FINAL 2025 Oscar Predictions: MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING and VISUAL EFFECTS
This should be an easy win for The Substance in Makeup & Hairstyling, especially if it goes hand in hand with a potential Best Actress win for Demi Moore but even without that, it’s the most-awarded film in the lineup with BAFTA, Critics Choice and a MUAH award in hand.
Another likely win for Dune: Part Two (I have it winning Sound, too) but this might be the closest an Apes movie is challenging for an upset. Dune has BAFTA and Critics Choice but Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes bested the desert opera at the Visual Effects Society and won the Annie. While this category is more monkey-heavy than it’s ever been (Better Man and Wicked), it’s going to be kind of close, I think.
Here are my final 2025 Oscar predictions in Makeup & Hairstyling and Visual Effects for the 97th Academy Awards.
MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
| 1. The Substance (MUBI) Pierre-Oliver Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, and Marilyne Scarselli | BAFTA, CCA, MUAH |
| 2. Wicked Part I (Universal Pictures) Frances Hannon, Laura Blount, and Sarah Nuth | BAFTA, CCA, MUAH |
| 3. Emilia Pérez (Netflix) Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier, and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini | BAFTA, MUAH |
| 4. A Different Man (A24) Mike Marino, David Presto, and Crystal Jurado | CCA, MUAH |
| 5. Nosferatu (Focus Features) David White, Traci Loader, and Suzanne Stokes-Munton | BAFTA, CCA |
VISUAL EFFECTS
| 1. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros) Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, and Gerd Nefzer | BAFTA, CCA, VES |
| 2. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (20th Century Studios) Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story, and Rodney Burke | Annie, BAFTA, CCA, VES |
| 3. Better Man (Paramount Pictures) Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft, and Peter Stubbs | Annie, BAFTA, CCA, VES |
| 4. Wicked (Universal Pictures) Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk, and Paul Corbould | BAFTA, CCA |
| 5. Alien: Romulus (20th Century Studios) Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin, and Shane Mahan |
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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