In what felt like one of the most unpredictable Academy Awards in history, the eventual winners were, surprisingly, more or less what was expected.
The awards season darling One Battle After Another skated to tentatively expected wins in a host of categories — including best picture, the night’s biggest honour. Meanwhile, the blockbuster and box-office smash Sinners rode a wave of popularity to four triumphs — including Michael B. Jordan eking out a win over the early best actor favourite, Timothée Chalamet.
And host Conan O’Brien fired off at least a few memorable jokes at the expense of everyone from Donald Trump to Prince Andrew to … again, Timothée Chalamet.
In fact, the biggest surprise of the 98th Academy Awards seemed to be a general lack of surprises. The main head-to-head was between the two aforementioned flicks, which headlined a year of popular movies that felt almost impossibly original after years of franchise and sequel success.
The night kicked off celebrating that fact. Marking his second straight hosting gig, O’Brien started the proceedings with an extended skit honouring a slate of movies that somehow captured both attention and dollars. Dressed as the makeup-slathered witch from horror film Weapons (a character who would later earn Amy Madigan a best supporting actress win, the first horror actress to win the category since 1969), he barrelled through the sets of Marty Supreme, Hamnet, F1, OBAA, KPop Demon Hunters, Sentimental Value and Sinners.
And as the night wore on, he had a few more memorable jokes up his sleeve. There was one aimed at Trump adding his name to the Kennedy Center: “We’re coming to you live from the ‘Has a Small Penis Theatre,’” O’Brien joked. “Let’s see him put his name in front of that!”
There was also a jab at Prince Andrew. (“At least we arrest our pedophiles,” O’Brien facetiously quoted a British spokesperson as saying in response to the lack of nominations for English actors.)
And along with quips regarding Chalamet’s controversial statements about the declining popularity of ballet and opera, O’Brien poked fun at the digitization — and possible eventual death — of the entire Hollywood system.
“Why are they all together enjoying themselves?” he mockingly quoted Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos as saying, referencing the business leader’s reported plan to do away with theatrical exclusivity windows. “They should be home, alone, where I can monetize it!”
Then, a demoralizing skit featured several Jane Lynch-led YouTube ad breaks, forecasting the awards’ move to the platform in 2029. And a section referencing both the rise of streamers and sludge content featured O’Brien joking about “hostmaxxing the Oscars.”
Surprisingly smooth
But the rest of the night seemed to be a traditional celebration of film, featuring optimistic Hollywood moments once thought to be left firmly in the past. There were a few surprises that made it feel like a true Oscars night: One category saw a tie, in only the seventh time in the show’s history. Both The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva took home the live-action short film award, an astounding result given that it requires an exact match in vote totals in the final round.
In another shorts category — this one for animated — Canadians Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski saw gold for their film The Girl Who Cried Pearls.
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Sinners‘ Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman and first Black person to win best cinematography, while edging out the projected winner, OBAA‘s Michael Bauman.
In her acceptance speech, Durald Arkapaw asked all the women to stand up and join in the honour.
Afterwards, she told the backstage press room, “A lot of little girls who look like me will sleep really well because they want to become cinematographers.”
Expected wins came in
Elsewhere, things proceeded in more or less an orderly fashion. An extended in memoriam section started off with a tearful honour for director Rob Reiner and finished with singer Barbra Streisand’s musical lament for actor Robert Redford. It also featured actress Rachel McAdams paying tribute to “comedic genius and scene stealer, our mighty wind and my fellow Canadian Catherine O’Hara.”
And KPop Demon Hunters snagged its best song (Golden) and best animated feature awards — results that were so expected they felt nearly written in stone.
“For those of you who look like me, I’m so sorry that it took so long to see us in a movie like this,” Toronto director Maggie Kang said in her acceptance speech. “But it is here, and that means that the next generations don’t have to go longing.”
Frankenstein saw stellar success in the craft categories, earning wins for Canadians Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau for production design, and Toronto’s Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey for best makeup and hairstyling, alongside the U.K.’s Mike Hill.
James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash snagged its sole — and expected — Oscar for visual effects. And Jessie Buckley completed a stunning awards show sweep in taking home Hamnet‘s only win, best actress.
The other expected wins came despite bubbling theories that a blood-red wave would lift Sinners to a surprise sweep. Instead, OBAA continued its dominant showing in the top categories: Sean Penn earned his third career Oscar, this time for best supporting (Penn was not in attendance and, according to the New York Times, instead opted to head to Ukraine.)
And director Paul Thomas Anderson broke the Anderson curse. After being nominated — and losing — 11 times at the Oscars, the filmmaker won every category for which he was nominated: director, adapted screenplay and best picture. The film also captured a trophy for editing, as well as one for the inaugural casting award.
Like every year, beloved films were shut out. Train Dreams, Bugonia, The Secret Agent and Marty Supreme notably went home empty-handed despite multiple nominations. Songwriter Diane Warren continued a near-supernatural streak of 17 best original song noms with no wins, giving her the dubious achievement of having lost more Oscars than anyone in history without a competitive win.
Surprisingly thin politics
And unlike the 2026 Grammys, the political statements — especially for an awards show honouring films as polemic as OBAA and Sinners — seemed surprisingly thin.
This is not to say they were absent: “No to war, and free Palestine,” remarked a Palestine pin-wearing Javier Bardem before presenting the best international film.
“All adults are responsible for all children,” Sentimental Value director Joachim Trier added when accepting that award. “Let’s not vote for politicians that don’t take this seriously into account.”
In a speech capping off a palpable, emotional reception for the previous wins, Jordan expressed respect for other Black actors. “I stand here because of the people that came before me,” he said, before listing off Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whittaker and Will Smith.
His remarks that followed four separate standing ovations for the film’s wins, and a jaw-dropping musical performance that featured everyone from Sinners star Miles Caton to ballerina Misty Copeland. And it was a win that triggered a massive cheer from the press room — one that CBC’s on-the-ground reporter Eli Glasner described as unlike anything he’d seen or heard in more than 10 years covering the awards.
That’s despite it technically now becoming the losingest film in Oscars history. Coming in with a record 16 nominations, Sinners‘ 12 losses put it ahead of Emilia Pérez, as well as Becket, Johnny Belinda, The Turning Point and The Color Purple, with 11. Given the energy in the room, and the historic performance of both an audience and critical favourite, it still managed to end the night as one of the champions.
