The 98th Academy Awards turned into a big night for One Battle After Another and Sinners, with powerful performances and historic firsts making headlines.
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Best Picture
Paul Thomas Anderson’s film One Battle After Another was the biggest winner of the evening, taking home the Oscar for Best Picture. The dark comedy about a faded revolutionary also earned Anderson the Best Director trophy and won for Best Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing and the Academy’s first-ever Casting award.
With a total of six Oscars, the film clearly emerged as the dominant title of the night and edged past strong competitor Sinners for the top honour.
Jessie Buckley and Michael B. Jordan win top acting honours
In the acting categories, Jessie Buckley won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Hamnet. Her role in the Shakespeare-inspired drama earned wide praise through awards season and the Academy followed the trend on the big night.
Michael B. Jordan took home Best Actor for Sinners, giving the film one of its most high-profile wins. His intense, emotional performance helped drive the movie’s awards momentum and confirmed him as one of Hollywood’s leading stars.
‘Sinners’ sets record nominations, wins four Oscars
Sinners entered the ceremony with a record 16 nominations, the most ever for a single film in Oscar history. While it did not win Best Picture, it still finished the night with four awards, including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan and Best Original Screenplay for director Ryan Coogler, his first Oscar.
The film also won for Original Score and Cinematography, where Autumn Durald Arkapaw made history as the first woman to win the Oscar in that category. The combination of record nominations and key wins ensured Sinners remained one of the central stories of this year’s ceremony.
Supporting roles and new Casting award
Sean Penn won Best Supporting Actor for his role in One Battle After Another, adding to the film’s strong haul across major categories. In the Supporting Actress category, Amy Madigan won for Weapons, beating strong competition from nominees in Sentimental Value, Sinners and One Battle After Another.
For the first time, the Academy presented an Oscar for Casting, recognising the crucial work behind assembling on-screen ensembles. The inaugural award went to Cassandra Kulukundis for One Battle After Another, further underlining how central the film was to the 2026 ceremony.
Other key winners of the night
Beyond the top prizes, Hamnet’s Best Actress win for Jessie Buckley ensured the film was not overshadowed by the heavyweight Best Picture contenders. Animated and short-film categories also had their moment, with titles such as The Girl Who Cried Pearls and All the Empty Rooms among the winners in their respective fields.
Live action shorts produced a rare Oscars tie, with The Singers and Two Exchangingiva sharing the award, adding a unique twist to the night’s results. Overall, the 2026 Oscars balanced historic firsts, record-breaking nominations and a clear Best Picture frontrunner, setting the tone for another memorable year in cinema.
