Well that time of year movie goers anxiously wait for the annual Oscars Award Ceremony-has officially concluded.
This year marks the 98th year of the Academy Awards, and it offered several standing ovations, some surprises, and female history in the making. Here is everything you need to know from the 2026 Oscars ceremony in case you missed it!
For the first award of the night, Amy Madigan received the trophy for “Best Supporting Actress” for her role as Aunt Gladys in the 2025 hit Weapons. In a win for horror films, Madigan’s performance as creepy Aunt Gladys blew audiences, including myself away. This year was a complete tossup when it came to predicting the results for this category, as every previous award season featured mostly different results. Madigan won the Critic’s Choice award during the first ceremony of the season, while Teyana Taylor took home the Golden Globe for her role in One Battle After Another, and Wunmi Mosaku won the Bafta Award for her outstanding performance in Sinners. But during the annual Actor Awards, Madigan took home her second award for her Weapons role, causing her prediction odds to skyrocket to the top for most likely to win the Oscar. And she did exactly that. This year contained an amazing lineup of women who gave five mind blowing performances, but Amy Madigan ultimately gained the top prize.
The “Best Supporting Actress” category was not the only one to feature a tossup however, as the lineup for “Best Supporting Actor” had audiences on the edge of their seats. In a similar pattern, this award season handed out recognition to most of the nominees in the category. Jacob Elordi won the Critics Choice for his role as The Creature in Frankenstein, while Stellan Skarsgård got the nod during the Golden Globes for his performance in Sentimental Value. A pattern only started to form after Sean Penn won the Bafta and Actor awards for his role as Colonel Lockjaw in One Battle After Another. Although not present at the ceremony tonight, Sean Penn received the Academy Award for his performance, making it the third Oscar win of his career.
As for some of the behind the scenes categories, Ludwig Görransson received his third Oscar for “Best Score” with Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. Görransson previously won his other two Oscars for scoring the films Oppenheimer, and Black Panther, another work of Ryan Coogler’s. Speaking of Ryan Coogler, he took home the award for Best Original Screenplay for Sinners, making it the first of his iconic career.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein collected three Academy Awards throughout the night, winning for “Best Production Design” “Best Makeup and Hairstyling” and “Best Costume Design”. Kate Hawley, the costume designer for Frankenstein, won her first ever Academy Award during this year’s ceremony, only adding to the ever expanding growth of female history in the film industry!
While some winners were expected, some surprises did develop throughout the duration of the night. Arguably the most notable surprise was the shutout of Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme starring Timothee Chalamet. Chalamet, who has been under scrutiny lately for comments he made during an interview with Matthew McConaughey about the opera and ballet industries, received a nomination for “Best Actor”, one of nine the film received as a whole. But to the audience’s surprise, the table tennis extravaganza went home with zero awards. Another shocking development that surely messed up some people’s Oscar ballots was a tie for “Best Live Action Short”. “The Singers” and “Two People Exchanging Saliva” both won the award for this category, something that has only previously occurred in 6 of the 98 years of the award ceremony. Some other surprises were for films including Train Dreams and Bugonia, both best picture nominees, did not win an award in any category where they were nominated. Competition was extremely tough this year, with the industry seeing some of the most competitive works of film lined up against each other in years.
Arguably the two most competitive films of the night in their respective categories, One Battle After Another, and Sinners ended up taking home awards in a somewhat even fashion. Sinners led the way with a record breaking 16 nominations, while One Battle After Another followed closely behind with 13 nominations. One Battle After Another took home a hefty six awards, “Best Director” in Paul Thomas Anderson, “Best Supporting Actor”, “Adapted Screenplay”, “Casting”, “Best Editing” and the ultimate prize in “Best Picture”. This action packed film was a work one couldn’t say they’ve seen before, filled with jaw dropping performances, thrilling editing, and incredible shot setup. It was no surprise to the audience that One Battle would see success.
Sinners ended up winning four awards, “Best Original Screenplay”,“Best Score”, “Best Cinematography”, and with a standing ovation, Michael B. Jordan took home the “Best Actor” prize for his roles as “Smoke” and “Stack” in the vampire film. And in my opinion, this win was extremely well deserved. Throughout a decades-long career, Michael B. Jordan has starred in many blockbuster and feature films that have certified his legacy as one of the upcoming greats. Sinners is not the first film where Jordan and Coogler worked together, as Jordan acted alongside the late Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther, along with acting in several other Coogler films including Fruitvale Station and Creed. In a time where horror movies tend to receive the short end of the stick from the academy, the record breaking achievements that Sinners and Michael B. Jordan accomplished was refreshing and exciting to see.
What is an award season without some history? Well it was certainly made tonight, by incredibly talented women from different backgrounds. Starting off with global sensation K-Pop Demon Hunters, the first ever K-Pop centered film to see the level of success they did during this award season is history enough. But to add on to their already cemented legacy, the film took home two Academy Awards for “Best Animated Feature Film” and “Best Original Song” in “Golden”. K-Pop Demon Hunters shattered records and went on a sweeping season that many did not see coming, which only highlights the effort and emotion put into this film, and I am glad they took home their very well deserved awards at tonight’s show. Going off of female history, even more was made after Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first ever woman, and first ever black woman to win the award for “Best Cinematography” for her work on Sinners. It was only a matter of time before a woman snagged this award, as their talent and incredible work is only on the rise in the film industry, and I am very glad we got to see this first for the talented cinematographer that Arkapaw is.
Arguably the most predicted award win of the night was for “Best Actress” with Jessie Buckley winning the ultimate prize for her performance in Hamnet. And I will say, if you have not seen this film, run to the theater as soon as possible. Her mind blowing performance will leave you deep in thought, maybe even in tears of astonishment. Buckley’s portrayal as Agnes Shakespeare has been one of the most powerful the industry has seen in a long time. Her work was so incredible that it caused an award season sweep on Buckley’s part to occur, as she picked up every single award for “Best Actress” this year. Her Oscar win tonight also makes Buckley the first ever Irish Actress to win the award.
Overall, the 2026 Oscars Ceremony was a jam packed night. History was made, filmmakers all over the world were recognized, and incredible individuals that the industry has lost were remembered with a touching memorial. I strongly recommend you watch the ceremony, but if you are not able to catch the entire show, here is a full list of winners from this incredible night! I am very excited to see what next year’s ceremony has in store for the industry.