Oscars 2026: ‘One Battle After Another’ Dominates At The 98th Academy Awards

The 98th Academy Awards crowned the winners of Hollywood’s most prestigious film honours, with One Battle After Another emerging as the biggest winner of the night. The film secured six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, at the ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien.

The awards, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), recognised the best films of 2025 across 24 categories.

Biggest Winners Of The Night

Best Picture and Major Awards

One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, dominated the ceremony. In addition to Best Picture, Anderson won Best Director, while the film also collected awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing and Casting, among others.

The film’s strong performance capped an awards season in which it was widely considered a major contender.

Another notable film was Sinners, which received a record 16 nominations and won four Oscars.

Top Acting Awards

• Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan (Sinners) — his first Oscar, beating contenders including Timothée Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio.
• Best Actress: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet) — widely tipped during the awards season.
• Best Supporting Actor: Sean Penn (One Battle After Another), marking his third Academy Award.
• Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan (Weapons), who won her first Oscar at age 75.

Other Major Category Winners

Several films from diverse genres and countries won awards across the ceremony:

• Best Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters
• Best International Feature: Sentimental Value (Norway)
• Best Documentary Feature: Mr Nobody Against Putin
• Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler — Sinners
• Best Original Score: Ludwig Göransson — Sinners
• Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw — Sinners
• Best Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Best Sound: F1

Norway’s Sentimental Value made history as the first Norwegian film to win the Oscar for Best International Feature.

Technical And Craft Awards

The gothic film Frankenstein performed strongly in craft categories, winning Best Production Design, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Meanwhile, KPop Demon Hunters also won Best Original Song for “Golden,” making it one of the standout animated winners of the night.

A Night Of Firsts And Milestones

The 2026 ceremony also introduced the first-ever Oscar for Casting, which went to Cassandra Kulukundis for One Battle After Another.

Overall, the awards highlighted a diverse range of films—from political documentaries and historical dramas to animation and science fiction—reflecting the increasingly global and genre-spanning nature of contemporary cinema.

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