Golden Globes 2025: A win for Demi Moore — and some pretty problematic films

When Demi Moore won for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes, she mentioned this was the first award she’d ever won. It seems unbelievable considering her longevity and acclaim, but scrolling through IMDB, prior to The Substance, this seems more true than not. Her speech was one of the highlights of the night — it was thoughtful, heartfelt and intelligent. It rooted her personal history within a greater legacy of femininity — its heights and cruelties. On Moore’s awards tab, the biggest surprise are the dozens of “Worst Actress” wins at the Razzis, the Stinkers, etc.

While I’m hardly a fan of The Substance, the film does capture the horror of Hollywood’s attitude towards women. Demi Moore, at 62 years old, looks stunning. I’d argue she’s always been a compelling screen presence and she’s often been a great actor. It’s not easy to forget the pointed barbarity of the 1990s and early 2000s, particularly when it came to women’s bodies and their age. Moore was a victim of that long beforehand, maybe because she was the wrong class, or messier than the tabloid culture would allow. Her triumphant re-emergence has been gratifying. Though part of me does wonder what a different film The Substance might have been if Demi Moore didn’t look the way she does; if she didn’t already defy the perceived laws of nature and ageing.

Yet, as is often the case with these awards shows, there seems to be a disconnect. While I’d generally argue that it’s uncouth to comment on people’s bodies or appearances, there’s no denying that Hollywood is going through its own Substance-like transformation. Actors of all ages are looking slimmer and tauter; age really is “just a number” for those able and willing to put in the money and work to metamorphose into younger or heightened versions of themselves. It’s not that I begrudge them, but it also points to my frustration with a film like The Substance in the first place: it’s a movie that accurately captures a genuine fear and problem, and offers no real spiritual or moral reprieve. 

Some of the biggest winners of the night: The Brutalist and Shōgun are works of art I haven’t seen. Overall, though, the night seemed intent on celebrating or focusing on craft and personal journeys above anything else. If The Substance is about anything, it’s about shallow concerns that we all feel consumed by, the people in the room most of all, but that ultimately mean very little. As Brady Corbet won his second prize for The Brutalist, he read off his phone to the audience, “Final cut tiebreak goes to the director.” He’s likely right, particularly in increasingly data-driven industry practices, that this might be a controversial statement but it’s one that also demonstrates the distasteful self-centeredness of these awards.

The films and series themselves, many dealing with “big” ideas, felt like window dressing. If films like Emilia Pérez deal with questions of transgender inclusion and identity, or The Substance about unrealistic standards of beauty, you’d hardly know that the pressing ideas of these movies were in any way connected to the real world. There’s something alienating about experiencing the “best” movies of the year and seeing them flattened and reduced to merely craft or financial risks. It surprises me that more film fans aren’t totally disillusioned by the whole mainstream process, gutted by the absolute meaninglessness of art within the churn of marketing and self-congratulation.

On a purely superficial level, the Golden Globes were otherwise mostly a success. Nikki Glaser did a great job hosting. Though jarring at first, having the presenters turn away from the audience was surprisingly interesting, and though occasionally patience-testing, the decision to allow winners to speak without being rushed off the stage was the right decision. The show was well-rehearsed and well-directed, an inventive but reliable work of live television. ■

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For the full list of Golden Globes winners, please visit their website.

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