Oscar 2026, who won (and who lost) on Hollywood's most awaited night

Hollywood has declared its champions: One Battle After Another by Paul Thomas Anderson has been crowned best film of 2025 by more than 10,000 members of the Academy, at the end of an evening marked by a tight head-to-head with Sinners by Ryan Coogler.

The dramatic comedy about former revolutionaries grappling with the legacies of their past has won a total of six statuettes, including best director: it is the first Oscar for the filmmaker of Magnolia, Licorice Pizza, and The Master after eleven nominations. Awards were also given for supporting actor (Sean Penn, absent from the ceremony, reportedly directed — it is rumored — in Ukraine), for adapted screenplay (inspired by Vineland by Thomas Pynchon), for editing, and, a first in Academy history, for casting.

After dominating much of the season — from the Golden Globes to the Baftas, to the accolades from the directors' and producers' guilds — Anderson was the favorite, although Sinners led the nominations with 16 nominations.

The epic about vampires and racism in the segregated South, written and directed by Coogler, won the Oscar for original screenplay, for best actor (Michael B. Jordan narrowly surpassed Timothée Chalamet), for the score by Swedish Ludwig Göransson, and for the cinematography by Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first woman — and first woman of color to win in a historically male category.

No surprise in the best actress award, which went to Irish Jessie Buckley for Hamnet. Amy Madigan triumphed as supporting actress for the horror Warriors. Also predictable was the victory of Golden, from KPop Demon Hunters, as best original song.

In an industry undergoing profound transformation, both One Battle After Another (209 million dollars at the global box office) and Sinners (370 million) — both titles from Warner — have emerged as blockbusters capable of bringing audiences back to theaters, capturing the spirit of the times amid political polarization, radicalism, and new cultural wars over identity. At the Dolby Theatre, however, politics remained mostly sidelined.

The host Conan O’Brien joked about the threat of artificial intelligence in Hollywood, calling himself "the last human host of the Academy Awards", and touched on the Epstein case with a velvet glove: "No British actor nominees, it's the first time since 2012. They, however, arrest their pedophiles."

For Italy — which was left out after the flop of Familia — there was a consolation prize with Valentina Merli, co-producer of the live-action short Two People Exchanging Saliva. In an edition with nominees from 31 countries, there was disappointment for the nine nominations of the Norwegian Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier, which only won as best international film.

Empty-handed was Iranian cinema, competing with Jafar Panahi (A Simple Accident) and the documentary Scalping the Rock. With Javier Bardem taking the stage with the slogan "Free Palestine", it was the team of Mr. Nobody Against Putin — best documentary — that strongly denounced governments that "kill their citizens on the streets".

In the backstage, director David Borenstein added: "Working with a team of Russians for this film, as an American I was constantly trying to compare the situation in the United States with that of Russia. Many of my Russian colleagues and friends told me that it’s not the same situation. In reality, it’s happening faster in America than it did in Russia. Trump is moving much more quickly than Putin did in his early years."

Thus, "One Battle After Another" by Paul Thomas Anderson was declared Best Film of the Year.

The ceremony also crowned Anderson as Best Director.

Among the performers, Michael B. Jordan won the Oscar for Best Actor for "The Sinners", while Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for "Hamnet - In the Name of the Son".

The awards for supporting roles went to Sean Penn, honored for "One Battle After Another", and Amy Madigan for "Weapons".

On the writing front, Ryan Coogler won the Best Original Screenplay award for "The Sinners" and Paul Thomas Anderson took home the award for Best Adapted Screenplay for "One Battle After Another".

"Sentimental Value" by Joachim Trier was elected Best International Film, while "Kpop Demon Hunters" prevailed as Best Animated Feature.

In the debut of the new category for Best Casting, the statuette went to Cassandra Kulukundis for her work on "One Battle After Another".

For music, Ludwig Göransson won the Oscar for Best Original Score with "The Sinners", and "Golden", from the film "Kpop Demon Hunters", was declared Best Original Song.

Autumn Durald Arkapaw excelled in Best Cinematography for "The Sinners", while Andy Jurgensen received recognition for Best Editing for "One Battle After Another".

"Frankenstein" dominated in the artistic departments: Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau won for Best Production Design and Kate Hawley designed the Best Costumes.

The award for Best Sound went to Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, and Juan Peralta for "F1 - The Movie".

The Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling was awarded to Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey, again for "Frankenstein".

In the documentary and short film category: "Mr. Nobody Against Putin" was declared Best Documentary.

Tied for Best Short Film were "The Singers" and "Two People Exchanging Saliva".

"All the Empty Rooms" won for Best Documentary Short, while "The Girl Who Cried Pearls" took home the title of Best Animated Short.