“One Battle After Another” and Eva Victor among this year’s Dorian Awards nomination leaders

by Cláudio Alves

Eva Victor's SORRY, BABY was one of GALECA's favorite films of 2025.

Multiple members of the Film Experience team are part of GALECA - The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, so it’s only logical that we should highlight the Dorian Awards. As a voter, I don’t want to be too harsh on the results, though there will always be reasons to complain, as these sorts of collective picks can never feel as special or idiosyncratic as an individual’s selection. Even so, rejoice, Sorry, Baby fans, for Eva Victor’s directorial debut is among the Film of the Year nominees, rubbing elbows with such awards season favorites as One Battle After Another – leading the pack with 9 mentions – and Sinners – settling at a still remarkable 8 nods. Indeed, the nonbinary director is this year’s most-nominated individual.

Come see the full list of Dorian Award nominees, plus plenty of added commentary, right after the jump…

Film of the Year

• HAMNET
• MARTY SUPREME
• ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
• SINNERS
• SORRY, BABY 

Give or take Sentimental Value or Frankenstein, these are the Oscars’ expected top four, with Sorry, Baby adding some variety to the conversation. Between Julia Roberts’ shout-out at the Globes and this mention, the A24 dramedy is surging at the right time. Still, let’s take our minds away from Oscar punditry and just appreciate such a tricky tonal gambit finding its audience and plenty of admirers along the way.

LGBTQ Film of the Year

• BLUE MOON
• HEDDA
• PILLION
• SORRY, BABY
• TWINLESS 

I would have set something on fire if Pillion had missed this. So, thank you, fellow voters, for protecting my clean criminal record from any arson charges. All the other nominees are deserving, too, even if I long for a more international lineup. Oh well, that’s what the “LGBTQ Non-English Film of the Year” is for, I suppose.

Director of the Year

• Paul Thomas Anderson, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
• Ryan Coogler, SINNERS
• Jafar Panahi, IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
• Josh Safdie, MARTY SUPREME
• Chloé Zhao, HAMNET 

Can’t really argue with Panahi replacing Victor from the “Film of the Year” quintet. It is, however, a tad sad that not a single LGBTQIA+ project or any queer artist is represented in the lineup. If not Victor, why not Ira Sachs, Nia DeCosta, Harry Lighton, Oliver Hermanus, Alain Guiraudie, Rohan Kanawade, Trương Minh Quý, James Sweeney, Alexis Langlois, or even Bill Condon?

Screenplay of the Year 

• HAMNET, Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
• MARTY SUPREME, Josh Safdie & Ronald Bronstein
• ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, Paul Thomas Anderson
• SINNERS, Ryan Coogler
• SORRY, BABY, Eva Victor 

I will admit that, by this point in my first read of the nominees, I was getting a tad frustrated. The same five films… again? Can’t say any of them are outrageous choices, but there were more interesting scripts this year. Many of them full of queer themes, characters, and from queer authors!

LGBTQ Screenplay of the Year

• BLUE MOON, Robert Kaplow
• HEDDA, Nia DeCosta
• PILLION, Harry Lighton
• SORRY, BABY, Eva Victor
• TWINLESS, James Sweeney

Again, a complete replica of the “LGBTQ Film of the Year” lineup. Raise a glass to Kiss of the Spider Woman – genuinely, one of the most fascinating works of adaptation this cinematic year – and Cactus Pears, Misericordia, The History of Sound, The Astronaut Lovers, and the entire Oslo Trilogy by Dag Johan Haugerud.

Non-English Language Film of the Year 

• IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
• NO OTHER CHOICE
• SENTIMENTAL VALUE
• SIRAT
• THE SECRET AGENT 

Sure, this isn’t the most exciting lineup, consisting exclusively of NEON-backed titles, all well-poised for Oscar nominations in one week’s time. However, it’s still a nifty and varied quintet. That being said, I might prefer the next category’s picks.

LGBTQ Non-English Film of the Year 

• CACTUS PEARS
• MISERICORDIA
• SAUNA
• THE MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO
• VIET AND NAM

Now we’re cooking with fire! Five varied and fascinating looks at queer lives and artistry, ranging from realist drama to oneiric reverie, from a stylized allegory to a deadpan comedy about murder and mercy. If you haven’t yet seen these films, please seek them out. Run, don’t walk.

If you’re looking for even more international queer cinema, let me point you in the direction of such Brazilian gems as Latin Blood and Baby, Hagerud’s aforementioned trilogy, Marco Berger’s latest, and the camp insanity of Queens of Drama – the year’s queerest rock musical must be seen to be believed.

Unsung Film of the Year

• BLACK BAG
• IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU
• LURKER
• THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE
• TWINLESS

Are films in the Oscar conversation truly unsung? In other words, do If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and The Testament of Ann Lee belong here? Honestly, I think so, mostly because they’ve been almost solely considered in terms of their leading ladies. Yet, these works are formally bold creations, unafraid to alienate audiences as they reach for something more profound. Beyond those two, these are still good choices, especially Black Bag, which has been mostly forgotten despite having been one of the best films of early 2025.

Unsung LGBTQ Film of the Year 

• A NICE INDIAN BOY
• KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
• PETER HUJAR’S DAY
• PLAINCLOTHES
• THE WEDDING BANQUET 

While these weren’t my votes, I would cosign most of them as unfairly underseen and underpraised. My beloved Astronaut Lovers aside, A Nice Indian Boy is the best example of a gay romcom in some time, while Kiss of the Spider Woman perpetuates the chimeric transformations of Manuel Puig’s story through the page, the screen, the stage, and back again. It’s also the queerest of all adaptations so far. Peter Hujar’s Day finds three artists in conversation with past portraitists in a fascinating experiment, while Plainclothes tries to find new avenues into well-trodden themes of shame in late 20th-century queer life. The Wedding Banquet is more of a reimagining than a remake, and certainly deserves to be seen. Do it for Han Gi-Chan, Kelly Marie Tran, Joan Chen and an award-worthy Youn Yuh-jung.

 

Film Performance of the Year

• Rose Byrne, IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU
• Timothée Chalamet, MARTY SUPREME
• Leonardo DiCaprio, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
• Jessie Buckley, HAMNET
• Ethan Hawke, BLUE MOON
• Michael B. Jordan, SINNERS
• Dylan O’Brien, TWINLESS
• Renate Reinsve, SENTIMENTAL VALUE
• Amanda Seyfried, THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE
• Tessa Thompson, HEDDA 

Congratulations to O’Brien, Seyfried and Thompson, who made it into this lineup despite being mostly dismissed as major contenders at this point in the race for gold. Theirs are three fierce performances, exploring different vicissitudes of grief, the physical as a manifestation of the spiritual, and the wicked pleasure of self-destruction, scheming, chaos embodied in provocation.

Supporting Film Performance of the Year 

• Benicio del Toro, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
• Jacob Elordi, FRANKENSTEIN
• Ariana Grande-Butera, WICKED: FOR GOOD
• Nina Hoss, HEDDA
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, SENTIMENTAL VALUE
• Amy Madigan, WEAPONS
• Wunmi Mosaku, SINNERS
• Sean Penn, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
• Stellan Skarsgård, SENTIMENTAL VALUE
• Teyana Taylor, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER  

Not sure how I feel about a category with ten slots featuring only seven films. Oh well, at least that’s better than the category fraud on display. I’m sorry, but while I fully support genderless acting categories – especially at the Dorian Awards! – they make such cases even more appalling. Frankenstein's Creature, Glinda and Gustav Borg are not supporting roles in their films. I’d argue the same for Colonel Lockjaw, but, at least, that one’s more borderline. Hopefully, an actual supporting performance wins. Also, yay for Nina Hoss, who is actually supporting and nominated for a queer film.

Documentary of the Year

• COME SEE ME IN THE GOOF LIGHT
• COVER-UP
• MY MOM JAYNE
• THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR
• PREDATORS 

Very happy that one of the LGBTQ nominees made it into the main category. Wish there was space for some bolder non-fiction projects, but I wasn’t expecting it anyway. Still, would’ve been nice to see some under-the-radar gem make an appearance. The surprisingly harrowing Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus, for example.

LGBTQ Documentary of the Year

• COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT
• HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY
• I WAS BORN THIS WAY
• THE LIBRARIANS
• LIZA: A TRULY TERRIFIC ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY

This is the only category where I have more than one nominee left to see, so, in truth, I can’t opine much on the selection. I guess I’m a tad sad that Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror didn’t make the cut.

Animated Film of the Year

• ARCO
• ELIO
• KPOP DEMON HUNTERS
• LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN
• ZOOTOPIA 2

Justice for anime! It’s also vaguely ironic that Elio got nominated, considering it was originally a much queerer project. Openly gay director Adrian Molina is said to have put much of himself in the movie, whose story was radically changed down the line. The remnants of the original idea remain in the first trailer, suggesting a small part of what was later reported by such outlets as The Hollywood Reporter and the Advocate.

Genre Film of the Year

• 28 YEARS LATER
• BRING HER BACK
• FRANKENSTEIN
• SINNERS
• WEAPONS

Sad that no queer film made the cut – no matter what subtext one might read into Frankenstein and Weapons. Then again, queer genre exercises weren’t in abundance this year. Justice for The Ice Tower, The Wailing and Lesbian Space Princess, I suppose.

Visually Striking Film of the Year

• AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH
• FRANKENSTEIN
• ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
• SINNERS
• TRAIN DREAMS

As much as I love its design elements, Frankenstein’s cinematography is enough for me to recoil at seeing it here. Otherwise, it’s a perfectly solid list, though I yearn for some slightly out-of-left-field pick to spice things up. Resurrection comes to mind, as does the trippy excess of Reflection in a Dead Diamond, or Viet and Nam, which features the most beautifully shot sex scene of the year.

Film Music of the Year

• KPOP DEMON HUNTERS, Marcelo Zarvos, EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Danny Chung, Vince, Kush, Lindgren, Daniel Rojas, etc.
• MARTY SUPREME, Daniel Lopatin
• ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, Jonny Greenwood
• SINNERS, Ludwig Göransson
• THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE, Daniel Blumberg

Thank you! At long last, Daniel Blumberg gets some love for his tremendous work in The Testament of Ann Lee, which is maybe even more impressive than what he already accomplished last season in The Brutalist. But, because I want these to be queerer, raise a glass to the musical excellence of Queens of Drama and The History of Sound. Honestly, it’s about time Oliver Coates gets nominated for a Dorian. This year, beyond the Hermanus film, he also composed Pillion’s sensualist score.

Campiest Flick

• FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES
• KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
• THE HOUSEMAID
• WEAPONS
• WICKED: FOR GOOD

As someone who doesn’t see “camp” as pejorative, I’m not sure I can fully cosign The Housemaid and Wicked crashing this party. But, admittedly, this is a concept with many a meaning and reading, even when one goes back to Sontag’s attempt at defining it. That said, surely Ney Matogrosso’s biopic deserved a spot. If nothing else, for its bulge closeups, fabulous drag, plumage and sequins galore.

“We’re Wilde About You!” Rising Star Award

• Odessa A’Zion
• Miles Caton
• Chase Infiniti
• Tonatiuh
• Eva Victor 

Though GALECA technically doesn’t consider these nominations for particular projects, it’s pretty easy to attribute each of these names to a film. So congrats to Marty Supreme, Sinners, One Battle After Another, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Sorry, Baby on one more nod, even if unofficial.

Wilde Artist Award

• Ryan Coogler
• Cynthia Erivo
• Jinkx Monsoon
• Jafar Panahi
• Pedro Pascal

This category recognizes those who are a “truly groundbreaking force in entertainment,” without specifying the medium. Which is why we get such a bizarre, yet not inappropriate, pairing as Jinkx Monsoon and Jafar Panahi. As ever, this makes for a fascinating group, well worthy of applause.

GALECA LGBTQIA+ Film Trailblazer

• Gregg Araki
• Jonathan Bailey
• Kristen Stewart
• Tessa Thompson
• Eva Victor

Yes, that marks four nominations for Eva Victor in the same year. Five if one counts Sorry, Baby’s “Film of the Year” nomination. Fingers crossed they win one of them. We’ll know on March 6th.

What do you make of this year’s Dorian Award nominations? Please, sound off in the comments. Share some of your favorite achievements in 2025 queer cinema!