The Golden Globe nominations always act as an awards season klaxon of sorts, proclaiming the official start of a race that will end months later, on Oscar night—and if the list of contenders for 2025 is anything to go by, it’s set to be a truly wild contest. Here are the most exciting and downright startling snubs and surprises from the 2025 Golden Globe nods.
Snub: Industry
Easily one of the best TV shows of the year, alongside the likes of Shōgun and Baby Reindeer (both of which, thankfully, were nominated), Mickey Down and Konrad Kay’s jaw-dropping third instalment of the high-octane banking saga was, nevertheless, completely ignored by the Golden Globes voting body, in favour of far less splashy offerings like The Diplomat in Best Drama Series. I was especially sorry to see this season’s breakout, Marisa Abela, left out of the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series—Drama category (Black Doves’s Keira Knightley swept in here), and the scene-stealing Sagar Radia (aka the traumatised Rishi) missing from the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television line-up (bigger names like La Máquina’s Diego Luna, Shrinking’s Harrison Ford and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’s Javier Bardem got in instead).
Surprise: Disclaimer
After a buzzy Venice Film Festival premiere, Alfonso Cuarón’s slippery (and not entirely successful) psychological thriller seemed to disappear into the ether—until now, that is. I, for one, was massively surprised to see it not only make it into the Best Limited Series category and score a lead actress nod for Cate Blanchett, but also spell a Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series nomination for Kevin Kline, alongside contenders like The Penguin’s Colin Farrell and Baby Reindeer’s Richard Gadd. Odd.
Snub: Danielle Deadwyler for The Piano Lesson
One of the omissions I’m angriest about, though, is this one in Best Supporting Actress. Alongside Emilia Pérez’s Zoe Saldaña (who is in the mix here), Deadwyler has given what is unquestionably one of the most commanding secondary performances in any film this year. I can accept the Golden Globes overlooking The Piano Lesson elsewhere—Malcolm Washington’s August Wilson adaptation certainly isn’t for everyone—but to leave her out, while including great but lesser work from Emilia Pérez’s Selena Gomez, The Brutalist’s Felicity Jones, The Substance’s Margaret Qualley and Conclave’s Isabella Rossellini, is bizarre.
Snub: Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths
Another prominent Black female contender who ought to have been guaranteed a nomination (this time, in Best Actress—Drama) and wasn’t, is the British star of Mike Leigh’s latest profoundly moving character study. Recently the recipient of the Best Lead Performance prize at the British Independent Film Awards, as well as Best Lead Performance at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (shared with Anora’s Mikey Madison) and Best Actress at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, she was a presumed shoo-in, having given a towering turn that is almost certainly the performance of the year. She lost out, however, to a string of better-known Hollywood stalwarts.
Surprise: Pamela Anderson for The Last Showgirl
One of them is the Canadian cultural icon, who unexpectedly snuck into the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture—Drama category with her career-best work in Gia Coppola’s Las Vegas-set drama. Following Netflix’s Pamela, a Love Story, the former Baywatch star has been in the midst of a long-overdue renaissance and, despite the injustices in this particular race, it’ll be a joy to watch her shine come 2025.
Surprise: Kate Winslet for Lee and The Regime
The other is the Oscar and five-time Golden Globe winner, who squeezed onto the Best Actress in a Drama shortlist with her account of the rise of formidable war photographer and British Vogue correspondent Lee Miller, for a biopic which has otherwise struggled to break into the awards race. Yet more evidence that Winslet is beloved by Golden Globe voters? Her presence in Best Actress in a Limited Series, too, for The Regime (a show now forgotten by many), alongside True Detective: Night Country’s Jodie Foster and The Penguin’s Cristin Milioti.
Snub: Saoirse Ronan for The Outrun and Blitz
Once tipped as a double nominee for her lead role in Nora Fingscheidt’s hallucinatory addiction drama and her supporting part in Steve McQueen’s World War II epic, the Irish four-time Golden Globe nominee and previous winner for Lady Bird missed out this time—though I have no doubt that she’ll be back to claim many more statuettes in the coming years.
Surprise: Cooper Koch for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
Amongst much dispiriting news, it was a rare treat to see Cooper Koch, revelatory as the sensitive Erik Menendez, show up in the Best Actor in a Limited Series category. Richard Gadd should have this particular award in the bag, but Koch deserves the plaudits, too, especially for that harrowing, single-take episode in which Erik’s abusive past is slowly unravelled for the viewer. Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s controversial true-crime phenomenon did well across the board as well, with additional nods for Best Limited Series and Javier Bardem in the Supporting Actor category.
Surprise: Kristen Bell for Nobody Wants This
I love the star of Veronica Mars and The Good Place, but a nomination for her performance in this piece of Netflix fluff? And one for hot rabbi Adam Brody? As well as Best Comedy Series, alongside the likes of Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks and Only Murders in the Building? Sorry, but I just don’t get it.
Surprise: Coralie Fargeat for The Substance
The French filmmaker’s gloriously deranged body horror over performed—thank the gods—with nods for Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy, Best Actress for Demi Moore, Best Supporting Actress for Margaret Qualley, Best Screenplay and, remarkably, Best Director, preventing the Globes from having an all-male directing line-up, as many had feared. It meant that Dune: Part Two’s Denis Villeneuve didn’t get a look-in, and nor did Wicked’s Jon M Chu, but Fargeat has more than earned it for this audaciously big swing.
Surprise: Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine as Light
Another delightful surprise in Best Director was the inclusion of the Indian auteur who, back in the spring, took home Cannes’ second-place Grand Prix, after Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning Anora. Her gentle fiction feature debut was also recognised in the Globes’ Best Motion Picture—Non-English Language line-up. With All We Imagine as Light not chosen as India’s Best International Film Oscar submission, and thus unable to compete for that particular prize come March, these nods could certainly help to raise the film’s profile further and encourage Academy voters to consider it in other major categories.
Surprise: Yura Borisov for Anora
The Russian actor, who steals much of the second half of Baker’s fleet-footed romp, is a thrilling surprise addition to the Best Supporting Actor race, the lone Hollywood newcomer competing with legends Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice) and Denzel Washington (Gladiator II). It’d be astonishing if he won, but here’s hoping this platform will bring him more work stateside.
Snub: Clarence Maclin for Sing Sing
Another heartbreak came in the form of this extraordinary performer – sensational in Greg Kwedar’s tear-jerking prison drama—missing out on a Best Supporting Actor nod, while industry favourites like Culkin and Norton strolled in with solid but less impressive performances. Sing Sing, which remains one of the best releases of the year, tragically didn’t get a Best Motion Picture—Drama nomination either (I could personally have lost either A Complete Unknown or September 5 from this shortlist to make space for it), though Colman Domingo did at least land a spot on the Best Actor line-up for his wonderful lead turn. Fingers crossed that the film fares better at the Oscars.
