Bob Dylan Biopic, Documentaries About Celine Dion & Luther Vandross Nominated for AARP’s 2025 Movies for Grownups Awards: Full List
Piece by Piece, a journey through the life of Pharrell Williams, told through the lens of LEGO animation, is also nominated for best documentary.
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Music films and documentaries are sprinkled among the nominees for AARP’s 24th annual Movies for Grownups Awards, which was established to encourage films and TV shows that resonate with older viewers.
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A Complete Unknown, the upcoming James Mangold film about Bob Dylan in the 1960s starring Timothée Chalamet, is nominated for best picture/best movie for grownups. It is competing with Conclave, Emilia Pérez, Gladiator II and September 5. (The latter concerns a hostage crisis at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.)
Documentaries about Celine Dion and Luther Vandross are among the nominees for best documentary. I Am: Celine Dion, directed by Irene Taylor, focuses on the singer’s struggle with Stiff Person Syndrome. Luther Vandross: Never Too Much — directed by Dawn Porter and featuring Jamie Foxx, Mariah Carey and Patti LaBelle — traces the late R&B star’s life and career.
The other nominees in the documentary category are Piece by Piece, directed by Morgan Neville, a journey through the life of Pharrell Williams, told through the lens of LEGO animation; Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, directed by Peter Ettedgui, which tracks actor Christopher Reeve’s pivot from film star to activist for disability rights following a tragic 1995 horse-riding accident; and Will & Harper, directed by Josh Greenbaum, an intimate portrayal of friendship starring Will Ferrell and Harper Steele, friends of 30 years who go on a cross-country road trip.
The Oscars will announce its shortlist of 15 films eligible for best documentary feature on Dec. 17.
The annual Movies for Grownups Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Calif. Alan Cumming, the Tony- and Primetime Emmy Award-winning host of the competition show The Traitors, will return as the host of the show, which will be broadcast by Great Performances on Sunday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on PBS and its website, as well as the PBS app.
Here’s the complete list of nominees for the 2025 Movies for Grownups Awards.
Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups: A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Emilia Pérez, Gladiator II, September 5
Best Actress: Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths), Nicole Kidman (Babygirl), Demi Moore (The Substance), June Squibb (Thelma)
Best Actor: Adrian Brody (The Brutalist), Daniel Craig (Queer), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), Jude Law (The Order)
Best Supporting Actress: Joan Chen (Didi), Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Nickel Boys), Lesley Manville (Queer), Connie Nielsen (Gladiator II), Isabella Rossellini (Conclave)
Best Supporting Actor: Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), Peter Sarsgaard (September 5), Stanley Tucci (Conclave), Denzel Washington (Gladiator II)
Best Director: Pedro Almodóvar (The Room Next Door), Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez), Edward Berger (Conclave), James Mangold (A Complete Unknown), Ridley Scott (Gladiator II)
Best Screenwriter: Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Nicolas Livecchi (Emilia Pérez), Jay Cocks and James Mangold (A Complete Unknown), Winnie Holzman (Wicked), Peter Straughan (Conclave), and Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts (Dune: Part Two)
Best Ensemble: A Complete Unknown, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, His Three Daughters, September 5, Sing Sing
Best Actress (TV): Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show), Jodie Foster (True Detective: Night Country), Jean Smart (Hacks), Meryl Streep (Only Murders in the Building), Sofia Vergara (Griselda)
Best Actor (TV): Billy Crudup (The Morning Show), Idris Elba (Hijack), Jon Hamm (Fargo), Gary Oldman (Slow Horses), Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun)
Best TV Series or Limited Series: The Crown, Hacks, Palm Royale, Shōgun, Slow Horses
Best Intergenerational Film: Didi, Here, His Three Daughters, The Piano Lesson, Thelma
Best Time Capsule: A Complete Unknown, The Brutalist, Here, Maria, September 5
Best Documentary: I Am: Celine Dion, Luther: Never Too Much, Piece by Piece, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, Will & Harper
