The bar wasn’t set very high for the Golden Globes on Sunday night. After last year’s host, Jo Koy, memorably bombed, the emcee this year, Nikki Glaser, could hardly do worse. But she wasn’t content to merely do better. After workshopping her opening monologue in dozens of club appearances over the holidays, she killed when it counted, cracking up the stars on hand at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., and winning over viewers on social media. The rest of the night went more or less smoothly, with a mix of expected and surprise winners. But it wouldn’t be an awards ceremony if there weren’t some truly off-kilter moments. Here are the highs and lows as we saw them.

Best Host: Nikki Glaser

When Glaser began putting together her Golden Globes monologue in early December, she told her writing staff, “Don’t be scared to be weird.”

You saw evidence of this in her stellar monologue on Sunday, which included the kind of hard punchlines she is known for, including a good insult of Paramount+ and a joke about the effect of Sean Combs’s arrest on the after-party. But there was also an impression of Adam Sandler pronouncing Timothée Chalamet’s name that was just pure silliness — Sandler even joined in. Glaser doesn’t usually do impressions, but she committed and it went over really well, adding to the celebratory, fun tone to kick the night off.

If there was a joke that crushed in every test run, it was probably when she mentioned a few nominees: “‘Wicked,’ ‘Queer,’ ‘Nightbitch,’” then added “Not just things Ben Affleck yells after sex.” On Sunday, it killed again. — Jason Zinoman

Glaser’s night started on the red carpet with a billowing strapless gold ball gown. For her first onstage appearance, she changed into a sequined silver sleeveless gown. By 8:30, she was on her third dress of the night. An hour into the ceremony, she was on Dress No. 5 (a sequined pink sleeveless stunner). By the end of the night, she had donned what seemed like 47 more. All that was missing? We’d have loved to see a dupe of Demi Moore’s viral yellow “Substance” coat. — Sarah Bahr

Most Refreshing Development: Unexpected Winners

Thus far, it’s been an excitingly unpredictable awards season, and though the Globes certainly gave a lot of hardware to already-strong contenders like “Emilia Pérez” and “The Brutalist,” it still feels like a wide open field. In the acting races, unexpected wins for the likes of Demi Moore, Fernanda Torres and Sebastian Stan produced some of the most heartfelt speeches of the night and made already competitive Oscar categories even harder to predict. And a total shutout of “Anora,” which went into Sunday flying high, means that little is decided this season, a fun development after several years in which the ultimate Oscar winners seemed a foregone conclusion long before the Globes weighed in. — Kyle Buchanan

Given that Hollywood awards shows celebrate the art of playing a role, perhaps it shouldn’t have been a big surprise that the dominant trend of the 2025 Globes red carpet was … retro role-playing. Ariana Grande did her best Audrey Hepburn impression in 1966 Givenchy couture; Selena Gomez channeled Jackie Kennedy in ice-blue Prada and a stylized bob; and Nicole Kidman and Margaret Qualley sported enormous Catherine Deneuve bouffants — all in a sea of mostly traditional tuxedos.

You can call it a return to classicism, or a retreat to the past, or the legacy of Joan Rivers, who instilled the fear of mockery in celebrities everywhere. But by the time Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro had arrived in their newfangled Balmain and Dior versions of oldfangled 1950s ball gowns, it was hard not to wish that the stylists and designers working behind the scenes would start facing forward rather than back, and convince their clients to take a few more (unscripted) risks. — Vanessa Friedman

Read more about the red carpet looks.

Most Rousing Speech: Demi Moore

While the Globes have no direct bearing on Oscar nominations, academy members are surely paying attention, and Demi Moore, who won for “The Substance,” may have landed herself a spot in the best actress category with her rousing speech. Both poignant and relatable, Moore spoke movingly about her career struggles over more than 30 years, including being told she was a “popcorn actress.” She added that she had received the “bonkers” script for “The Substance” when she was at a low point in her career, thinking she was done.

But at 62, Moore has had a reversal of fortune and the stars in the room cheered her on, some even giving her a standing ovation. Thinking of “those moments when we don’t think we’re smart enough, or pretty enough, or skinny enough, or successful enough, or basically just not enough,” Moore said, a woman told her, “Just put down the measuring stick.” — Nicole Sperling

Most Sincere Speech: Tadanobu Asano

Many Golden Globe nominees have been to the Beverly Hilton before. And although the Globes are now a more serious operation than they once were, actors still treat wins with varying levels of reverence. That made Tadanobu Asano’s acceptance speech for “Shogun” stand out. It was his first win, on his first nomination, and it showed. “Maybe you don’t know me,” he began. “I’m an actor from Japan. My name is Tadanobu Asano. Wow!” His peers stood and cheered him on. And as he grinned and clutched his award, he added: “This is a very big present for me!” He sure seemed like he meant it. — Matt Stevens

Weirdest Honor: Box Office Achievement

The award for “cinematic and box office achievement” debuted in 2024, and this year it was, unsurprisingly, given to “Wicked.” The official criteria is that it is the “most acclaimed, highest-earning and/or most viewed” feature, which basically describes every nominated film. But it also must have made $150 million worldwide, with at least $100 million domestically, which is pretty much the dictionary definition of a blockbuster. (“Wicked” finished 2024 with well over $680 million worldwide.)

This is a weird award to give out, and its presenter Vin Diesel made it even weirder by contrasting, in his preamble, his own “Fast and Furious” series and the work of Steven Spielberg (who invented the summer blockbuster with “Jaws” in 1975). But it’s also just a tad participation trophy-ish to hand out a golden statue to celebrate a movie making bank at the box office, no matter how fun the movie is. To quote Don Draper: “That’s what the money’s for.” — Alissa Wilkinson

Biggest Lesson Not Learned

Amid an onslaught of commercials for weight loss injections and various pharmaceutical creams, pills, drops and supplements, Nikki Glaser took some of the usual potshots at Hollywood’s penchant for plastic surgery. “I love where you put your cheekbones!” she riffed to the audience in her opening monologue.

But unlike other hosts, she acknowledged that she had been getting her tweaks on, too. Claiming, with air quotes, that she had started healthy habits like “drinking more water,” she said: “I love how meditating removes your eyelids” — aka the common tuck known as an upper bleph. “I learned nothing from ‘The Substance,’” she added.

That that movie, a feminist body horror tale, won Demi Moore her first Globe for playing an aging star who finds a grotesque way to youthify herself, only added to the evening’s hall of mirrors. — Melena Ryzik

Best and Worst Innovation: Telecast Fun Facts

Hey, did you know that Mindy Kaling was named after the TV show “Mork & Mindy?” Or that Zoe Saldaña’s go-to karaoke song is “Piece of My Heart”? The Golden Globes went all “Pop-Up Video” during the telecast, sharing these “facts” about winners and presenters via onscreen text. At first, the addition seemed semi-clever, but it all became too much when the announcer shared more facts on top of the ones we had to read. Even if you’re celebrity-obsessed, this turned out to be T.M.I. — Mekado Murphy

I found the trivia at the Golden Globes to be refreshingly weird. Awards season fun-facts can feel so canned: who spent time with who to prepare for a role, when was the last big win for a nominee. T.M.I. or not, my night was greatly improved by learning that Demi Moore is an avid doll collector with a separate residence to house her more than 2,000 vintage dolls. — Annie Aguiar

Wisest Advice: ‘Hacks’

The Globes are a notoriously boozy affair, but after “Hacks” won for best television comedy, Paul W. Downs, a co-creator of the series, warned against giving his star a celebratory drink. The show is currently in production on its fourth season, and a 6 a.m. call time awaited the cast and crew the next morning.

“So if Jean Smart asks you for a shot, please do not give it to her, OK?” Downs said. “Kate Winslet, I’m looking at you, wherever you are. Give her water.” The camera cut to Winslet, who shook a finger at Downs. Downs relinquished, “Just a little shot. Maybe one.” — Esther Zuckerman

Most Supportive Presenter: Elton John

Elton John reacted like a proud parent when he announced that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross had won best original score for “Challengers,” yelping with utter, seemingly genuine delight. He was a good stand-in for those of us in the audience who were thrilled to see a win for that thumping, propulsive music. When Reznor and Ross took the stage, John could be seen grinning eagerly behind them, as if he had just won himself. — Kellina Moore

Strangest Camera Work

For an ostensibly glamorous ceremony, the show itself looked terrible onscreen. Presenters were filmed awfully close up, giving everything a harsh and casual vibe. The swirling camera work during some of the acceptance speeches felt like the red carpet slo-mo booth had broken out of its enclosure. And presenters did not face the entire theater, but rather turned directly to a camera off to one side. Seth Rogen called it out, saying “It’s inelegant. It’s strange. This whole half of the room can see my bald spot. I would have filled that in. I said no, but I regret that now.” — Margaret Lyons