2026 Oscar Winners Across The Major Categories
Hollywood’s biggest night delivered major wins, surprises, and a few outcomes that quickly became the story of the evening.
The 98th Academy Awards delivered surprises that shifted expectations in real time and left the room catching up with what just happened.
The results quickly turned into conversations about momentum, surprises, and which films truly owned the night.
1. Best Picture – One Battle After Another
With six wins, *One Battle after Another* emerged as the night’s biggest overall winner.
Producers Adam Somner, Sara Murphy, and Paul Thomas Anderson accepted the top prize with a steady, unshowy confidence. By the end of the ceremony, the film had clearly become the Academy’s top choice of the night.
2. Best Director – One Battle After Another
Reverent whispers have followed Paul Thomas Anderson for years, and now the Academy answers in the same tone.
The Best Director win gave Paul Thomas Anderson his first Academy Award in the category and confirmed the film’s strength across the night.
Calm setting carries the win, yet the legacy behind it speaks much louder. Respect settles in fully, no longer waiting on anyone else to confirm it.
3. Best Actor – Sinners
Michael B. Jordan moved toward the podium with the ease of someone who had been building toward that moment his entire career.
Every frame of Sinners carried a charged intensity that never let up from beginning to end.
Once audiences saw the film, the outcome felt almost inevitable.
4. Best Actress – Hamnet
Grief drawn straight from Shakespeare lands with such weight that Jessie Buckley makes the screen feel like it’s carrying it too.
Across Hamnet, the performance hits with a kind of immediacy that turns the win into something that feels electric rather than expected. Buckley’s win immediately stood out as one of the ceremony’s biggest acting moments.
5. Best Supporting Actor – One Battle After Another
Playing it safe has never defined Sean Penn, and his role in One Battle after Another continued that streak.
Grit and unpredictability shape a performance that feels fully lived-in, reminding everyone why he still commands every room he enters. The win added another Oscar to Sean Penn’s career, and the drive behind it clearly has not faded.
6. Best Supporting Actress – Weapons
Amy Madigan’s Supporting Actress win for *Weapons* became one of the evening’s most notable acting results. Across Weapons, the performance cuts through with sharp, layered work that refuses to fade once it settles in.
Certain wins feel less like surprises and more like a long-delayed correction finally being made.
That moment carries the weight of everything that should have happened sooner.
7. Best Original Screenplay – Sinners
Writing Sinners came from a deeply personal place for Ryan Coogler, and every line of dialogue carries that weight.
Cultural specificity and emotional depth give the script a charge that pulls viewers in until the screen disappears. Ryan Coogler’s screenplay win gave *Sinners* another major above-the-line Oscar.
8. Best Adapted Screenplay – One Battle After Another
Taking on both screenplay and direction turns the job into a creative marathon few filmmakers actually finish.
Over the course of One Battle after Another, Paul Thomas Anderson crafts an adapted screenplay that manages to keep the characters intimate and personal while weaving a vast tale together.
Ambition shows up in every scene, yet the balance never slips out of place. Two Oscars in a single night lands with a casual ease that makes it feel almost routine for a Tuesday.
9. Best Animated Feature – KPop Demon Hunters
KPop Demon Hunters storms into the animation lineup with the kind of chaotic energy that feels like an unexpected crowd-pleaser taking over on a random Thursday morning.
Behind it, directors Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans, and Michelle L.M. Wong shape a world that blends wild invention with a surprising emotional core.
What comes through is pure animated joy.
10. Best International Feature Film – Sentimental Value (Norway)
Quiet weight travels with Sentimental Value all the way to the Oscars, earning every emotion it asks for without forcing a single one.
Through Joachim Trier’s direction, the film opens up a kind of emotional space that global audiences tend to recognize instantly.
International cinema stretches the experience in ways that feel fuller and more lived-in, reaching places some domestic releases rarely touch. A win like that lands softly, yet carries a lasting impact that stays well beyond the final frame.
11. Best Documentary Feature – Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Some documentaries pass along information, while Mr. Nobody against Putin pulls you in and does not let go until the credits roll.
Behind the camera, David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, Helle Faber, and Alzbeta Karaskova shape a film that feels urgently necessary right now. What emerges is brave filmmaking, plain and simple.
12. Best Documentary Short Film – All The Empty Rooms
Emotional truth settles in quietly across All the Empty Rooms, proving how much can live inside a smaller, more intimate frame. Through careful work by Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones, the story unfolds with a weight that keeps echoing after the screen fades.
Nothing feels overstated, yet every moment carries a presence that stays with you.
Short runtime passes quickly, while the impact keeps expanding well beyond it.
13. Best Cinematography – Sinners
History arrived with quiet force as Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography.
Her work on Sinners carries a painterly strength, full of intention and precision in every frame.
Each shot feels deliberate, as if every visual choice mattered.
14. Best Original Score – Sinners
Precision leads every note Ludwig Göransson places across Sinners, with instinct guiding choices that feel effortless yet exact.
Music moves alongside each scene, wrapping around the visuals and pushing emotions further without ever overwhelming them.
Every cue lands with purpose, adding something difficult to name but easy to feel. The Original Score win added another Oscar to Ludwig Göransson’s résumé and gave *Sinners* another major craft-category victory.
15. Best Original Song – Golden From KPop Demon Hunters
“Golden” lands in the animated film’s climax like a perfectly timed drop on a playlist that sneaks up on you.
Behind the track, EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, and Teddy Park shape something that works as both a pop anthem and a key emotional beat. What lingers is a mix of catchiness and clever construction.
16. Best Production Design – Frankenstein
Nothing about Frankenstein’s world feels newly built, with every corner carrying a sense of history that leans into something darker and more unsettled.
Even before a word is spoken, Tamara Deverell’s production design and Shane Vieau’s set decoration establish the mood. Textures, shadows, and detail do the heavy lifting, letting the setting speak long before any character does.
Atmosphere settles into the structure itself, turning architecture into something that actively shapes the story.
17. Best Costume Design – Frankenstein
Kate Hawley built a visual language for Frankenstein that communicates long before any line of dialogue begins.
Through crumbling aristocratic fabrics and creature-adjacent textures, each costume carries a story about power, decay, and reinvention. What emerges is fashion acting as biography.
18. Best Sound – F1
Sitting in a theater for F1 feels less like watching and more like being locked into a cockpit at full speed.
Through the work of Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, and Juan Peralta, every layer of sound pushes the experience into something physical.
Engines roar, tension builds, and the track seems to close in from all sides without ever losing clarity. Seats vibrate, nerves follow, and the result lands exactly where great sound design is supposed to hit.
19. Best Visual Effects – Avatar: Fire And Ash
Avatar: Fire and Ash reminded audiences that a sense of awe can still feel tangible, even when every frame is digitally crafted.
Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett pushed visual boundaries to a point where belief comes easily. Pandora refuses to lose its sense of wonder.
20. Best Casting – One Battle After Another
Casting shapes everything long before a single frame rolls, quietly building the foundation that holds a film together.
Across One Battle after Another, each role lands with a sense of precision that makes every performance feel like the only possible choice.
Through Cassandra Kulukundis’ decisions, the ensemble clicks into place without visible effort, even though that level of alignment is anything but simple. Irreplaceable becomes the standard, which is far rarer than it should be.
21. Best Makeup And Hairstyling – Frankenstein
Frankenstein’s creature went beyond simple scares, with makeup that unsettled audiences in the best possible way. Work from Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey turned performers into something that felt both mythic and disturbingly real.
Result is brilliant craft hiding in plain, unsettling sight.
22. Best Animated Short Film – The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Quiet magic follows The Girl Who Cried Pearls into the ceremony, a presence that never needs to raise its voice. In the hands of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, the story unfolds like a tale carried through generations while still feeling newly discovered.
Textures and emotion sit side by side, turning a simple premise into something with sharper, lasting edges.
Bedtime story on the surface, something deeper underneath that lingers long after it ends.
23. Best Live Action Short Film – The Singers And Two People Exchanging Saliva (Tie)
Ties in this category show up about as often as an alarm going off before sunrise, yet here we are.
Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt shared the stage with Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata, showing how two very different stories can land the same gold.
Moments like that feel rare and genuinely wonderful.
24. Best Film Editing – One Battle After Another
Great editing hides in plain sight, which says everything about how well Andy Jurgensen handled One Battle after Another.
Throughout the film, pacing, rhythm, and emotional timing align with quiet precision. Cuts arrive exactly when they should, letting scenes breathe just enough before moving on without hesitation.
Invisible craft carries the entire experience, delivering impact without ever stepping into the spotlight.
Note: This awards feature is based on the Academy’s official 98th Oscars winners list and is intended for general informational and entertainment purposes. Commentary about the significance of each win reflects editorial interpretation and may vary by viewer, critic, or awards observer.
