2026 Oscars Recap

Last Sunday, March 15, the ninety-eighth Academy Awards, or Oscars, ceremony was held in Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre. The event, hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien and held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, aims to celebrate and acknowledge the efforts and achievements of the past years’ film industry. As I previously covered the nominations for this year’s Oscars, I thought it only fitting to revisit the predictions I made in light of the results and winners. So with that, let’s dive into the awards and categories from Hollywood’s biggest night of the year.

For the “Actor/Actress in a Leading Role” awards, I had predicted Timothee Chalamet (“Marty Supreme”) and Kate Hudson (“Song Sung Blue”) to take home these respective awards. These predictions, it turns out, were nowhere near what would actually happen with the awards. Instead, Michael B. Jordan (“Sinners”) and Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”) took home the crowns. Timothee Chalamet did have the lead in the race for “Best Actor,” but he recently faced much criticism after viral comments from the “Marty Supreme” press tour surfaced on the internet. These comments were highly critical of the popularity of ballet and opera and featured Chalamet alluding to the entertainment forms as “dying arts.” This greatly affected Chalamet’s public perception and likely played a part in him losing the Oscar. Of course, the Oscar being awarded to Michael B. Jordan was not primarily because of Chalamet; Jordan was impressive in “Sinners,” especially considering his portrayal of two separate characters and personalities. Meanwhile, on the actress’s side of things, I’ll admit, I had not seen Jessie Buckley’s performance in “Hamnet,” but now, having seen the film, she rightfully deserved the Oscar. Her performance as a grieving and broken Agnes Hathaway, William Shakespeare’s wife, was quite moving. Buckley masterfully sells the grief and heartache that the loss of a child leaves with a family. This performance immediately dethroned Kate Hudson from my predictions. In fact, after reviewing and revisiting the rest of the “Actress in a Leading Role” nominations, Hudson was likely the weakest of the five.

In the animated films arena, it came as no surprise to anyone that “Kpop Demon Hunters” took home the award for “Animated Feature Film.” This, I felt, was the safest and most likely winner for the category. The film seemed to have the entire world in a chokehold upon its release, and its record-setting run on the streaming platform Netflix, as its most-watched film, was a strong indicator of that. Additionally, the music from the film also performed extremely well, with “Golden” becoming many people’s “song of the summer,” earning a Grammy award and also an Oscar for “Original Song.” Award ceremonies rely on popularity for determining what receives awards, but the film’s themes of self-acceptance and discovery also resonated with audiences. This film touched a lot of people’s hearts creatively and expressively, which is what the best animated films are able to achieve.

Finally, the final and most sought-after award of the night, “Best Picture,” ended up going to “One Battle After Another.” The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, follows an ex-revolutionary attempting to protect his daughter from past enemies. The film received 13 Oscar nominations and was well-received by most audiences. I had anticipated that “Sinners,” with its record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations, would end up bagging “Best Picture,” performing a sweep. However, the “Sinners Sweep” was undermined almost immediately by “One Battle After Another” securing numerous awards throughout the night, to the point that it became apparent who the favorite of the ceremony was.

With the Oscars wrapped up until next spring, it’s an exciting time for the film industry. Studios have their release schedules and calendars marked for some exciting projects coming within the next year, and it’ll be exciting to see how films like “The Odyssey,” “Toy Story 5” and “Dune: Part Three” perform prior to the buzz of awards season.