06/01/2025 - Emilia Pérez has triumphed with four statuettes and The Brutalist followed with three, with Flow shining bright as the surprise winner of the animated-picture category

The Emilia Pérez cast and crew accepting their Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Award (© Golden Globes/CBS)

Back when the Golden Globe nominations were announced (see the news), we stated that it doesn’t happen very often that a 100% European film is in the lead, with two more European-US co-productions hot on its heels. Now, after the awards were handed out last night in Beverly Hills, California, things have become even more impressive, as most of the winning titles in the film categories turned out to be European (co-)productions.

Jacques Audiard’s sensation Emilia Pérez [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] grabbed one of the two main awards of the evening, Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, as well as Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language, Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for Zoe Saldaña and Best Original Song for “El Mal”, a tune written by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard himself, and sung by Saldaña in the movie. Lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón accepted the award surrounded by the full cast and crew, stating, "Light always wins out over darkness," when referring to the hate speech fuelled by the transphobia she has been vocally fighting against during the awards season. "You can maybe put us in jail, you can beat us up, but you can never take away our soul, our resistance or our identity. Raise your voice and say, 'I am who I am, not who you want'," she continued.

Brady Corbet’s acclaimed The Brutalist [+see also:
film review
film profile] won the other main award at the ceremony, Best Motion Picture – Drama, as well as Best Director and Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for Adrien Brody. When accepting his Best Director gong, Corbet made a plea: “I was told this film was un-distributable. I was told no one would come to see it. I was told the film wouldn’t work. I don’t resent that, but I want to use this as an opportunity to say movies don’t exist without the filmmakers. Please, let’s support them."

One of the most pleasant surprises of the evening came in the Best Motion Picture – Animated category, with Flow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gints Zilbalodis
film profile] by Latvia's Gints Zilbalodis shining bright and trouncing the rest of the nominees, including large-scale US productions. Zilbalodis stated it was the first time a film from Latvia had been there, so "it's huge for us", and continued, "This is a very personal story to me because I used to work alone, but this time I worked with a team, and just like the cat in the film, I had to learn to trust others, collaborate and overcome our differences, and I think it's very important to remember this nowadays."

The European wins continued after that. Edward Berger’s British-US title Conclave [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] grabbed the statuette for Best Screenplay for the work of Peter Straughan, and Luca Guadagnino’s US-Italian flick Challengers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] triumphed in the Best Original Score – Motion Picture category. And in the acting categories, it was Demi Moore who took home the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Award for Coralie Fargeat‘s sensation The Substance [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Coralie Fargeat
film profile], and it was Brazil's Fernanda Torres who received the Award for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for her stunning work in Walter Salles' I’m Still Here [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], in two of the most celebrated moments of the evening. Kieran Culkin won the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Award for his work in Jesse Eisenberg's US-Polish co-production A Real Pain [+see also:
film review
film profile].

Lastly, the series categories saw the British title Baby Reindeer, created by Richard Gadd, win the Award for Best Television Limited Series and its actress Jessica Gunning grab the Award for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role on Television.

Here is the full list of winners:

Films

Best Motion Picture – Drama
The Brutalist [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Brady Corbet (USA/UK/Hungary)

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Emilia Pérez [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Jacques Audiard (France)

Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language
Emilia Pérez – Jacques Audiard

Best Motion Picture – Animated
Flow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gints Zilbalodis
film profile] – Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia/France/Belgium)

Best Director – Motion Picture
Brady Corbet - The Brutalist

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Fernanda Torres - I’m Still Here [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Brazil/France)

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Adrien Brody - The Brutalist

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Demi Moore - The Substance [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Coralie Fargeat
film profile] (UK/USA/France)

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Sebastian Stan - A Different Man (USA)

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Zoe Saldaña - Emilia Pérez

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain [+see also:
film review
film profile] (USA/Poland)

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Peter Straughan - Conclave [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (UK/USA)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Challengers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Luca Guadagnino (USA/Italy)

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“El Mal” - Emilia Pérez (Clément Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard)

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement
Wicked – Jon M Chu

Series

Best Television Series – Drama
Shogun (USA)

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Hacks (USA)

Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Baby Reindeer (UK)

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Anna Sawai - Shogun

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Hiroyuki Sanada - Shogun

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Jean Smart - Hacks

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Jeremy Allen White - The Bear (USA)

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Jodie Foster - True Detective: Night Country (USA)

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Colin Farrell - The Penguin

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role on Television
Jessica Gunning - Baby Reindeer

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television
Tadanobu Asano - Shōgun

Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television
Ali Wong: Single Lady (USA)