Fans are all saying the same thing about Demi Moore losing the Oscar

Demi Moore, 62, lost out on the best actress Oscar to Mikey Madison, 25 (Picture: Getty/Reuters)

The Oscars 2025 delivered a bit of a surprise win after Anora star Mikey Madison beat comeback queen Demi Moore to be crowned best actress at the Academy Awards on Sunday night.

The 25-year-old breakout star had pulled off the same victory at the Baftas as well, but ahead of that Moore had seemed the favourite for the prize – especially as she also claimed the leading actress gong at the SAG Awards, which are often cited as a tool for predicting the Oscars.

However, fans watching from home couldn’t help but observe a key point about the turn of events, suggesting that it was eerily reminiscent of the plot of The Substance, the body horror film for which Moore, 62, was nominated.

‘Demi Moore looking at Mikey Madison during her Best Actress speech… The Substance became a reality,’ observed @Hgserrano on X.

Paolo Uggetti agreed, adding: ‘Demi Moore losing to Mikey Madison is basically the plot of The Substance.’

‘Mikey Madison was absolutely amazing but her beating Demi Moore feels like the plot of The Substance,’ chimed in Roxy Striar.

Moore, who made a major Hollywood comeback with The Substance, was considered the favourite for best actress (Picture: David Fisher/Shutterstock)

‘Kinda crazy that Demi Moore losing to Mikey Madison is literally the plot of The Substance…’ tweeted Emily Bernay.

In the movie, written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, Moore plays fading star Elisabeth Sparkle, who is struggling with ageing in Hollywood and uses a mysterious drug to try and claw back her TV fitness instructor position.

At first, the substance gives amazing results, birthing Elisabeth’s younger alter-ego Sue (Margaret Qualley) – but as each ignores the strict rules of their allotted time, battling against the restraint of the other, disastrous consequences rear their head.

However, others pointed out the slightly icky attitude to this Oscars comparison with the film, as @cinecomical tweeted: ‘People using the same ageist/misogynistic attitude to tease Demi Moore losing to Mikey Madison that was critiqued in The Substance.’

However, people drew parallels with her movie after Madison won for Anora instead (Picture: Mike Coppola/Getty)

Plenty also insisted that they were thrilled for relative newcomer Madison and her win – until now best known for her roles in the Scream franchise and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – even if it left them feeling sad for Moore.

‘I am so happy for Mikey Madison but at the same time I am so sad for Demi Moore,’ posted Chu, while @robismore shared: ‘I can’t be the only one who’s so happy for Mikey Madison but also sad for Demi Moore. What is this feeling??’

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‘Truly happy for Mikey Madison but Demi Moore was ROBBED,’ added @ThatBrashBlonde.

Madison becomes one of the youngest winners of the best actress Oscar, joining a list that includes Hilary Swank and Grace Kelly, who were also 25,Audrey Hepburn (24) and Jennifer Lawrence (22).

The youngest-ever winner remains Marlee Matlin, who won at 21 for her star turn in Children of a Lesser God at the ceremony in 1987.

In body horror The Substance, Moore’s character ends up with a younger alter-ego, played by Margaret Qualley (Picture: Mubi/AP)

The Substance, which has been making waves since its premiere at Cannes Film Festival, did win one Oscar gong, which was – unsurprisingly – for hair and makeup.

Other snubs included Diane Warren missing out on winning an Oscar yet again, after being nominated for her 16th Academy Award for her song The Journey, which was used in the Netflix film The Six Triple Eight about female black soldiers during the Second World War.

The American songwriter, 68, was given a 2022 honorary Oscar for ‘her genius, generosity and passionate commitment to the power of song in film’ after she composed music for Pearl Harbour, The Hunting Ground and Mannequin, but is still yet to bag a competitive prize.

On the 97th Academy Awards’ red carpet, Warren even appeared to show off a tongue-in-cheek reference to that fact, wearing a jacket which had the words ‘make it f***ing happen’ stitched into the collar.

A Complete Unknown star Timothée Chalamet lost best actor to Adrien Brody for The Brutalist, meaning he will never beat his fellow US actor’s record of being the youngest person to have won an Academy Award for that category by a matter of days, at 29.

Other snubs included Dianne Warren, who missed out on an Oscar for the 16th time (Picture: JC Olivera/WWD via Getty)

The film, about Dylan’s early life, also failed to win any of its eight nominations including ones for best supporting nominees Edward Norton and Monica Barbaro, who played folk musicians Pete Seeger and Joan Baez in the film, and director James Mangold.

Those leading the nominations had included Wicked, based on the West End and Broadway musical of the same name, and The Brutalist on 10 nods, while Conclave, about the election of a Catholic pope in the Vatican, was on eight nods.

Ralph Fiennes-starring Conclave managed one win, for British screenwriter Peter Straughan, while Wicked picked up just two prizes including an Oscar for British designing duo Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales for best production design.

Immigration story The Brutalist earned three gongs including for cinematography, which went to the UK’s Lol Crawley, and Daniel Blumberg for original score.

Adrien Brody’s second best actor win denied Timothée Chalamet the chance to take the title of youngest-ever best actor Oscar winner from The Brutalist star (Picture: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Also failing to win any gongs were prison-set Sing Sing; The Apprentice, about US President Donald Trump’s early years as a property developer; Nickel Boys, based on the novel from Colson Whitehead; vampire film Nosferatu; and BBC film Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

Aardman Animations, who created the duo – inventor Wallace and his trusty dog Gromit – have previously won Oscars for Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of The Were-Rabbit, and Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers among others.

They lost to Latvian cat film Flow in the animation film category, marking the country’s first-ever Oscar win.

Oscars 2025: Full list of winners Picture

Anora

Director

Sean Baker - Anora

Leading actress

Mikey Madison - Anora

Leading actor

Adrien Brody - The Brutalist

Supporting actor

Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain

Supporting actress

Zoe Saldaña - Emilia Pérez

Original screenplay

Anora

Adapted screenplay

Conclave

Cinematography

The Brutalist

Editing

Anora

Production design

Wicked

Costume design

Wicked

Makeup and hairstyling

The Substance

Original score

The Brutalist

Original song

El Mal - Emilia Pérez

International feature

I'm Still Here

Sound

Dune: Part Two

Visual effects

Dune: Part Two

Animated feature

Flow

Animated short

In the Shadow of the Cypress

Documentary feature

No Other Land

Documentary short

The Only Girl in the Orchestra

Live action short

I'm Not a Robot

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