Golden Globe Awards 2025: Emilia Perez and The Brutalist win big as Demi Moore crowns comeback

Los Angeles, California - Surreal narco-musical Emilia Perez and epic immigrant drama The Brutalist were the big winners at the 2025 Golden Globes on Sunday, as prizes were shared widely across an international crop of movies.

Zoe Saldaña and Demi Moore won big at the 2025 Golden Globes, for their roles in Emilia Perez and The Substance, respectively.
Zoe Saldaña and Demi Moore won big at the 2025 Golden Globes, for their roles in Emilia Perez and The Substance, respectively.  © Collage: Amy Sussman / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & REUTERS

French director Jacques Audiard's Mexico-set Emilia Perez took four prizes, including best comedy or musical film, while The Brutalist was named best drama and also picked up best actor for Adrien Brody, who plays a Hungarian Holocaust survivor.

Emilia Perez, the story of a drug lord who transitions to life as a woman, had entered the night with the most nominations at 10.

It won for best non-English language film and best original song, while Zoe Saldaña took best supporting actress honors, nudging out her co-star Selena Gomez.

Meghan Markle's father plans dramatic move as she refuses to let him near grandkids
Meghan Markle Meghan Markle's father plans dramatic move as she refuses to let him near grandkids

"You can maybe put us in jail, you can beat us up, but you never can take away our soul, our resistance, our identity," said Karla Sofia Gascon, the film's star, who is trans.

She added: "Raise your voice... and say, 'I won. I am who I am, not who you want'."

Sunday also proved an important night for The Brutalist, which shrugged off concerns over its sprawling runtime to earn best director for Brady Corbet.

"I was told that no one would come out and see it," said Corbet, of his epic about a Jewish architect who survives Nazi persecution and immigrates to the US.

"No one was asking for a three-and-a-half hour film about a mid-century designer... but it works," he added.

Demi Moore celebrates return to the top

Adrian Brody won best actor in a drama for his portrayal of a Jewish architect who survives Nazi persecution and immigrates to the US.
Adrian Brody won best actor in a drama for his portrayal of a Jewish architect who survives Nazi persecution and immigrates to the US.  © REUTERS

Brody's win was one of the night's remarkable career comebacks, more than two decades after he became the youngest ever Oscar best actor winner for The Pianist, in which he also played a Holocaust survivor.

"There was a time not too long ago that I felt that this may be a moment never afforded to me again," he said.

"This story... is very reminiscent of my mother's, and my ancestral journey of fleeing the horrors of war and coming to this great country."

Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet sweetly smooch at the 2025 Golden Globes!
Kylie Jenner Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet sweetly smooch at the 2025 Golden Globes!

In one of the night's biggest upsets, Brazil's Fernanda Torres won best actress in a drama film for I'm Still Here, which chronicles a family ripped apart by the country's military dictatorship in the 1970s.

And there was another late-career triumph for Demi Moore, who won best actress in a comedy for body horror flick The Substance, which takes a satirical and often grotesque look at the pressures placed on women by society as they age.

Accepting her prize, Moore reflected on how decades ago, she had been told by a Hollywood producer that she was "a popcorn actress."

"I bought in, and I believed that, and that corroded me over time," said the now 62-year-old Ghost star.

But "I had this magical, bold, courageous, out-of-the-box, absolutely bonkers script come across my desk called The Substance, and the universe told me that 'you're not done.'"

Nikki Glaser pokes fun at Ozempic-obsessed Hollywood

Comedian Nikki Glaser was well-received as the host of the 2025 Golden Globes.
Comedian Nikki Glaser was well-received as the host of the 2025 Golden Globes.  © REUTERS

Comedian Nikki Glaser hosted the ceremony, kicking off the gala with an irreverent, well-received monologue.

"Welcome to the 82nd Golden Globes, Ozempic's biggest night," she quipped, referring to the weight-loss drug that has proven wildly popular in famously looks-conscious Hollywood.

Among the dramas, Conclave, a fictionalized account of high-stakes Vatican horse-trading, depicting how the death of a pope sends the church's various factions into battle for its future, took the award for best screenplay.

In comedy, Sebastian Stan won best actor for A Different Man, in which he portrays a man who undergoes experimental treatment for a disfiguring facial condition, but comes to rue the consequences.

"Our ignorance and discomfort around disability and disfigurement has to end now," said Stan. "We have to normalize it and continue to expose ourselves to it."

Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor for Jesse Eisenberg's awkward road trip comedy A Real Pain, about mismatched American cousins retracing their European roots.

Latvian movie Flow, a surreal dialogue-free odyssey about a group of animals forced to work together as they drift in a boat through a flooded world, won best animated film.

The show also honors the best in TV, with big wins for historical epic Shogun, showbiz comedy Hacks, and limited series Baby Reindeer.

Cover photo: Collage: Amy Sussman / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & REUTERS

More on Movies: