The 2026 Oscars

 

The 2026 Oscars Recap. Winners, Nominees, and the Usual Hollywood Self Importance


    Another year, another Oscars ceremony where Hollywood gathers to pat itself on the back for three and a half hours. I have never been the biggest fan of the Academy Awards. The show often feels overly pretentious and self congratulatory, and the Academy itself has a long reputation for questionable taste. Half the time it feels like many voters probably did not even watch all the films they are voting on. That said, it is still one of the biggest nights in movies, and it is always interesting to see what wins, what gets snubbed, and what causes film fans to argue online for the next week.

    The 98th Academy Awards took place on March 15, 2026 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and honored films released in 2025. The big winner of the night was One Battle After Another, which took home six awards including Best Picture and Best Director. Meanwhile Sinners entered the night with the most nominations and still walked away with several major wins.

Best Picture

  • Bugonia

  • F1

  • Frankenstein

  • Hamnet

  • Marty Supreme

  • One Battle After Another

  • The Secret Agent

  • Sentimental Value

  • Sinners

  • Train Dreams

The big prize of the night went to One Battle After Another, which ended up dominating the ceremony overall.

Best Director

  • Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

  • Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

  • Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

  • Ryan Coogler – Sinners

  • Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another

After more than a dozen nominations throughout his career, Paul Thomas Anderson finally walked away with his first Oscar.

Best Actor

  • Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme

  • Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another

  • Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

  • Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

  • Michael B. Jordan – Sinners

Michael B. Jordan won for his dual role performance in Sinners, one of the most talked about wins of the night.

Best Actress

  • Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

  • Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue

  • Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

  • Emma Stone – Bugonia

  • Jessie Buckley – Hamnet

Jessie Buckley delivered one of the most praised performances of the year and took home the award.

Best Supporting Actor

  • Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another

  • Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein

  • Delroy Lindo – Sinners

  • Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

  • Sean Penn – One Battle After Another

Sean Penn actually skipped the ceremony entirely but still walked away with the Oscar.

Best Supporting Actress

  • Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value

  • Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value

  • Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners

  • Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

  • Amy Madigan – Weapons

A pretty cool surprise win here for Amy Madigan, who had not been nominated in decades.

Best Original Screenplay

  • Blue Moon

  • It Was Just an Accident

  • Marty Supreme

  • Sentimental Value

  • Sinners – Ryan Coogler

Ryan Coogler took home the award for writing Sinners.

Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Bugonia

  • Frankenstein

  • Hamnet

  • Train Dreams

  • One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson

Another win for Anderson and the film that dominated the ceremony.

Best Cinematography

  • Frankenstein

  • Marty Supreme

  • One Battle After Another

  • Train Dreams

  • Sinners – Autumn Durald Arkapaw

A historic win here as Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman to win in this category.

Best Film Editing

  • F1

  • Marty Supreme

  • Sentimental Value

  • Sinners

  • One Battle After Another

Best Animated Feature

  • Arco

  • Elio

  • Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

  • Zootopia 2

  • KPop Demon Hunters

Best International Feature

  • The Secret Agent (Brazil)

  • It Was Just an Accident (France)

  • Sirāt (Spain)

  • The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia)

  • Sentimental Value (Norway)

This was actually the first time a Norwegian film has ever won in this category.

Best Documentary Feature

  • The Alabama Solution

  • Come See Me in the Good Light

  • Cutting Through Rocks

  • The Perfect Neighbor

  • Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Best Original Score

  • Bugonia

  • Frankenstein

  • Hamnet

  • One Battle After Another

  • Sinners – Ludwig Göransson

Best Original Song

  • Dear Me

  • I Lied To You

  • Sweet Dreams Of Joy

  • Train Dreams

  • Golden – KPop Demon Hunters

Final Thoughts

    The Oscars are always a weird mix of genuinely great filmmaking and the Academy doing something baffling. Some years they get things right and other years they ignore obvious winners or give awards to the safest possible choice. This year felt like a little bit of both.

    Still, it is always fun to see which films come out on top, which performances get their moment, and which movies get rediscovered because of nominations. Even if the Academy voters probably did not watch half the films they voted on, the Oscars remain one of the biggest nights for cinema.

    And of course, the debates about who really should have won will probably last a lot longer than the ceremony itself while comic book fans complain about their favorite Marvel movies not getting nominated.

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