Reactions: 2025 Golden Globe Awards
Well, that happened.
For my review of the 2025 Golden Globes Awards, I want to lean into the compliment sandwich model and start with one of the biggest strengths of the night, the host Nikki Glaser. Glaser’s balance of traditional roast humor mixed with inside-baseball comments around Conclave and other films was a tremendous breath of fresh air for this show. She has the perfect energy for the Golden Globes, and I hope they continue to bring her back to host this show.
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The rest of the production was frankly a mess: the weird camera work, the poor stage design, the terrible banter between most presenters. I am sorry to say, but this was not great advertising for the new film starring Ariana DeBose and Key Huy Quan (Love Hurts). Were there some successful pairs? Yep. Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley were great, and so were Catherine O’Hara and Seth Rogen. The big problem with the presenters was they lacked chemistry, or one would be strong (Melissa McCarthy, Harrison Ford) and their partners would miss on the timing (Awkwafina, Anthony Mackie).
I know people were clamoring for acting clips/reels. The Globes has never done those, but they would show packages from the nominated films. They did not do that this year, and it felt like a miss. They also do not present either of their Lifetime Achievement packages (Carol Burnett Award for TV, Cecil B. DeMille for film; this year they went to Ted Danson and Viola Davis, respectively) on the actual broadcast, and I find this appalling. The production for this ceremony was on par with Critics Choice, and that is not a compliment.
The big winners for the film side were The Brutalist with 3 wins, and Emilia Perez with 4 wins. It was nice to see some surprise, or at least less-predicted folks, win, like Demi Moore, Fernanda Torres, Sebastian Stan (they were my predictions I went out on a limb for). It was also great to see Flow win Animated Feature and Challengers win Score.
Outside of the Emilia Perez wins on the film side, I would say all of the winners were deserving, even if they were not my pick. To clarify, I do not think Emila Perez is a good film, but winner Zoe Saldana is good in the movie.
On the speech side I thought the best of the night came from Zoe Saldana, Demi Moore, Fernanda Torres, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and the folks behind Flow. These were speeches from those “surprise” winners. You felt the joy, the shock, and a mixture of emotion that allows for folks — even if they were prepared in some manner — to deliver a great speech, and this is what award shows are all about.
On the television side, there was one nice sort-of surprise with Colin Farrell winning for The Penguin, but these winners felt like Emmys Part II: Electric Boogaloo. These winners were such a snooze, and to be honest most of their speeches felt repetitive.
The big winners were Shogun with 4 wins, Hacks and Baby Reindeer with 2 wins. I do think Hacks and Shogun were great, but I miss the days when the Globes would honor Party of Five, Jane the Virgin, Nip/Tuck, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Felicity, and other unsung programs. I think the Globes need to either return their old television days, or figure out a way to focus their television voters.
The show was produced by Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, who have both produced numerous largescale events, so I am not sure what happened with how sloppy this felt. Going forward, the Globes need to put together some major construction plans to fix this broadcast for next year.
What did YOU think of the 2025 Golden Globes telecast? Leave a comment below!
