Oscars 2026 winners: Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another sweeps as Michael B. Jordan, Jessie Buckley, and K-pop make history

In a final shifting of Hollywood's record books, the 98th Academy Awards concluded this morning. The hugely ambitious political epic One Battle After Another by Paul Thomas Anderson was the night's unchallenged heavyweight, winning Best Picture and finally bringing home the Best Director and Adapted Screenplay statuettes that the filmmaker had long sought. Notable "firsts" at the ceremony were the completion of several "overdue" stories and the achievements of several women, like Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who won Best Cinematography for her work on Sinners and was the first woman of colour to do so.

The acting categories were a source of powerful emotional moments throughout the evening. Winners Michael B. Jordan (for his dual part in Sinners) and Jessie Buckley (for her portrayal in Hamnet) made history. The live-action drama wasn't the only cultural touchstone; Golden became the first K-pop song to win Original Song, and K-Pop: Demon Hunters won Best Animated Feature, further solidifying K-pop's worldwide supremacy. Amy Madigan's record-breaking 40-year wait for a victory and the inaugural Best Casting award were just two examples of how the 2026 Oscars celebrated long-term skill and broke glass barriers.

Here's the complete list of winners at Oscars 2026:

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

40 years after her first nomination, Amy Madigan made Academy Award history by clinching the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her haunting, orange-wigged turn as the malevolent Aunt Gladys in the supernatural horror hit Weapons, setting a new record for the longest gap between nominations before a win.

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Best Animated Feature Film

From chart-topping idols to history-making hunters, the supernatural superstars of K-Pop: Demon Hunters officially grabbed the golden Oscar by taking home the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

Best Animated Short Film

Nearly two decades after their first nomination, the visionary Montreal duo Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski have finally secured the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, proving that they still reign supreme in the art of stop-motion storytelling with the haunting and tactile fable The Girl Who Cried Pearls.

Best Costume Design

By weaving together high-fashion artistry and gothic horror, Kate Hawley has claimed the Oscar for Best Costume Design for her exquisite, tactile work in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, marking a crowning achievement for the film

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

By breathing life into the "stitched" skin of a legend, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey have claimed the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for their stunningly humanistic and tactile transformation of the Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.

Best Casting

In a milestone moment that finally brought the "invisible" art of the ensemble to centre stage, Cassandra Kulukundis made history as the inaugural winner of the Best Casting Oscar for her masterful work on Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.

Best Live Action Short Film

In a rare and historic moment that split the Academy’s heart in two, the 98th Oscars crowned two winners for Best Live Action Short Film, as the barroom harmony of The Singers and the dystopian surrealism of Two People Exchanging Saliva both walked away with the golden statuette.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

By completing his mission to join the most elite ranks of Hollywood history, Sean Penn secured his third Academy Award—and first in the Best Supporting Actor category—for his transformative, "sandblasted" turn as the corrupt and obsessive Col. Steven J. Lockjaw in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

By breaking a legendary losing streak with a heartfelt "apology" to the next generation, Paul Thomas Anderson finally secured his first-ever Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, successfully taming Thomas Pynchon’s notoriously "unadaptable" novel Vineland into the action-packed, three-hour odyssey One Battle After Another.

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

By weaving a blood-soaked tale of redemption and rhythm, Ryan Coogler has made Academy Award history by taking home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for his record-breaking supernatural thriller Sinners.

Best Production Design

By transforming an abandoned water tower into a cathedral of mad science and a Toronto parking lot into the desolate Arctic "Farthest North," Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau have claimed the Oscar for Best Production Design for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.

Best Visual Effects

By pushing the boundaries of digital reality into the volcanic heart of Pandora, Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett have secured the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, proving that James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash remains the undisputed gold standard for world-building in the modern era.

Best Documentary Short Film

By turning a camera toward the silent, sacred spaces of a national tragedy, Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones have won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film for their heartbreaking and vital Netflix film, All the Empty Rooms.

Best Documentary Feature Film

By turning the lens of a whistleblower onto the state-mandated indoctrination of his own students, schoolteacher Pavel Talankin and co-director David Borenstein have secured the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film for their courageous undercover exposé, Mr. Nobody Against Putin.

Best Music (Original Score)

By reaching back to the roots of his own childhood and the dust of the 1930s Mississippi Delta, Ludwig Göransson has secured his third Academy Award for Best Original Score for Ryan Coogler’s Sinners.

Best Sound

By shifting into a higher gear of movie immersion, Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, and Juan Peralta have claimed the Oscar for Best Sound for the high-octane blockbuster F1.

Best Film Editing

By finding the perfect rhythm for a sprawling, VistaVision-sized odyssey, Andy Jurgensen has captured the Oscar for Best Film Editing for his masterful work on Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.

Best Cinematography

By shattering one of the Academy’s most enduring glass ceilings, Autumn Durald Arkapaw has made history as the first woman and the first woman of colour to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography for her breathtaking, large-format mastery in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners.

Best International Feature Film

By proving that the deepest "sentimental value" lies in the complex bonds of family and film, director Joachim Trier has led Norway to a historic victory as Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi) secured the Oscar for Best International Feature Film.

Best Music (Original Song)

By hitting the high notes of a global cultural phenomenon, the anthem Golden has officially sealed its place in cinema history by winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song, making it the first K-pop track to ever claim the Oscar.

Best Directing

By finally turning a legendary "overdue" narrative into a double-gold reality, Paul Thomas Anderson has claimed the Oscar for Best Directing for his sprawling, political odyssey One Battle After Another.

Best Actor in a Leading Role

By vanishing into the "double-edged" souls of the Smokestack twins, Michael B. Jordan delivered a career-defining performance in Sinners that not only secured his first Academy Award for Best Actor but also made history as the first actor to win the top prize for a dual role.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

By transforming the silent sorrow of history into a raw heartbeat, Jessie Buckley has secured the Academy Award for Best Actress for her devastating portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, becoming the first Irish woman in history to claim the category’s highest honour.

Best Picture

The "battle" for supremacy has a definitive winner: Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling, action-packed political odyssey One Battle After Another has claimed the Academy Award for Best Picture.