Skyler Orton
The 2026 Oscars have come and gone, finally ending a controversial awards season cycle. Between several high profile snubs and whatever happened to Marty Supreme’s campaign efforts, the runup to the event itself was controversial to say the least. But what happened on the big night? Other than bad sketch comedy of course. Read on to Learn the winners and losers at Hollywood’s biggest awards show..
Best Sound
F1
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Sirāt
This was a relatively expected victory and an understandable award to give to the awards season underdog F1. Since the real deserving victors in this category (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and Warfare) weren’t even nominated this victory makes a lot of sense.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Frankenstein
Kokuho
Sinners
The Smashing Machine
The Ugly Stepsister
As you’ll see throughout the night Frankenstein did fairly well but arguably Makeup and Hairstyling is its most deserving victory. Jacob Elordi’s makeup was nothing short of transformative and helped to anchor the entire movie. It was fantastic but the real win is movies like Kokuho and The Ugly Stepsister being nominated in this category at all since that type of film rarely gets awards season recognition.
Best Costume Design
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
Sinners
Frankenstein’s win for costume design is an excellent choice by the academy. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a movie that has such a level of symbolism present in every costume choice. From Victor’s red gloves to every elaborate gown that Mia Goth’s Elizabeth wears, every frame of Frankenstein proves why it deserved this award.
Best Production Design
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
I promise that Frankenstein didn’t win every award but production design is another one award that felt decided well before the show started. Guillermo del Toro’s films are the best in the business for truly transporting an audience to horrifying and fantastical worlds and Frankenstein is no exception. Victor’s lab from the first act is a mind blowing and genuinely beautiful set that is award worthy by itself without taking the other amazing setpieces into consideration.
Best Documentary Short Film
All The Empty Rooms
Armed Only With A Camera: The Life And Death Of Brent Renaud
Children No More: “Were And Are Gone”
The Devil Is Busy
Perfectly A Strangeness
While this category is underdiscussed, I feel the need to shout out the haunting speech given in honor of All The Empty Rooms. The challenging documentary short honors the children lost in school shootings and the speech given by one of the affected mothers was one of the most moving speeches in Oscar history.
Best Documentary Feature Film
The Alabama Solution
Come See Me in the Good Light
Cutting Through Rocks
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
The Perfect Neighbor
Mr. Nobody Against Putin is one of the boldest movies honored at this year’s awards show. The film follows a Russian teacher who collaborated with a team of filmmakers to capture the education system under Putin’s regime. The narrative around it alone makes it such an intriguing story and the speech was one of the most relevant of the night crying out against the rise of facism worldwide.
Best Visual Effects
Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
Jurassic World Rebirth
The Lost Bus
Sinners
James Cameron has truly found the key to otherworldly visual effects in his Avatar series and the latest title is no exception. From the second the film starts the audience is truly transported to Pandora and the movie never lets up from that first shot. Avatar’s effects are otherworldly and more than deserving but it’s win is certainly helped by having largely unconventional competition from films like Jurassic World Rebirth and The Lost Bus which regardless of the quality of effects were never going to win.
Best Music (Original Song)
Dear Me (Diane Warren: Relentless)
Golden (KPop Demon Hunters)
I Lied to You (Sinners)
Sweet Dreams of Joy (Viva Verdi!)
Train Dreams (Train Dreams)
While my personal favorite songs of the year are ‘I Lied to You’ and ‘Train Dreams’, ‘Golden’s’ blockbuster success carried it to superstar status with its Oscar win. The awards speech from lead singer EJAE was unfortunately cut incredibly short but it was one of the more moving speeches of the night so I was happy to see it.
Best Music (Original Score)
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners
While Sinners may have narrowly missed out on winning best original song, its beautiful score was fortunately recognized. Sinners is ultimately a movie about music and its blues score permeates every second of its runtime. This makes composer Ludwig Göransson’s third Oscar win after taking the award for his Oppenheimer and Black Panther scores, truly establishing him as one of the industry’s greatest composers.
Best Cinematography
Frankenstein
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams
Sinners cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw made history being the first woman to ever win the Oscar for cinematography. She more than deserved it too since the IMAX shot sequences of Sinners are stunningly beautiful. Her awards speech was also one of the most impactful of the night honoring both her family and her personal heroes. Overall one of the awards that makes the entire show worth it.
Best Casting
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sinners
Since this is the first time a casting award has been featured at the Oscars, nobody quite knew what to expect. Ultimately One Battle After Another both makes a lot of sense and sets the tone for the award in the future. It awards the ensemble casting that makes even the smallest moments of One Battle After Another work. While personally I thought that Marty Supreme’s unique method of casting had better results, it definitely has proven controversial recently. Director Josh Safdie came under fire during Oscar season for endangering minors on the set of his debut film Good Time by casting non professional actors. Considering that story, it’s entirely understandable that the excellent One Battle After Another ensemble took the award.
Best Live Action Short Film
Butcher’s Stain
A Friend Of Dorothy
Jane Austen’s Period Drama
The Singers
Two People Exchanging Saliva
For only the seventh time in the history of the Oscars there was a tie in the category Live Action Short Film. While I don’t have strong opinions on the films themselves it’s fascinating that this was able to happen.
Best Animated Short Film
Butterfly
Forevergreen
The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Retirement Plan
The Three Sisters
I have unfortunately not seen any of these films, but the artstyles on display here are creative and beautiful so I hope that the careers of the artists who created these films are able to continue their work far after their Oscars success.
Best Animated Feature Film
Arco
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amelie or The Character of Rain
Zootopia 2
Apparently Flow’s win last year wasn’t a sign of what films the academy would recognize as the award once again goes to the most successful family animated film. Even then this isn’t a terrible pick since KPop Demon Hunters is a perfectly fun movie. It just feels as though this was the pick since it was the voters’ kids’ favorite films not the actual best film.
Best International Feature FIlm
The Secret Agent
It Was Just an Accident
Sentimental Value
Sirāt
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Sentimental Value did the best in nominations out of any of the international films so I fully expected it to win. While I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the film, the level of craft on display was very respectable and I believe this was the best choice (although there are several films on the list I have yet to see).
Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Train Dreams
One Battle After Another’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland is a very loose take on the material. It takes countless liberties and is more of an inspiration than a true source material but still the excellent writing in One Battle After Another makes it a strong contender for the prize.
Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
Blue Moon
It Was Just an Accident
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Sinners taking best original screenplay adds to the excellent narrative surrounding Sinners this year but I can’t help but feel it wasn’t the strongest out of these films. The screenplay structure is excellent, giving equal weight to both the human core of the story and the vampire carnage that surrounds it. However, I do feel that other films like Marty Supreme were slightly stronger on a writing level but nevertheless a fine win.
Best Actress In A Supporting Role
Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value)
Inga Ibsdotter Lileaas (Sentimental Value)
Amy Madigan (Weapons)
Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)
Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)
I truly did not expect Amy Madigan’s performance to take the win but I’m glad it did. Madigan’s Weapons performance was one of the most unexpected delights of this year and I’m glad that such an unconventional performance got its moment in the spotlight.
Best Actor In A Supporting Role
Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another)
Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)
Delroy Lindo (Sinners)
Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)
Stellan Skarsgard (Sentimental Value)
The competition was fierce this year but Sean Penn’s performance as the detestable Colonel Lockjaw in One Battle After Another was my personal pick for this year’s award. He accomplishes a lot in his limited time in the film but used it to create one of the most interesting and downright weird villains of the decade. Controversially, Penn didn’t show up to accept his award and instead met with Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and received an honorary Oscar there.
Best Actress In A Leading Role
Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)
Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You)
Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)
Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value)
Emma Stone (Bugonia)
While Rose Byrne was my personal pick for this category, Jessie Buckley’s devastating performance in Hamnet was a great win. Buckley’s speech was one of the most moving of the night as well and seeing her talk about her own children was really interesting and adds texture to Hamnet’s themes of parenthood that won her the award.
Best Actor In A Leading Role
Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)
Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)
Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)
Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)
Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)
I had thought the award was surely going to Chalamet but I guess his controversies recently ultimately lost him the Oscar he clearly wants more than anything. I don’t think that Michael B. Jordan gave the best performance this year but I fully understand why he got the pick and am curious to see what roles he gets later in his career from this victory. After the ceremony Jordan took his award to In-N-Out Burger for a celebration dinner and honestly that’s the most respectable and the most LA think about the win.
Best Directing
Chloe Zhao (Hamnet)
Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme)
Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)
Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value)
Ryan Coogler (Sinners)
Paul Thomas Anderson has proved many times over that he’s one of the best directors working today but despite this he’s never won an Oscar. Fortunately that all changed as One Battle After Another’s directing win proves the enormous talent that he has. Ultimately I think that the directing of that film was what made it as special as it is and I’m glad to see that recognized.
Best Picture
Bugonia
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams
Following up the One Battle After Another praise with even more since the film took Best Picture as well! It’s shocking to see the academy honor such a bold and controversial movie in today’s political climate but that makes it an even more poignant win. Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece picture of modern day America is one that I’m sure we will look at in the years to come as one of the finest of the decade.
That’s this year’s Oscar wins. Is there anything you’d change? Let us know in the comments below!
