Golden Globes 2024 RECAP: Oppenheimer and Poor Things win Best Picture, Succession scores Best Series

Thanks for joining us for Daily Mail's coverage of the 81st Golden Globe Awards.

Although the ratings aren't in yet, the ceremony mostly went off without a hitch, suggesting that the embattled Globes might have some more life in them after controversies over unethical behavior and a lack of diversity.

Oppenheimer was the big winner in the film categories, taking home five of the eight awards it was nominated for.

Poor Things was a surprise winner for Best Picture in the Musical or Comedy category, besting Barbie.

Those movies were tied at two wins each, along with The Holdovers and the French courtroom thriller Anatomy Of A Fall, which won as the best non-English feature and had a surprise win for Best Screenplay.

If anything, Barbie disappointed compared to the sky-high expectations for it when nominations for the Globes and other award shows were announced.

For the television nominees, Succession was the big winner with three acting prizes and the top drama series award.

Just behind the now-ended series were The Bear and Beef, with both won three awards, including two each for their lead actors.

The French writer–director Justine Triet and her co-screenwriter Arthur Harari shocked the audience at the Golden Globes when they won the award for Best Screenplay for Anatomy Of A Fall

Every other film nominated was considered more likely to win the prize — including Barbie, Poor Things, Oppenheimer, Killers Of The Flower Moon and Past Lives — but the voters were moved by Anatomy Of A Fall's literate courtroom thriller.

The acclaimed film, which landed on numerous best-of-the-year lists, follows the legal saga of a well-regarded writer who is put on trial after her husband falls to his death — or is pushed — from an open window in their French chalet.

In addition to being writing partners, Triet and Harari are also romantic partners.

Cilian Murphy admitted he had lipstick on his nose as he took to the stage to accept his Golden Globe, but he didn't let the minor embarrassment stop him from giving a gracious speech.

He won his first Globe — from his second nomination — for playing the 'father of the atomic bomb,' the theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, in Christopher Nolan's rapturously received historical drama Oppenheimer.

Cillian has been a respected actor for decades and has worked with Nolan multiple times and in other acclaimed films including Sunrise and 28 Days Later, as well as the crime series Peaky Blinders, but Oppenheimer marked the first time he emerged as a major leading actor in a major Hollywood production.

He ended his speech by saluting his fellow nominees: 'To all my fellow nominees — if you're Irish or not — you are all legends. Stunning work. I salute you.'

Emma Stone nabbed her second Golden Globe when she won the award for Best Perforamance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.

She scored the award for her role in Yorgos Lanthimos' raunchy and mind-bending Poor Things.

Emma plays a woman who is brought back to life after killing herself — but now her body is animated by the brain of a baby.

The film, which costars Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo, featured several intense sex scenes between Emma and Mark.

She previously won the award for La La Land.

Barbie kicked off the inaugural Cinematic and Box Office Achievement category with a triumphant win.

Taylor Swift was a major contender with her Eras Tour concert film due to the runaway success of the tour it documented, but the pink-tinged comedy came out on top.

Margot Robbie was joined by her director — and Barbie co-writer — Greta Gerwig to accept the award, while fellow costar America Ferrera joined them on stage.

The prize was introduced this year as major film award ceremonies have debated whether to add an award for box office performance in hopes of letting films that appealed to moviegoers — but not necessarily critics — to win.

Jeremy Allen White, who plays a haute cuisine chef struggling to revive his late brother's Chicago sandwich shop on FX's The Bear, won his second Golden Globe on Sunday.

He emerged triumphant in the Best Male Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy, category against a strong crowd including Bill Hader, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Jason Segel and Jason Sudeikis.

White has been praised by critics and fans alike for his intense role in the series, and he followed it up by a well-reviewed turn in the tragic sports drama The Iron Claw.

READ MORE: Jeremy Allen White puts his clothes back on! The Bear star looks dapper after that steamy Calvin Klein commercial — as he takes home acting prize

Ali Wong and Steven Yeun emerged triumphant in the Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Made-for-TV Movie categories.

They won the Golden Globe for their lead roles in Netflix's dark comedy Beef, about an well-off business owner and a contractor struggling to stay above water as they launch a violent feud sparked by a road-rage incident.

Ali faced a tough lineup including Riley Keough, Brie Larson, Elizabeth Olsen, Juno Temple and Rachel Weisz.

It's Ali's first nomination and first win at the Globes.

Steven was nominated with Matt Bomer, Sam Claflin, Jon Hamm, Woody Harrelson and David Oyelowo.

As she rose to accept her Award

Robert Downey Jr. put Iron Man behind him when he clinched a win for Best Supporting Actor, Motion Picture, for Christopher Nolan's massively popular historical drama Oppenheimer.

Downey played Lewis Strauss, who worked with J. Robert Oppenheimer as chairman of the US Atomic Energy Commission.

His behind-the-scenes maneuvering to later deny Oppenheimer a security clearance ended up ruining his hopes of being confirmed years later as President Eisenhower's nominee to be Secretary of Commerce.

Downey received stellar reviews for his role, which many considered one of the best of his career.

During his acceptance speech, he elicited some laughs after saying the ceremony would be 'a breeze' because he took a 'beta blocker' beforehand, which is used to lessen anxiety.

Christopher Nolan won his first Golden Globe — after seven nominations — for directing the hit historical drama Oppenheimer.

He's one of the most acclaimed filmmakers alive, but it was still an impressive win against the living legend Martin Scorsese (Killers Of The Flower Moon, newer actor–directors Bradley Cooper (Maestro) and Greta Gerwig (Barbie), the acclaimed Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and the first-time filmmaker Celine Song (Past Lives).

But his speech took a somber turn as he remembered his fallen actor Heath Ledger, who died from an accidental drug overdose shortly before the release of The Dark Knight, in which he played the Joker.

'The only time I've ever been on this stage before was accepting one of these on behalf of our dear friend, Heath Ledger, and that was complicated and challenging for me,' Nolan said.

'In the middle of speaking, I got all stuck, and Robert Downey Jr. caught my eye and gave me a look of love and support — the same look he's giving me now.'

Nolan admitted he had thought it would be 'simpler' accepting the award for himself this time around, but now realized he 'can only accept this on behalf of people.'

Oppenheimer became a sensation when it was released the same week as Barbie, and the competition between the two disparate films helped revitalize the 2023 box office, even as both films became massive hits.

The award was presented by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, with the latter having appeared in Oppenheimer as the General Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project.

Following Poor Things' win in the comedy category, Oppenheimer concluded the Golden Globes ceremony by nabbing the award for Best Motion Picture, Drama.

The film traced J. Robert Oppenheimer's ascent from being a promising theoretical physicist and professor to leading the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos laboratory and helping to birth the atomic bomb.

Cillian Murphy, who stars as Oppenheimer, previously won the Best Actor award, while Robert Downey Jr. won the Supporting Actor award and Christopher Nolan won Best Director.

Ludwig Göransson was also honored with Best Original Score.

The film was part of the theater-reviving box-office juggernaut Barbenheimer double feature, and it has grossed nearly $1 billion so far, making it one of Nolan's most successful films.

Producer Emma Thomas accpepted the award, while Downey and Nolan joined her on stage, along with fellow stars Matt Damon and Florence Pugh.

Lily Gladstone was overcome by emotion — and also let out a few laughs — when she arrived on stage to accept the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama.

The Killers Of The Flower Moon star opened with some words in the language of the Blackfeet Nation, the tribe she belongs to.

She mentioned how 'grateful' she was that she could even speak some of her native language, despite not being fluent in it.

Although Gladstone was praised for her ealier performance in Certain Women, she received a new level of acclaim for Killers Of The Flower Moon, in which she plays a member of the Osage tribe who is swept up in a plot by white Americans to murder members of the tribe who came into great wealth when oil was discovered on their land.

The bizarre science fantasy film Poor Things proved to be a winner when it took home the Golden Globe for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy.

Emma Stone had already won the Best Actres award for playing a woman who is reanimated in a fantasy version of 19th-century London with the brain of an infant.

Stone returned to accept the award, along with her director, Yorgos Lanthimos.