As someone deeply invested in the film industry and who loves to get involved with awards season, this one has proved more interesting than most. A few weeks ago, I wrote about my picks and predictions for the Academy Awards ceremony this year, and as mentioned, I felt unsure about the outcomes for most categories (except best actress, more on that later). As I expected, the results of the ceremony certainly went in a different direction than I planned. Fortunately, that’s where the fun comes from. Wrapping up a fairly long awards season, let’s take a look at the results of the ceremony.
Best Picture AND Best Actress
Starting with the least surprising wins first, this award went to One Battle After Another. The conversation around this award is usually the most active during nomination season, but this year, it was almost locked from the beginning. The Sinners campaign may have been strong, but this was one of those movies you knew would win from the moment you saw it (even if I personally wanted Sinners to take the award home). Similarly, the award for Best Actress went as expected, too, going to Jessie Buckley for her performance in Hamnet. Despite little buzz for these awards, leading to low excitement, it’s still satisfying when the deserving film/actor takes home the award.
Best SUpporting Actor
Out of all of the categories, I had the least certainty on the outcome for Best Supporting Actor. With none of the actors campaigning very hard for the trophy, and all performances being equal levels of excellence, it was extremely difficult for most to pick a projected winner. It came down to the wire, and as the awards show announced, the award went to Sean Penn for his performance in One Battle After Another. He wasn’t physically present at the ceremony, announcer Kieran Culkin accepting it in his place. While I personally wanted to see the Oscar go to Delroy Lindo for his Sinners performance, it’s impossible to deny how intense Sean Penn’s presence was whenever he was on screen. A deserving outcome indeed.
Best Supporting ACTRESS
For decades now, horror has been a genre consistently ignored by prestigious award ceremonies, with effects work, performances, and films in general going unnoticed for their talents. 2026 saw a major change in this trend however, with Sinners breaking the record for most nominations to a film in the history of the ceremony, and with Amy Madigan winning best supporting actress for her performance in Weapons. This was a major shock to me personally, as while I adore the horror genre, I did not at all expect for this award to go to Madigan. Even if I preferred Wunmi Mosaku’s performance in Sinners, Madigan’s performance in Weapons was one I couldn’t get enough of. From the moment she steps on screen, the film’s attention immediately switches to her, and you can’t help but enjoy the ride.
Best Actor
Without a doubt, this category had the most intense speculation of all the major ones. With the main race being between TimothĂ©e Chalamet and Michael B. Jordan, it was only a matter of waiting until the night of the ceremony. In an almost complete shock, Jordan ended up taking home the trophy for his performance in Sinners. Chalamet came into the awards season strong, taking home most of the awards for best actor at other ceremonies. But as the season started to wrap up, and more awards began to go to Jordan, all attention was turned to the Academy for the choice they would make. Personally, I think they went with the right pick. Despite Chalamet’s performance, Jordan had the advantage of taking on a twin performance by himself. His ability to differentiate his two characters is what I think inevitably pushed him above Chalamet.
And with that, the 2026 awards season has officially wrapped up. With many more prestigious filmmakers announcing their projects for this year, we can only wait in anticipation to see what’ll be highlighted during next year’s season.