LOS ANGELES — Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” won Best Picture at the 98th Academy Awards, handing Hollywood’s top honor to a comical story of American political resistance spanning multiple generations.
Sunday’s ceremony, which saw Michael B. Jordan win Best Actor and Sinners cinematographer Autumn Durard Alcapeau, who also made Oscar history as the first female cinematographer to win the award, was a long-awaited coronation for Anderson, a San Fernando Valley native who made her first short film at age 18 and has been one of America’s most admired filmmakers for decades. Until Sunday, Anderson had never won an Oscar.
But the favorite, One Battle After Another, won six Oscars, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Anderson, and won his first Oscar trophies for Best Casting and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, who was absent.
“I wrote this movie for our children to say we’re sorry for the domestic mess we’ve left in this world. We’re passing it on to them,” Anderson said while accepting the trophy for Best Original Screenplay. “But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that will hopefully bring common sense and decency to us.”
Ryan Coogler’s Jim Crow-set, blues-filled vampire tale, “Sinners,” earned a record 16 nominations and some huge, even historic wins. Coogler, a widely beloved director, won his first Oscar in a spotless career that began alongside Jordan in 2013’s Fruitvale Station. Al Capeau is only the fourth female cinematographer to ever be nominated, winning the award as a long-awaited win for women behind the camera.
“I really want all the women in the room to stand up,” Alcapeau said. “Because I don’t think I could have come this far without you guys.”
And Jordan, one of Hollywood’s most popular leading actors, won Best Actor in one of the night’s tightest races. The Dolby Theater rose to its feet to the loudest applause of the night.
“Hey, Mom, what’s up?” Jordan said after stumbling onto the stage.
Oscar night belonged to Warner Bros., the studio behind “One Battle After Another” and “The Sinners.” It was an oddly poignant note of victory for the legendary studio, which had agreed a few weeks earlier to sell to Paramount Skydance, the media monolith quickly amassed by David Ellison. While the deal awaits regulatory approval, Hollywood is bracing for more layoffs.
But “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” — the season’s hottest blockbusters — were both Hollywood anomalies, big-budget originals born of personal vision. Both films offer new hope for Hollywood in a year when the industry has often been plagued by fears of studio downsizing and the rise of artificial intelligence.
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Jessie Buckley won the Best Actress award for her role as Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet, becoming the first Irish actor to win in this category. Buckley entered Sunday’s Oscars at the Dolby Theater as the overwhelming favorite to win the Oscars, where other acting awards were guaranteed.
“Today is Mother’s Day in England,” Buckley said on stage. “I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart.”
‘KPop’ and ‘Frankeinstein’ win on Netflix
From the beginning, when host Conan O’Brien ran through the year’s nominees with pre-recorded footage of Amy Madigan’s character in the horror thriller “Weapons,” Sunday’s ceremony was quirky, a little awkward, and preoccupied with the shifting place of movies in culture. Best of all, there was a tie for Best Live-Action Short Film.
As expected, Netflix sensation “KPop Demon Hunters”, the most watched movie of 2025, won Best Animated Feature and Best Song for “Golden”. While this was a big win for Netflix, it was an even more deserved win for the film’s producer, Sony Pictures. Sony developed and produced the film, but instead of releasing it in theaters, it sold “KPop Demon Hunters” to the streaming giant.
On Netflix, “KPop Demon Hunters” became a cultural phenomenon and the streaming platform’s biggest hit. It has been viewed over 325 million times and counting.
“This is for Korea and Koreans around the world,” co-director Maggie Kang said.
Another Netflix release, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, won three awards for its gorgeous production: costume design, makeup and hairstyling, and production design.
Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the horror thriller Weapons, 40 years after the 75-year-old actor was first nominated for her role in 1986 for Twice in a Lifetime. Madigan burst out laughing as he took to the stage and exclaimed, “This is amazing!”
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O’Brien presides over ceremony due to political influence
O’Brien, hosting for the second time, opened the Dolby Theater show by hinting at “chaotic and frightening times.” However, he argued that the current geopolitical situation has made the Oscars increasingly visible as a force that unites the world.
“Tonight, we pay homage not just to film, but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, perseverance, resilience, and that rarest quality today: optimism,” O’Brien said. “We are going to celebrate, not because we think everything is fine, but because we are striving and hoping for better.”
Throughout the show, O’Brien hit a number of targets, including Timothée Chalamet (who once again lost his first Oscar for Marty Supreme), who criticized opera and ballet. But the ceremony was largely free from politics, with changes under US President Donald Trump and references to the recently started war with Iran.
Director Joachim Trier, whose Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value” won the award for Best International Film, quoted James Baldwin in his acceptance speech, saying, “Every adult has a responsibility to every child.” “Let’s not vote for politicians who don’t take this seriously.”
Jimmy Kimmel, the host whose late-night show was canceled last year for his comments about Charlie Kirk’s murder, has been one of the most outspoken.
“Some countries don’t support free speech,” Kimmel said. “We don’t have the freedom to say which one. Let’s leave it to North Korea and CBS.”
Shortly after, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, a film about a Russian elementary school teacher who chronicles the brainwashing of students who support Russia’s war against Ukraine, won the award for best documentary.
“‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ is a story about how you lose your country,” said the co-director. “And what we saw when we were working with this footage is that it gets lost in a million small, small acts of collusion.”
“We all face a moral choice,” he added. “But fortunately, no one is more powerful than you think.”
Memorial to Reiner, Redford and others
Elegy also won an Oscar. Producers expanded the memorial section after a year that featured the deaths of many Hollywood legends, including Keaton, Robert Duvall and Redford. Barbra Streisand spoke about Redford, her co-star in The Way We Were.
“Bob had a real backbone,” Streisand said, calling Redford an “intelligent cowboy” before singing a few bars of “The Way We Were.”
Billy Crystal has paid tribute to Rob Reiner and Michelle Reiner, who were murdered in their home in December. Crystal is Rob Reiner’s best friend and had memorable starring roles in 1989’s When Harry Met Sally and 1987’s The Princess Bride. Crystal quoted the latter in an emotional statement.
“All we can say is, ‘Buddy, how much fun we had storming the castle,'” Crystal said.
Theatrical version is perfect for streaming
Once again, the final award of the night did not go to the streaming release. Apple’s “CODA” remains the only streaming movie to achieve that honor. “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” are both theatrical releases shot on film.
Apple’s top candidate this time was the F1 racing drama “F1,” which was distributed theatrically in partnership with Warner Bros., and won the Best Sound Award. The year’s only blockbuster triumph was the visual effects of Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Some of O’Brien’s best work came at the expense of streamers. Netflix head Ted Sarandos went to a theater for the first time, he joked. The host also lamented Amazon MGM’s lack of nominations, saying, “Why don’t the websites you order your toilet paper win more Oscars?”
“I’m honored to be the last human host of the Academy Awards,” O’Brien said. “Next year, I’m going to have Waymo on my tuxedo.”
