Mikey Madison Wins Best Actress Oscar

While everyone had Demi Moore penciled in for the Best Actress Award at the 97th Academy Awards, Mikey Madison swooped in for the upset at the final moment in a major sweep for Anora. She wasn’t a long shot by any means, but Moore’s Oscar win looked like it had been written in the stars for weeks now. It was all for naught, though, as Mikey Madison (deservedly so) took home the golden statue.

Of course, this is not to say Moore didn’t deserve the win either. She certainly did. Moore took home the SAG Award for her career-defining performance in The Substance, and that was after a big win at the Golden Globes as well. Still, Madison remained on her tail the entire awards season and managed to slip past her with the majority Academy vote.

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It’s not hard to see why voters were drawn to Anora. The little film that could was made on a measly $6 million budget. It had Cinderella story written all over it from the beginning, and Madison’s performance was simply electric. MovieWeb’s own Britt Hayes called the film an “instant classic” in her review of Anora, where she went on to praise Madison’s “star-making” performance. Still, the Academy loves a good story, which is why everyone gave the edge to Moore’s statement of a performance in The Substance.

Anora‘s Record-Breaking Oscar Night

Mikey Madison looking toward the camera in Anora — NEON

Madison isn’t the only one who had a good night from the Anora creative team. Filmmaker Sean Baker took home a record-breaking four Oscars with wins in the Best Directing, Best Editing, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Picture categories. This marks the first time in Oscar history that one person won four awards for the same film.

As Baker elegantly put it in his acceptance speech for the Best Picture award, a win for Anora is a win for independent filmmaking. The movie was made on a shoestring budget of just $6 million, which is peanuts when compared to a movie like Wicked, with a reported budget of $150 million.

After a back-and-forth awards season, fans hope to see more from Madison and Moore, whether in the next indie darling or a big-budget blockbuster. Both actresses appeared in movies with smaller budgets but captivated audiences with their compelling performances. Each was deserving of the win tonight, but the votes just happened to fall in Madison’s favor.