Sag Awards 2025 Review

With the Oscars in touching distance, the SAG awards are often the last televised award show before the main event, and it is also a good indicator of who will win on Hollywood's biggest night. It did this and gave us many races going into Oscar's Sunday, which will keep us guessing until they open that golden envelope. 

Going into the ceremony, Anora was considered the front runner, winning the critics' choice for best picture, the DGA and the PGA all in one weekend, cementing its chances and ridding anyone of any doubts they had about this film taking the main prize. However, in a surprising turn of events, it went home empty-handed at the SAG's and allowed for Conclave to take the biggest award of the night, Best Ensemble, throwing it's hat into the ring for best picture and making it a contender seeing as it won the BAFTA for best picture last weekend which is a good combination to have going into the Oscars. 

Also, the wins of Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldana in the supporting categories have confirmed that they are the sweepers of the season, much like Davine Joy Randolph and Robert Downey Jr last year. Many have doubted their chances at taking home every major award this season due to their films being either not in the best picture category or the film creating too much controversy that it shouldn't be awarded at all - but they have risen above that and will be definitely getting their Oscars on Sunday.

Arguably the biggest shock of the night was in Best Actor, which throughout the season has been Adrien Brody's to beat, but Timothee Chalamet was acknowledged at the SAGs and has created a competitive race. However, you can argue the popularity of their films at these awards is the reason the win was favoured in Chalamet's direction. His film A Complete Unknown received four nominations, including Best Ensemble, whereas Brody was the only nomination for The Brutalist, which was surprising given its love at other award shows. There is an argument to be had though at the Oscars as Brody has won before for a very similar role, and Chalamet is giving a performance which is pure Oscar bait, a musical biopic performance of an American icon. 

This year is no exception, as the most competitive race at the Oscars is always best actress and with Mikey Madison's win at the BAFTA's, the SAG awards were either going to cement her chances at winning or provide a surprise, which will lead to a race, and it did the latter. Demi Moore won and provided a platform to make an amazing speech about Hollywood and her age, leaning into the themes of the film she is nominated for, The Substance. This category could be awarded to either them and both would follow a theme the Academy loves - the up and coming star who delivers a performance which gets the industry's eyes on her - very similar to Jennifer Lawrence's win. However, they also love the narrative of a long career where the actor takes a break and comes back with a transformative performance like Brendan Fraser or Key Huy Quan. This category will be in the back of people's minds all throughout the ceremony, and we will await with baited breath as Cillian Murphy walks onto the stage to present. 

Overall, this ceremony delivered in terms of surprises and has made some of the categories going into the Oscars too close to call, and everyone will be waiting on the edge of their seat to see who is taking home these coveted awards in the most insane and confusing award season yet.