contender, a best non-English language film candidate, as a director, and as both the screenwriter and co-writer for “El Mal.

2. The Golden Globes organization shows it is not the HFPA

The impressive performance by Emilia Pérez, along with other significant nominations for Sony Classics’ Brazilian film “I’m Still Here” (Fernanda Torres for best dramatic actress) and Janus/Sideshow’s Indian film “All We Imagine as Light” (Payal Kapadia for best director), follows the trend set by last year’s Globe nominations, where three out of the six nominees for best drama picture were non-English language films.

Historically, The Globes have been largely influenced by votes cast primarily outside of America. Until recently, however, the selection of nominees was solely controlled by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), a small group numbering less than 100 individuals based in and around Los Angeles. The HFPA functioned much like an exclusive club, with its members often forming cliques to advocate for popular Hollywood figures, such as Angelina Jolie’s nomination for “The Tourist,” which made the event more enjoyable for participants and increased the likelihood of high television ratings.

However, it appears that the initial enthusiasm and cohesion displayed by the HFPA seems to have noticeably dwindled since its sale and members either being excluded from or integrated into the revamped Golden Globes association. This decrease has been somewhat counteracted by introducing two new categories that cater more to celebrities: cinematic/box-office achievement, and best performance in stand-up comedy on television.

Today, the membership of The Globes includes 334 journalists situated globally. The nominations aren’t solely decided by these members, but also by non-member film critics – a significant number of whom belong to FIPRESCI, an international association of film critics who regularly attend major film festivals worldwide. These critics won’t be present at the event, and their preferences often differ from those of the previous HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association).

3. One-third of the directing nominees are women

As a passionate gamer, I was really excited to see the nominations for this year’s awards show. Normally, there’s only one category for directors, but this time it’s different! Two women, Coralie Fargeat for MUBI’s “The Substance” and Payal Kapadia for “All We Imagine as Light,” have been nominated in the best director category. This is impressive because there were many men who were considered strong contenders, like Ridley Scott for Paramount’s “Gladiator II,” Denis Villeneuve for Warners’ “Dune: Part Two,” Jon M. Chu for Universal’s “Wicked,” and RaMell Ross for Amazon/MGM’s “Nickel Boys.” It just goes to show that the voters are recognizing and valuing diverse talent in the film industry!

As a gamer, I find it peculiar that while Fargeat’s movie was up for Best Picture (Musical/Comedy) and she was nominated for Best Screenplay, Kapadia’s film missed out on the Best Picture (Drama) nod and her screenplay recognition. However, All We Imagine as Light is in the running for Best Non-English Language Film – a category it seems to be dominating based on precursor award announcements so far, going head-to-head against films like Emilia Pérez.

4. Much-needed boosts

Many movies that received Golden Globe nominations were greatly benefited by them, as they had struggled to gain traction previously. For instance, consider the film titled “The Substance“. This dark comedy-horror commentary on Hollywood has been nominated in five categories – best musical or comedy picture, director, leading actress (Demi Moore), supporting actress (Margaret Qualley) and screenplay. This recognition provides a significant boost to the film’s momentum.

Meanwhile, Searchlight’s film “A Complete Unknown” had a late release and only managed to secure a position on the AFI’s top 10 list as proof that it was making an impact – until it was nominated for the best drama picture, actor (Timothée Chalamet), and supporting actor (Edward Norton) at the Golden Globes.

Briarcliff/Rich Spirit’s two-hander The Apprentice had been largely ignored until Monday, when Sebastian Stan was nominated for best drama actor and Jeremy Strong was nominated for best supporting actor. Also receiving two noms: Roadside’s The Last Showgirl, with Pamela Anderson making the cut for best drama actress and the Miley Cyrus tune “Beautiful That Way” landing a best original song slot.

Kate Winslet secretly made her way into the Best Drama Actress category, being the only nominee from Roadside’s film, “Lee”. Interestingly, September 5th was missing from all recent award announcements (except for a Best Editing win at LAFCA), even the Golden Globes announcement. However, it was finally added to the list in the very last category announced: Best Drama Picture, beating out other major contenders such as Paramount’s second installment of “Gladiator”, titled “Gladiator II”.

5. Took hits

As for that movie, it was nominated solely for its cinematic success and Denzel Washington in the supporting actor role – unfortunately, there were no nominations for Best Drama Picture, Ridley Scott for Best Director, Paul Mescal for Best Drama Actor, or a score. That’s quite disappointing.

24’s film “Sing Sing” didn’t do as well as expected. Clarence Domingo is nominated for best drama actor, but the movie was overlooked in the best drama picture category, and it also fell short in the screenplay, original song (“Like a Bird”), and supporting actor categories, with Clarence Maclin not making the cut.

Completely absent from the nominations list: Bleecker Street’s “Hard Truths” (Marianne Jean-Baptiste was thought to be a strong contender for best drama actress), Netflix’s “The Piano Lesson” (Danielle Deadwyler was commonly tipped for a best supporting actress nod), and both of Saoirse Ronan‘s 2024 films, Apple’s “Blitz” and Sony Classics’ “The Outrun”.

Note: Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge that also owns The Hollywood Reporter.

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2024-12-09 18:25