GALECA Bestows Top 2025 Honors to “The Substance” and “I Saw the TV Glow”

The Substance, I Saw the TV Glow, Will & Harper, and The People's Joker scored big wins at the 16th annual Dorian Awards, the prestigious accolade bestowed by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.

Writer/Director Coralie Fargeat's The Substance, a shocking satire on Hollywood's obsession with youth and beauty, took home an industry best five awards, including Film of the Year, Director of the Year, and Film Performance of the Year for star Demi Moore.

Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow led the field with nine nominations, scoring two wins, including one for LGBTQ Film of the Year.  Will & Harper, the courageous road-trip documentary that debuted over a year ago at Sundance, and Challengers, Luca Guadagnino's homoerotic spin on Julies and Jim, also won a pair of trophies.

Ozians will be pleased that the organization made room for their stars.  The group awarded principals Ariana Grande, Supporting Film Performance of the Year, Jonathan Bailey, a well-deserved Rising Star honor, and Cynthia Erivo, the LGBTQIA+ Film Trailblazer.  Erivo's award, meant to highlight an artist who "inspires empathy, truth, and equality," sees her join past honorees Pedro Almodóvar, Isabel Sandoval, Janelle Monáe, and Coleman Domingo.

Domingo, nominated this year for his work in Sing Sing, was named Wilde Artist, a special recognition reserved for someone who has proven to be a "truly groundbreaking force in entertainment."

RaMell Ross' NIckel Boys, a unique, experimental adaption of Colson Whitehead's bestselling novel, garnered the most Visually Striking Film, while I'm Still Here and the now controversial Emilia Pérez split foreign language honors.  In what might be the most unexpected victory of the day, Flow, the Janus Films and Sideshow distributed film, overpowered the likes of Pixar's Inside Out 2, DreamWorks' The Wild Robot, and Netflix's Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl for Animated Film of the Year.

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics comprises over 500 entertainment critics, journalists, and media icons.

See the complete list of nominees and winners below.

FILM OF THE YEAR
Anora (Neon)
Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
The Substance (Mubi)

LGBTQ FILM OF THE YEAR
Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
Emilia Peréz (Netflix)
I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Love Lies Bleeding (A24)
Queer (A24)

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist (A24)
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance (Mubi)
Luca Guadagnino, Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
Jane Schoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)

SCREENPLAY OF THE YEAR – Original or adapted
Anora (Neon)
Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
Conclave (Focus Features)
I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
The Substance (Mubi)

LGBTQ SCREENPLAY OF THE YEAR
Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Love Lies Bleeding (A24)
Problemista (A24)
Queer (A24)

NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
All We Imagine as Light (Sideshow / Janus Films)
Emilia Peréz (Netflix)
Flow (Sideshow / Janus Films)
I’m Still Here (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Neon)

LGBTQ NON-ENGLISH FILM OF THE YEAR
Crossing (Mubi)
Emilia Peréz (Netflix)
Queendom (Greenwich Entertainment)
Vermiglio (Sideshow / Janus Films)
All Shall Be Well (Strand Releasing)

UNSUNG FILM OF THE YEAR – To an exceptional movie worthy of greater attention
Didi (Focus Features)
Hundreds of Beavers (Cineverse, Vinegar Syndrome)
My Old Ass (Amazon MGM Studios)
Problemista (A24)
Thelma (Magnolia)

UNSUNG LGBTQ FILM OF THE YEAR
Femme (Utopia)
My Old Ass (Amazon MGM Studios)
National Anthem (Variance, LD Entertainment)
The People’s Joker (Altered Innocence)
Problemista (A24)

FILM PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist (A24)
Daniel Craig, Queer (A24)
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing (A24)
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Peréz (Netflix)
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked (Universal)
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths (Bleecker Street)
Nicole Kidman, Babygirl (A24)
Mikey Madison, Anora (Neon)
Demi Moore, The Substance (Mubi)
Justice Smith, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)

SUPPORTING FILM PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Michele Austin, Hard Truths (Bleecker Street)
Yura Borisov, Anora (Neon)
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)
Ariana Grande, Wicked (Universal)
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
Brigette Lundy-Paine, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing (A24)
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist (A24)
Margaret Qualley, The Substance (Mubi)
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Peréz (Netflix)

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
Dahomey (Mubi)
Daughters (Netflix)
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)
Sugarcane (National Geographic)
Will & Harper (Netflix)

LGBTQ DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
Chasing Chasing Amy (Level 33)
Frida (Amazon MGM Studios)
Merchant Ivory (Cohen Media Group)
Queendom (Greenwich Entertainment)
Will & Harper (Netflix)

ANIMATED FILM OF THE YEAR
Flow (Sideshow / Janus Films)
Inside Out 2 (Disney)
Memoir of a Snail (IFC Films)
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Netflix)
The Wild Robot (Universal, DreamWorks)

GENRE FILM OF THE YEAR – For excellence in science fiction, fantasy and horror
Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.)
I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Nosferatu (Focus Features)
The Substance (Mubi)
Wicked (Universal)

FILM MUSIC OF THE YEAR
The Brutalist (A24)
Challengers (Amazon MGM Studios)
Emilia Peréz (Netflix)
I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Wicked (Universal)

VISUALLY STRIKING FILM OF THE YEAR
The Brutalist (A24)
Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.)
Nosferatu (Focus Features)
Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
The Substance (Mubi)

CAMPIEST FLICK
Hundreds of Beavers (Cineverse, Vinegar Syndrome)
Madame Web (Sony)
Megalopolis (Lionsgate)
The Substance (Mubi)
Trap (Warner Bros.)

“WE’RE WILDE ABOUT YOU!” RISING STAR AWARD
Jonathan Bailey
Vera Drew
Karla Sofía Gascón
Brigette Lundy-Paine
Mikey Madison
Katy O’Brian
Drew Starkey

WILDE ARTIST AWARD – To a truly groundbreaking force in entertainment
Colman Domingo
Luca Guadagnino
Coralie Fargeat
Jane Schoenbrun
Tilda Swinton

GALECA LGBTQIA+ FILM TRAILBLAZER – For creating art that inspires empathy, truth and equity
Vera Drew
Cynthia Erivo
Luca Guadagnino
Jane Schoenbrun
Julio Torres

TIMELESS STAR – Career achievement award
Demi Moore

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About Stephen Davis

I owe this hobby/career to the one and only Stephanie Peterman who, while interning at Fox, told me that I had too many opinions and irrelevant information to keep it all bottled up inside. I survived my first rated R film, Alive, at the ripe age of 8, it took me months to grasp the fact that Julia Roberts actually died at the end of Steel Magnolias, and I might be the only person alive who actually enjoyed Sorority Row…for its comedic value of course. While my friends can drink you under the table, I can outwatch you when it comes iconic, yet horrid 80s films like Adventures in Babysitting and Troop Beverly Hills. I have no shame when it comes to what I like, and if you have a problem with that, then we’ll settle it on the racquetball court. I see too many movies to actually win any film trivia contest, so don’t waste your first pick on me. My friends rent movies from my bookcase shelves, and one day I do plan to start charging. I long to live in LA, where my movie obsession will actually help me fit in, but for now I am content with my home in Austin. I prefer indies to blockbusters, Longhorns to Sooners and Halloween to Friday the 13th. I miss the classics, as well as John Ritter, and I hope to one day sit down and interview the amazing Kate Winslet.