The 98th Academy Awards delivered a night of firsts, political flashpoints and emotional tributes that will be talked about for years. Hollywood’s biggest names gathered at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 15, and what unfolded was far more than a celebration of film.
From Javier Bardem’s bold call for peace to Michael B. Jordan’s historic Best Actor win, the ceremony toggled between raw political energy and deeply personal victories. Here is everything that happened, and why it matters.
“One Battle After Another” Dominates the Night
6 Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” took home six Oscars, including Best Picture. 17 Anderson also won the award for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, marking his first-ever wins.
That is not a typo. 5He had been nominated 11 times before Sunday night dating back to a screenplay nomination for “Boogie Nights” in the 1990s but never won. The filmmaker behind “Magnolia,” “Phantom Thread” and “The Master” had been one of the most decorated directors in Hollywood without a single Oscar on his shelf.
2 As Anderson joked in his speech, “You make a guy work hard for one of these; I really appreciate it.”
The film also picked up Best Film Editing for Andy Jurgensen and the very first Oscar for Best Casting, a brand new category, awarded to Cassandra Kulukundis. 17This year, the Oscars added a new category, the first since Best Animated Feature was introduced in 2002, recognizing Best Casting.
The six wins made “One Battle After Another” the undisputed champion of the night, but its rival was never far behind.
2026 Oscars Best Picture winner One Battle After Another ceremony highlights
“Sinners” Makes History With 16 Nominations
8 With 16 total nods, “Sinners” entered Oscar night making history, as the most-nominated movie ever in 98 years of the Academy Awards. 2 Ryan Coogler’s vampire drama went home with four wins. Those four trophies tell a powerful story of their own:
- Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan
- Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler
- Best Original Score: Ludwig Goransson
- Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw
17 Arkapaw became the first woman to ever win the Best Cinematography Oscar. She is also the first Black cinematographer to win in the category. Two ceilings broken with one golden statue. 5 “Please, please, please sit down because I’m very nervous and they’re gonna play me off,” Coogler said as he took his first-ever prize. 5 Coogler has had his share of hits in the past with “Fruitvale Station” and “Black Panther” but had never won an Oscar. 5 In total, the ceremony saw first-time winners in seven of the eight major categories, turning the annual Hollywood proceedings into a kind of celebration of the overlooked.
Conan O’Brien Returns With Sharp Wit and a Sincere Message
12 The 2026 Oscars were hosted by Conan O’Brien, who returned to emcee the ceremony for the second year in a row. 23 As a host, Conan was more confident this time around, obviously knowing better what to expect from the evening.
His opening sketch paid tribute to his favorite Oscars host, Billy Crystal. 20O’Brien played Aunt Gladys running through various nominated films while being chased by angry children. The crowd loved it.
Then came the monologue. 27O’Brien launched into a rapid-fire monologue that verged into more political territory than the host had predicted it would in interviews leading up to the event.
Some of the biggest punchlines landed on familiar targets:
- On AI: “I’m honored to be the last human host of the Academy Awards. Next year, it’s going to be a Waymo in a tux.”
- On Chalamet: 24“Security is very tight tonight, there’s concerns about attacks from the ballet and opera communities.”
- On Netflix: He told Ted Sarandos it was exciting to see him because it was “his first time in a theater.”
But the monologue closed on a more serious note. 8“It’s at moments like these that I believe that the Oscars are particularly resonant,” O’Brien said. He asked the audience to “celebrate not because we think all is well, but because we work and hope for better.”
21 Nikki Glaser, who hosted the 2026 Golden Globes in January, praised her fellow comic for his role, giving him high marks. She called his performance “A+.”
Political Sparks Flew From the Stage All Night
The Oscars have always been a stage for more than cinema. This year was no exception.
30 Javier Bardem’s “No to war, and free Palestine” stood out as the most overtly political moment. Presenting the Best International Feature Film award alongside Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Bardem immediately made his comment before launching into the award presentation. 30 His words were met by a largely positive reaction from the room, including cheers from the audience. Bardem wore a large badge with the Spanish words “No a la Guerra” and another badge representing Palestine. 34 He had worn the same lapel over 20 years ago when the Spanish Film Academy Awards in 2003 became a loud and clear indictment of Spain’s involvement in the Iraq war.
Jimmy Kimmel also made waves while presenting the documentary awards. 26Kimmel tossed in a few politically charged jokes while O’Brien was offstage, sniping at the Melania Trump documentary for not getting nominated. He joked about countries “whose leaders don’t support free speech,” adding, “Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”
32 Meanwhile, “All the Empty Rooms,” which won Best Documentary Short, followed a seven-year project documenting empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. Director Joshua Seftel took a moment to remember the four children whose rooms were featured. 32 Gloria Cazales, the mother of one victim, told the audience, “My daughter Jackie was 9 years old when she was killed in Uvalde. Since that day, her bedroom has been frozen in time.”
That was the moment the room went completely silent.
Sean Penn Skips the Oscars, Shows Up in Ukraine
One of the night’s most talked about stories did not happen at the Dolby Theatre at all.
17 Sean Penn, who wasn’t at the ceremony, won Best Supporting Actor for “One Battle After Another,” setting a record with his win. It was his third career Oscar. 31 Kieran Culkin, last year’s winner in the category, accepted on his behalf, saying “Sean Penn couldn’t be here tonight, or, didn’t want to.”
The reason? 19After skipping the Oscars, Sean Penn arrived Monday in Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky posted a photo of the pair on X, thanking Penn for his support.
19 Ukrainian Railways posted a video to Instagram of Penn, cigarette in mouth, getting off a train in Kyiv. “Sean Penn chose Ukraine instead of Oscar,” the caption read.
Love him or not, that is a headline that writes itself.
Quick Glance: Key 2026 Oscar Winners
| Category | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| Best Picture | Paul Thomas Anderson, Sara Murphy | One Battle After Another |
| Best Director | Paul Thomas Anderson | One Battle After Another |
| Best Actor | Michael B. Jordan | Sinners |
| Best Actress | Jessie Buckley | Hamnet |
| Best Supporting Actor | Sean Penn | One Battle After Another |
| Best Original Screenplay | Ryan Coogler | Sinners |
| Best Cinematography | Autumn Durald Arkapaw | Sinners |
| Best Original Song | “Golden” | KPop Demon Hunters |
| Best International Feature | Sentimental Value | Joachim Trier |
| Best Documentary Feature | Mr. Nobody Against Putin | David Borenstein |
3 Meanwhile, “Golden” made history as the first K-pop song to win Best Original Song at the Oscars, underlining the increasingly global reach of the Academy. 8 For only the seventh time in Oscars history, two winners shared a top spot. The Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film went to both “The Singers” and “Two People Exchanging Saliva.”
The 98th Academy Awards was messy, sprawling, political and deeply human. It was a ceremony where long-overdue filmmakers finally got their moment, where glass ceilings shattered in real time, and where Hollywood tried to grapple with a world spinning faster than any screenplay can capture. 35There was a particular poignance to the dominance of the two movies, both made for a 103-year-old studio, Warner Bros., that has just been acquired by Paramount Skydance and is expected to change radically. Whether you cheered or cringed at the speeches, one thing is certain: the movies that won this year are worth watching. Drop your thoughts in the comments below. What was your favorite moment of the night?
