Golden Globes 2025 review: a fun and amazing awards ceremony
After a year of actual normalcy (one without strikes or a pandemic), Hollywood is back to regular programming, including a fun and crazy Golden Globes. The fun but unserious cousin of the awards shows has finally found its footing, the post-Hollywood Foreign Press Association scandals. After an absolutely botched ceremony last January, the Golden Globes righted their wrongs by offering nominees and viewers something completely different and beautifully familiar.
Comedian Nikki Glaser, the first solo female host in the show’s history, dove right in with a strong and funny opening monologue. Covering a wide range of topics, including the results of the 2024 presidential election and the #MeToo movement, the former ‘FBoy Island’ host was lively and lively from the moment she opened her mouth. Glaser was quick to press everything from Timothée Chalamet’s sparse mustache to ‘Wicked’ stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s viral interview in the waiting room. Glaser’s overarching topics and several laugh-out-loud moments allowed her to restore the Globes to their former glory.
Something new and fun this year was the addition of on-screen facts and trivia about winners and presenters, which were shown as they walked to the stage. The graphic displays were a way to keep viewers at home engaged and eliminate the dead space that can make awards shows feel painfully interminable. They were also strangely informative: The audience learned that Ariana DeBose once performed in “So You Think You Can Dance,” that Colman Domingo performed on stilts in the circus and that Demi Moore has a huge collection of vintage dolls.
With lots of tequila (according to Kieran Culkin), a chilling moment between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson, Nobu sushi and a more immersive and aesthetically pleasing production experience, including angled cameras and a Google Maps-like overview of the ballroom, showing where each nominee sits, the Golden Globes has found a way forward. Glaser playfully joked about using a pope’s miter as a prop, a not-so-terrible parody of the “Wicked” song “Popular,” and kept a scoreboard to keep track of who the winners were thanking in their speeches. Although Ariana Grande didn’t rather When I got Glaser’s weed crack at Harrison Ford, and the banter between Seth Rogen and Catherine O’Hara lasted much longer than it should have, the proceedings never felt sloppy or, worse, unpleasant.
There weren’t many surprises this year (although we did find a few): Jeremy Allen White didn’t even bother showing up to accept another award for his role in “The Bear.” But most of the winners seemed genuinely excited. During the moving speech of the first winner, Demi Moore, after receiving the award for Actress in a Musical or Comedy for ‘The Substance’, she said: ‘I’ve been doing this for a long time, over 45 years, and this is the first time I do this. I once won something as an actor.” It was one of the moments of the night.
As at the Emmys last September, “Shōgun” was deservedly the standout TV show, winning four awards. Tadanobu Asano and Anna Sawai received awards for their performances alongside Hiroyuki Sanada, and the FX show also won drama series awards. On the film front, perhaps the biggest shock of the night was Fernanda Torres’ well-deserved win as actress in a drama for “I’m Still Here.” “The Brutalist” is now officially the frontrunner at the Oscars.
Overall, the show moved quickly, with blissfully short and sweet speeches and only a few intrusions from Glaser. The Golden Globes were exactly what they should be: a festive, joyful celebration. With a running time of just over three hours, this was honestly all we could ask for.
Variety’s parent company PMC owns Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Prods. in a joint venture with Eldridge.
