There were few huge surprises at this year’s Golden Globes, and more of a cementing of narratives. Adolescence snagged four more trophies for its shelf, as did One Battle After Another — two of the buzziest titles headed into the night, which retained their glow as the curtains closed.
More notable were some of the heartfelt speeches.
Remarking that she so doubted winning that she nearly didn’t bother to write a speech, One Battle After Another actress Teyana Taylor thanked God, her director (whom she called Paul “Let ‘Em Cook” Anderson), and mentioned her children. “My babies are upstairs watching,” she said. “Y’all better be off those damn phones and watching me right now!”
And after winning best picture, Hamnet director Chloé Zhao had a message for her fellow nominees — particularly Sinners director Ryan Coogler. “I see so many of you have [become] so strong and tender at the same time. And you have shared so much of yourselves in your work to the world. So I salute to your bravery, and I salute your dedication,” she said.
In general, the usually rambunctious ceremony felt safer than past years — though host Nikki Glaser managed to sneak in more than a few off-colour, on-point jokes. That included a segment in her opening monologue where she connected the number of “A-listers” in the audience to the recent release of the Epstein files: “By A-listers, I mean people who are on ‘A list’ that has been heavily redacted,” she said.
The next major awards ceremony is the Actor Awards — previously known as the SAG Awards — on March 1.
