With more twists and turns than the Baldoni V Blake courtroom showdown (okay, maybe not that extreme), this year’s Oscars race is packed with drama both on and off the screen.
From gossiping priests to snail-obsessed hoarders, the competition is fierce, the stakes are high, and the internet is ablaze with predictions.
Here are our top picks for 5 categories at the 2025 Academy Awards
Our Pick: Anora
This might not be the best film to watch with your parents (trust us, we learned it the hard way), but Anora is one that doesn’t go out with a whimper – it hits with a full-throttle bang. It will make you laugh, make you cry, and steal your heart faster than Anora can drain an ATM.
Sean Baker’s 8th feature film is a masterclass in tender honesty, the illusion of the American Dream, and razor-sharp humour – all leading to yet another perfect ending.
Where to watch:
Anora is still screening at The Ritz, Palace and Dendy Newtown daily and available to rent on all your favourite online platforms.
Our Pick: Brady Corbet, The Brutalist.
In an era where sequels and superheros dominate the screen, few things are as exhilarating as witnessing pure ambition and risk in filmmaking.
At its core, The Brutalist doesn’t just dream big – it soars, pulling off a staggering feat that cements its place as a modern masterpiece. The performances are brilliant, the cinematography breathtaking, but the true star is Corbet’s masterful command of cinemas boundless potential.
With meticulous control and precision, he crafts a film that is both grand in scope and deeply intimate, an operatic wave of emotion set starkly against the brutalism of architecture and the world we’ve built.
The 3 hours and 35 mins will fly by, and we guarantee it will make you fall in love with cinema, all over again.
Where to watch:
This is a must-see on the big screen – and if you can catch it in 70mm, even better.
Catch it on 70mm exclusively at The Ritz, or digitally at Dendy Newtown and Palace Cinemas.
Our Pick: Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice.
Let’s be clear – Adrien Brody is all but guaranteed to take home the golden statue, and rightly so. But our favourite performance of the season comes from perhaps the biggest surprise in the category: Sebastian Stan for his haunting turn as Donald Trump in The Apprentice.
In a role that could have easily tipped into caricature, Stan’s performance thrives in the smallest, quietest details. This isn’t an impersonation – it’s a deeply layered portrayal of a lost man, grasping for power and relevance while drowning in his own fragile sense of self. As he sinks further into the role, Stan vanishes completely, leaving only the horror show behind.
He might not take first place, but if this performance is any indication, we can’t wait to see where he goes next.
Where to watch:
Available to rent on all your favourite online platforms.
Our Pick: Demi Moore, The Substance
You could currently spend hours wading through the 20,000 articles praising Demi Moore’s “bravery” in taking on such a bold and horrifying role – especially at her age.
But let’s not forget: this is the same woman who shaved her head and shattered her sex-symbol status in the ‘90s. who pushed back against Hollywood’s rigid expectations of “respectable roles,” who helped pioneer the fight for equal pay, and who sparked conversations about maternity, body image, and the portrayal of pregnant women in the media with that Vanity Fair cover. From G.I. Jane to Charlie’s Angels and now The Substance, Moore has spent decades critiquing the very beauty standards Hollywood tried to box her into.
So instead of fixating on her age, lets celebrate this absolute icon continuing her genre-defying career – this time, in one of our favourites: Body Horror!
Demi Moore is nothing short of phenomenal in this visceral, all-consuming performance. She masterfully parodies her own public persona while delivering a performance filled with vulnerability, intensity, and pure, unhinged chaos. She grabs the reins and drags us headfirst down the rabbit hole.
Did our Program Manager get puked on at the Sydney Film Festival premiere? Yes. Should that stop you from diving in? Against our spine-splitting, finger-rotting body!
Where to watch:
Streaming on Stan.
Our pick: Memoir of a Snail, directed by Adam Elliot
Adam Elliot is a national treasure.
His unwavering dedication to his craft – and to uplifting the craft of others. His pursuit of perfecting the imperfect. His love for honesty, vulnerability, and the magic of small human moments. His cheekiness. His humour. His darkness. And above all, his passion for cinema and its community, radiating through every conversation like pure joy.
In a year packed with astonishing animated films – each bursting with emotional depth, technological innovation, and unfiltered delight – Elliot stands apart.
Not just a master of his medium, but as an artist who consistently transcends animations form, proving time and again that animation is not a genre – it’s a style.
With his second feature, Elliot crafts a world so meticulously designed, every frame feels like a living, breathing work of art. His screenplay brims with layers of wit and heartbreak, shifting from belly laughs to gut-wrenching emotion in the span of a minute. It is a film that feels truly original – one that reminds us just how lucky we are to live in a world where Adam Elliot makes movies.
Where to watch:
Available to rent on all your favourite online platforms.
Where to watch the Oscars
Ready for a spectacle of extravagant gowns, tear-soaked speeches, and hard-fought victories?
The Academy Awards are streaming live on 7Plus from 10am on Monday, March 3rd.
