Emilia Pérez and The Brutalist win top Golden Globes

Emilia Perez Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival

Emilia Pérez was out in front as tonight's Golden Globes awards ceremony began, with the most nominations ever for a film in the Musical or Comedy category, but with several strong contenders, nothing could be certain. We did know that it couldn't win them all, because it was competing against itself in the Best Original Song category. In the end it took four, but those included Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical - while The Brutalist was named Best Motion Picture, Drama, also taking the Best Director gong for Brady Corbett and Best Actor, Drama for Adrien Brody.

The night's first prize - for Best Supporting Female Actor - went to Zoe Saldaña for her work in Emilia Pérez, and immediately there was a bit of controversy. Did Saldaña have too much screen time for it to be fair to consider that a supporting role? Strange though it may sound, most awards bodies don't have clear rules on this. Receiving the award, Saldaña was clearly overwhelmed, explaining that her dyslexia made it impossible to prepare a speech. She was full of praise for her co-stars and spoke about how much she had enjoyed the experience of making the film. Kieran Culkin, meanwhile - on receiving the equivalent men's award for A Real Pain - blamed any speechmaking difficulties he might experience on tequila.

"I was at kind of a low point, I had this magical, bold, courageous, out of the box, absolutely bonkers script come across my desk called The Substance," said Demi Moore, receiving the Best Actress - Musical or Comedy Award and recalling how a producer had told her she was a 'popcorn actress', causing her to lose faith in herself. "I am so grateful to Coralie [Fargeat] for trusting me to step in and play this woman. For Margaret [Qualley], for being the other half of me that I couldn't have done without... Today, I celebrate this as a marker of my wholeness and of the love that is driving me. and for the gift of doing something I love and being reminded that I did belong."

There was a lot of buzz on the red carpet, with pastel coloured satin gowns the popular choice. Demi Moore looks sizzling in rose gold with no need for help from any substances, Zendaya looks luminous in burnt orange and host Nikki Glaser wore a taupe gown which turned out to be just the first stage in a series of costume changes. Ariana Grande wore an embroidered lemon silk number with an empire waist, Selena Gomez was in lavender, and Mikey Madison was sheathed in tight, figure-hugging gold sequins. Viola Davis, however, bucked the trend with an iridescent black gown that really made her stand out.

Those film awards in full:

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical

• Emilia Pérez

Best Motion Picture, Drama

• The Brutalist

Best Director

• Brady Corbett - The Brutalist

Best Actress, Drama

• Fernanda Torres - I’m Still Here

Best Actor, Drama

• Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

Best Actress, Comedy or Musical

• Demi Moore – The Substance

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy

• Sebastian Stan – A Different Man

Best Supporting Actress

• Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Best Supporting Actor

• Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain

Best Motion Picture not in the English Language

• Emilia Pérez

Best Animated Feature Film

• Flow

Best Screenplay

• Peter Straughan - Conclave

Best Original Score

• Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Challengers

Best Original Song

• El Mal - Emilia Pérez

Best Box Office Achievement

• Wicked