The 98th Academy Awards took place on March 15, 2026, hosted by Conan O’Brien, and ended with a clear triumph for One Battle After Another, which dominated the major categories and established itself as the defining title of the night. That dominance was not only numerical but also qualitative, as the film won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing, in addition to the newly introduced casting award and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn.
By contrast, Sinners did not leave empty-handed, even though it did not take the top prize. The film won four major awards: Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan, Best Original Screenplay for Ryan Coogler, Best Original Score for Ludwig Göransson, and Best Cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw. That allowed it to maintain its position as one of the season’s biggest films even without winning Best Picture.
In the acting categories, the night was relatively balanced. Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for Hamnet, while Best Supporting Actress went to Amy Madigan for Weapons, and Sean Penn won Best Supporting Actor for One Battle After Another. That distribution showed that the Academy this year did not place all its weight on a single film in the acting races, even if there was a clear overall frontrunner in the final tally.
Detail
If the ceremony’s results are reduced to quick headlines, the picture looks like this:
1.Best Picture: One Battle After Another.
2.Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another.
3.Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan for Sinners.
4.Best Actress: Jessie Buckley for Hamnet.
5.Best Supporting Actor: Sean Penn for One Battle After Another.
6.Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan for Weapons.
7.Best International Feature: Sentimental Value.
8.Best Documentary Feature: Mr. Nobody Against Putin.
9.Best Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters, which also won Best Original Song for Golden.
10.Best Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash, and Best Sound: F1.
In the technical categories, Frankenstein achieved a clear triple win in Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Costume Design, making it one of the ceremony’s biggest beneficiaries outside the top categories. The night also saw a rare tie in the Best Live Action Short Film category.
One of the ceremony’s most notable moments was Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s Oscar win for Best Cinematography for Sinners, because the award broke a long history of male dominance in that category. Michael B. Jordan’s win for Sinners also cemented his position as one of the season’s central acting forces, while Paul Thomas Anderson’s victory confirmed that the Academy this year placed its confidence in a weighty political film more than in pure mainstream momentum alone.
What next?
The broad takeaway from the latest Oscars is that the Academy leaned toward splitting the night between two major films rather than handing it entirely to one title: One Battle After Another claimed the highest honours at the top, while Sinners walked away with four major wins and historic moments in acting and cinematography. Between them, the Academy distributed the remaining prizes across Hamnet, Frankenstein, Weapons, and KPop Demon Hunters, making the results feel more like a map of the industry as a whole than a total sweep by a single film.
