‘Emilia Pérez’ and ‘The Brutalist’: unpredictable duel of a cinema against the logic of Hollywood

The 2025 Oscar nominations confirm the path taken by the Hollywood Academy towards ‘indie’ and ‘alternative’. Also, towards ambitious and unusual films. Or, perhaps, they simply demonstrate that the weight of European academics has unbalanced the ‘traditional’ vote of an institution whose president, Janet Yang, said yesterday that they celebrated “the best of global cinema.” In any case, the 13 nominations for the narco-musical ‘Emilia Perez‘ and the 10 candidates for megalomania condensed in the 215 minutes of ‘The Brutalist’ confirm that the duel of the season will be between two films that would make any “rewardable” algorithm explode.

Because ‘Emilia Pérez’ has become the foreign film with the most nominations in the 97 editions of the Oscars thanks to a synopsis that seems to be made from conflicting terms: a musical about Mexican drug traffickers starring a mafia boss who wants to ‘transition ‘. To make matters worse, it is directed by a Frenchman, starring an unknown performer from Alcobendas accompanied by two Hollywood stars, and it was filmed outside of Mexico, just in case. Of course, the production has had gasoline from Netflix. The multinational chose ‘Emilia Perez’ as his bet of the year and has done the rest – this is synonymous with investing millions in advertising and public relations among academics – to reach the Oscars. For now, without seeing what happens at the Oscars on March 2, the bet has turned out well.

On the other side of this duel is a film opposite in its mediums but with a similar ambition to break the mold. ‘The Brutalist’ is not just the 215-minute film about a Holocaust survivor architect who emigrates to the U.S. It’s an opera about how the future caught up with us.

Between the records and the fires in Los Angeles, the nominations leave a headline for the ages, and above all with a Spanish woman as the protagonist: the first nomination for a trans woman. It is Karla Sofía Gascón, protagonist of ‘Emilia Pérez’. Another thing will be whether he wins the award, since at the Golden Globes It was taken from him by Demi Moore (for ‘The Substance’) and both Mikey Madison for ‘Anora’ and Fernanda Torres for ‘I’m Still Here’ are very high in the pools.

Adrien Brody and Karla Sofía Gascón

The Oscar for best actor will be less disputed. There the undisputed favorite is Adrien Brody for ‘The Brutalist’, and only Timothée Chalamet for ‘A Complete Unknown‘ (a ‘biopic’ about Bob Dylan that has not yet been seen in Spain) or Ralph Fiennes for ‘Conclave’, the thriller about the election of a new Pope.

Some nominees that go against the logic of old Hollywood and that demonstrate that the best promotion for new academics are the European festivals (‘Emilia Pérez’ triumphed in Cannes, where ‘Anora’ won; ‘The Brutalist’ was blessed in Venice and ‘ Conclave’ premiered in San Sebastián)

The categories of best actor and actress will be the only ones that do not offer a duel between ‘Emilia Pérez’ and ‘The Brutalist’, since ‘Anora’, the third in dispute at the beginning of the awards season after its success in Cannes, seems to have deflated after the Golden Globes and “only” has 7 Oscar options. For its part, ‘Wicked’, the musical based on the Wizard of Oz, although it accumulates the same 10 nominations as ‘The Brutalist’, they are all technical or minor, except for best film (which will not win) and lead actress for Cynthia Erivo.

So both the movies Brady Corbetdirector of ‘The Brutalist’, as well as the Frenchman Jacques Audiard, of ‘Emilia Pérez’, will star in the gala, which will be held as usual at the Dolby Theatre. Only the fires that ravage Los Angeles will steal their limelight, since the Academy itself has said that the gala will be very focused “on celebrating the resilience” of Hollywood and the city and showing its solidarity with the victims of the fire.

Oscar with a foreign accent

The success of ‘Emilia Pérez’ has camouflaged that of the Brazilian film ‘I’m Still Here’, with three important nominations: best film, best actress for Fernanda Torres and best international film. The Spanish Pedro Almodóvar has not suffered the same fate. Despite having shot his first film in English and having two Hollywood stars, Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, his ‘Room Next Door’ has been left out of all the categories. Another disappointed European ‘auteur’ is Luca Guadagnino, who had two very powerful and sexual films, ‘Rivals’ and ‘Queer’, and has come up short.

These absences were discounted. What the analysts did not predict was that Angelina Jolie would not be there for her role in ‘María Callas’. They also miss Margaret Qualley and Selena Gomez for their supporting roles in ‘The Substance’ and ‘Emilia Pérez’. Denis Villeneuve He is also not nominated for best director for ‘Dune: Part 2’, something that seemed certain; and ‘Gladiator II’, by Ridley Scott, has only had one nomination, in costume design. What has not surprised anyone is that ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ has left empty.

Neither does he Hollywood ignores Clint Eastwood with ‘Jury No. 2’. Neither Warner promoted it nor the box office and platform success has encouraged academics to recognize a myth. A recognition that ‘The Substance’ has had, which makes a splash by sneaking into the top 10 nominees for best film. There the weight of European voters has once again been seen… and modern ones.

Complete list of nominees for the 2025 Oscars

These are all the nominees for the 97th edition of the Oscars: