Understanding this year’s Oscars is as simple as learning your ABC – so here’s an alphabetical run-down of this year’s Academy Awards.

A is for Anora

Funny and smart, Anora has been described as a modern-day Pretty Woman and has had a lot of buzz since taking home the biggest prize at the Cannes Film Festival last year. It tells the story of a young woman, a sex worker, who ends up falling in love with a very rich man; this time round, he’s the son of a Russian oligarch. It’s one of this year’s 10 best picture nominees, with 25-year-old Mikey Madison in contention for best actress.

B is for The Brutalist

Largely set in America following the Second World War, The Brutalist has been described as a cinematic masterpiece by some critics – albeit one with a bum-numbingly long three-and-a-half-hour run time. Star Adrien Brody has won plaudits (and a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and other awards) for his portrayal of Hungarian architect Lazlo Toth and is up once again for best actor here. The film is also in the running for best picture; it missed out on that one at the BAFTAs, but filmmaker Brady Corbet was named best director – so the pair will be hoping to at least repeat that success.

C is for Conclave

This is a frontrunner for best picture after winning best film at this year’s BAFTAs. Based on Robert Harris’s 2016 novel of the same name and centred around the selection of a new pope, the film has earned star Ralph Fiennes – who plays Cardinal Lawrence, the Vatican’s most powerful figure after the pope  – his third Oscar nomination. The nods before were in 1993 for Schindler’s List and in 1996 for The English Patient; but while he’s long overdue a win, going up against Brody in the Brutalist is likely to be the reason this won’t be his year.

D is for Dune: Part 2

Timothee Chalamet stars in two of this year’s best picture nominees. We’ll come to his portrayal of Bob Dylan a little later, but in this one he plays Paul Atreides in the second part of director Denis Villeneuve’s reimagining of Frank Herbert’s highly acclaimed 1965 novel. His is a character seeking revenge against those who decimated his family tree - tackling politics, religion, the fight for precious resources – and, more importantly, giant sand worms. It’s epic in scale, but not the Chalamet film everyone’s talking about this year.

E is for Emilia Perez

Set in Mexico but mostly filmed in France, Emilia Perez is an operatic Spanish-language musical which tells the story of a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender affirmation surgery. It leads the race with 13 Oscar nods, and broke the record to become the most nominated non-English language film in the history of the awards – with star Karla Sofia Gascon making history as a trans woman nominated for best actress. After winning several Golden Globes at the start of 2025 it was one of the frontrunners, but faced scrutiny of its themes and stars from the trans community and Mexican critics. The nail in the coffin came after offensive tweets posted by Gascon were unearthed.

F is for Flow

A dialogue-free environmental fable about a cat cast adrift on a boat, forced to overcome its differences with a capybara, lemur, stork, and a golden retriever in order to survive a flood. With Flow, visionary animator Gints Zilbalodis has secured Latvia its first-ever Oscar nominations for best international feature film and best animated feature film. In the latter there’s some stiff competition this year, see…

G is for Gromit, as in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

…the return of Feathers McGraw. First seen in ’93’s Oscar-winning short The Wrong Trousers, he’s back to get his revenge on inventor Wallace and his trusty beagle Gromit. The return of Nick Park’s immortal creations after a 16 year break saw creators Aardman win two BAFTAs a few weeks ago, and despite being unapologetically British – reportedly there was a bit of back-and-forth with Netflix over the phrase “Flippin’ Nora!” – its proven a surprise hit in the US over the years. An Oscar win for Gromit would of course be “absolutely cracking, lad”.

H is for Heartbreak of I’m Still Here

Based on a true story, this film depicts the horror and heartbreak of a mother of five fighting Brazil’s authoritarian military regime in the 1970s after her husband is forcibly “disappeared”, leaving her to search for the truth and rebuild her life. This Portuguese-language film is nominated for three Oscars, including best actress for Fernanda Torres as well as best Picture, but the Brazilian drama’s chances in the international category are probably its best bet at taking home a statuette.

I is for Inside Out 2

Following the success of the first film, released in 2015, the sequel introduces new emotions into the mix – Anxiety, Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment – as Riley becomes a teenager. As the second highest-grossing animated film of all time and one of the most beloved family movies of 2024, it’s hardly surprising that Inside Out 2 was nominated in the best animated category this year. But while it was a commercial and critical success, its not a frontrunner with the bookies to win as the competition is just so good this year. We’ll get to the frontrunner later on.

J is for Jeremy Strong… and Sebastian Stan

They’re the stars of the contentious biopic of newly inaugurated president Donald Trump and have both received acting nominations. The Apprentice concentrates on Trump’s early years as an aspiring real-estate mogul in New York – and while the president described it as a “cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job”, the Academy did not agree. Stan gets a nod for his portrayal of Trump, while Strong is recognised for his performance as mentor Roy Cohn. He finds himself up against his former Succession Roy brother Kieran Culkin in the best supporting category. May the best Roy win.

K is for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (and other monkeys)

This film is nominated for best visual effects, a category that’s awash with simian representation this year as no less than three of the nominees prominently feature CGI monkeys. As well as the latest instalment in the acclaimed Planet Of The Apes franchise, there’s also the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, which sees the singer depicted as an ape, and the creepy winged monkey guards of Wicked, who will probably fly off with the prize.

L is for Late… which Elton John probably will be to his own party

Sir Elton John, who recently retired from performing live, is up for best original song for Never Too Late, from the documentary about his life. He already has two Oscars in his awards cabinet – for Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King in 1994, and for (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again from Rocketman in 2019 – but can he make it a hat-trick? While no doubt he’s chuffed to be nominated, from a party-planning perspective it’s a tad awkward – as it means he’ll have to miss most of his annual charitable Oscars party, which takes place at the same time.

M is for Memoir Of A Snail

Another best animation nominee, this stop-motion offering is way more bleak than Wallace And Gromit. Succession’s Sarah Snook lends her voice to Australian animator Adam Elliot’s tragicomic tale of loneliness, playing a woman called Grace who’s plagued by so much misfortune she wants to crawl into her shell, just like her snail pet.

N is for Nickel Boys

Telling a story of abuse at a US reform school in the 1960s, this best picture nominee is the film with perhaps the most unique visual style, shot almost entirely from the point of view of the two lead characters. It’s a disorientating drama that will stay with you long after the credits roll.

O is for O’Brien

The comedian and former late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien takes over from four-time veteran Jimmy Kimmel. It’s not always an easy gig, and after California’s devastating wildfires it might be especially tricky to get the tone right this year. While he’s said he’ll be keeping in mind what the Los Angeles area has been through, when it comes to making fun of the stars in the audience he’s joked he intends to “go after the ones that have personally been cruel” to him over the years. Fair enough.

P is for A Real Pain

The story of two cousins who travel to Poland to retrace their family’s history, A Real Pain is written by and also stars Jesse Eisenberg. However, it’s his co-star Kieran Culkin who’s stealing the limelight this awards season. He’s enjoyed a best supporting actor winning streak at ceremonies including the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards, giving show-stealing speeches that have livened things up a bit.

Q is for Queer (and other snubs)

When you have so many films, so few nomination spaces to fill, there are always going to be those that miss out. Many felt Daniel Craig should have been up for best actor for his performance in Queer, in which he plays an American expatriate in 1950s Mexico City who becomes infatuated with a younger man. Elsewhere, Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of opera singer Maria Callas in Maria also failed to make an impact with the Academy, as did Hugh Grant’s performance in the horror Heretic. London-born actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste also missed out, despite a BAFTA nod and critical acclaim for her performance in Hard Truths. Others who were considered contenders include Nicole Kidman (Babygirl), Selena Gomez (Emilia Perez), Denzel Washington (Gladiator II) and Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl).

R is for Robots (of the wild variety)

Lupita Nyong’o plays the ROZZUM unit 7134, otherwise known as Roz in the adaptation of Peter Brown’s New York Times bestseller Wild Robot. This best animation offering follows Roz the android as it washes up on a remote island and becomes an adoptive parent to an orphaned gosling. This one’s a real tear-jerker and while much has been written about the film’s animated artistry – with some critics claiming it’s the best animated film of the year, if not the decade – its music, written by Kris Bowers, is equally as impressive.

S is for Sing Sing

This is the true story of an arts programme for men incarcerated at a prison in New York State. Alongside Colman Domingo, who’s up for best actor, and Paul Raci, most of the cast is made up of former prisoners playing themselves, who attended the group during their sentences. While Domingo isn’t the frontrunner to win in his category, he has, once again, been setting the bar for men’s fashion on the red carpets this year, so look out for his outfit.

T is for The Substance

Body horror movie The Substance has given its star Demi Moore a career reboot like no other. The timely narrative about an older actress refusing to fade into obscurity, with horrifying consequences, is one voters are likely to lap up. It saw Moore take best actress in a musical or comedy at the Golden Globes, giving an acceptance speech in which she spoke about being written off as a “popcorn actress” early on in her career – which has laid the ground for further wins, including a Critics Choice gong. Can she add an Oscar to the shelf?

U is for Unknown

Chalamet’s second punt at best picture sees him pick up the guitar and give it some mumbling Bob Dylan energy in A Complete Unknown, playing the Nobel prize-winning folk hero. The star spent five years working on his singing, harmonica and guitar skills. Could the Academy reward him for his efforts with the best actor gong? Interestingly, if he beats Adrien Brody, he will also steal the actor’s current record as the youngest ever best actor winner; Brody was 29 years and 343 days old when he won in 2003 for his performance in The Pianist, while Chalamet will be 29 years and 65 days old on Oscar night.

V is for Vampires

Based on the 1922 film Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Robert Eggers’s film sees Bill Skarsgard transform into vampire Count Orlok in a nod to classic cinema. Skarsgard, who also played Pennywise the clown in 2017 horror IT, says it took a while for him to distance himself from the eerie feeling he embodied as Nosferatu. The film is up for cinematography, production design, costume, and make-up and hairstyling awards.

W is for Wicked

The Wizard Of Oz prequel starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo is one of the highest-grossing musical adaptations of all time – and its stars press interviews have been just as box office. But will it have the same magic touch at the Academy Awards? Its up for best picture but faces tough competition, so is more likely to claim victories in the costume, make-up, score and sound categories.

X is for The SiX Triple Eight

X is always the tricky one, isn’t it? This mention is actually less about Tyler Perry’s Second World War drama but about songwriter Diane Warren, the woman responsible for its one Oscar nod. Despite being nominated 16 times she has never won an Academy Award – not even for Starship’s Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now (Mannequin, 1988), Celine Dion’s Because You Loved Me (Up Close & Personal, 1997), or Aerosmith’s I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing (Armageddon, 1999). A travesty! This time, Warren is up for best song for The Journey, performed by H.E.R. Warren does have an honorary Oscar, awarded in 2022, just not a competitive one, and she told Variety: “Yes, I would like to break my decades-long tradition and win.”

Y is for Yuck!

A 13 minute French animated short about childhood and the discovery of love, centred around a boy called Leo who thinks kissing is the grossest thing ever. While the big hitters get most of the airtime and attention, if you can’t face sitting through another lengthy indie offering it’s worth taking a look at the 15 short films competing across three categories (animated, live-action, and documentary).

Z is for Hans Zimmer

And finally, spare a thought for the two-time Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, who isn’t in the running for best original score this year as his was disqualified. While the music for Dune 2 was as epic as the film itself it did not meet the Academy’s eligibility criteria; the rules are that a nominee must have at least 80% original content in their composition, and although Zimmer composed new pieces for the second instalment it was decided that too much of the score was derived from the first film. Bad luck, Hans.

The Oscars ceremony takes place on Sunday night. Check the Sky News website from Sunday afternoon to follow the entire event on our live blog