I’m a movie buff, but not a decent critic. I could happily watch movies every day— just ask my family, constantly trying to dodge the perpetual “wanna watch a movie?” forever falling out of my face. For my late-diagnosed ADHD-riddled brain, movies have always been the elixir that escapes me into quiet calm.
The Oscars snuck up this year. Normally I binge as many nominated films as possible so I’m as invested at Philadelphia Eagles game (or, cough, Super Bowl win) level. But Oscar Sunday arrived early in the month and I was behind the curve. I watched four of the best film nominees (Anora, The Substance, The Conclave, and Emilia Perez) inside 24 hours. I thoroughly enjoyed all four in different ways. I wanted to see The Brutalist because perusing category nominations list it seemed like a heavy favorite, but it was $20, and I’m not paying more to stream something than I’d pay to see it in a movie theater. I also watched 4/5 (one wasn’t available) of the Short Documentary films, including the excellent winner The Only Girl in the Orchestra.
One thing that stood out, and that I turned out to be incorrect about, was that there was no possible way Demi Moore wouldn’t win Best Actress for The Substance. I was hoping Coralie Faregat would win Best Director for the film as well, but knew it was a long shot as only two women have ever won in the category. The Substance is a gripping psychological thriller, an unusual genre in the Best Picture category, with Silence of the Lambs as a most notable winner. I didn’t think it would win as a film because of this, outside chance at best, but I absolutely thought Moore would win for her role. The film was worthy of more than a win for makeup and hairstyling. It remains a mystery why Oscar does what it does.
There’s an irony in 62-year-old Moore, after giving the performance of a lifetime and taking the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild awards for Best Actress, having to sit there at the Oscars and watch a 25-year-old actress accept that award. Twitter lit up with comments like “'wow demi moore getting passed up for a younger brighter star someone should make a movie about this' and ‘i'm not pitting women against each other i am a working writer and not a stan in case weirdos read this: mikey winning best actress is such an interesting way to close out the demi moore press cycle for the substance. life imitates art etc.’” Ken Jennings wrote on Bluesky “Demi Moore losing to Mikey Madison should be a post-credits scene to The Substance.”
Don’t get me wrong. More than what the AP called a “Strip club Cinderella story without the fairy tale ending,” Anora is an excellent film, and I’m taking nothing away from Mikey Madison’s brilliant performance. It’s just that Madison has a whole world ahead of her while Moore’s never won an Oscar after an accolade-filled career. Decisions aren’t made on a “body of work” basis, but if you line these two outstanding performances up, there are so many more layers in Moore’s performance than Madison’s.
I’m glad the Oscars started earlier so it could end earlier, although hadn’t gotten the memo it started at seven (EST) and had to watch the full Cynthia Erivo Ariana Grande Wicked (also pretty snubbed, at least won Production Design and Costuming) medley later. Worth watching that clip a few more times just to see all the joy in the audience—so many people crying and Demi Moore looking like she wouldn’t have minded losing to Erivo.