GOLDEN GLOBES 2025
European (co-)productions sweep the Golden Globes

by David González, Cineuropa
January 6, 2025

Emilia Pérez triumphs with four statuettes and The Brutalist follows with three, with Flow shining bright as the surprise winner of the animated picture category.

Back when the Golden Globe nominations were announced (read 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, the feat grew bigger, as most of the winning titles in the film categories are European (co-)productions.

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

Jacques Audiard’s sensation Emilia Pérez has 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, sung by Zoe Saldaña in the movie. The movie's lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón accepted the award surrounded by the full cast and crew, stating "light always wins over darkness", when referring to the hate speech fueled 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 and our identity. Raise your voice and say I am who I am, not who you want", she continued.

Brady Corbet’s acclaimed The Brutalist won the other main award of 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 award, Corbert made a plea: “I was told this film was un-distributable. I was told no one would come 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 films don’t exist without the filmmakers. Please let’s support them."

One of the best surprises of the evening came in the Best Motion Picture – Animated category, with Flow by Latvia's Gints Zilbalodis shining bright over the rest of the nominees, including the big-scale US productions. Zilbalodis stated it was the first time a film from Latvia was there, so "it's huge for us", and continued, "this is a very personal story to me because I've used to work alone but this time I've worked with a team, and just like the cat in the film I've 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. Edward Berger’s British-US title Conclave grabbed the statuette for Best Screenplay for the work of Peter Straughan, and Luca Guadagnino’s US-Italian film Challengers triumphed in the Best Original Score – Motion Picture category. And in the acting categories, it was Demi Moore who took the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy award home for Coralie Fargeat‘s sensation The Substance, 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, 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.

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

Here is the list of winners:

Films

Best Motion Picture – Drama
The Brutalist – Brady Corbet (USA/UK/Hungary)

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Emilia Pérez – Jacques Audiard (France)

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

Best Motion Picture – Animated
Flow – 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 (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 (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 (USA/Poland)

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Peter Straughan - Conclave (UK/USA)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Challengers – 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)