The 98th Academy Awards in Los Angeles crowned Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another as the night’s biggest winner, taking six Oscars including Best Picture. The result reshaped an awards season that had looked tilted toward Sinners, which earned the most nominations in Academy history but left with fewer trophies.
What happened: winners, surprises and milestones
One Battle After Another collected six awards: Best Picture, Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Editing and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn (who was not in attendance).
Sinners converted its record nominations into four wins, notably Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan. The film also secured Best Original Score and the historic Best Cinematography prize for Autumn Durald Arkapaw — the first woman to win that Academy Award.
Other major winners included Jessie Buckley as Best Actress for Hamnet and Amy Madigan as Best Supporting Actress for Weapons, a surprise pick that stood out amid the ceremony’s two-horse feel.
Selected winners (high-level)
- Best Picture: 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 Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan (Weapons)
- Best Original Screenplay: Sinners
- Best Adapted Screenplay: One Battle After Another
- Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Sinners)
- Best Animated Feature: Kpop Demon Hunters (and Best Original Song: “Golden”)
- Best Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash
Technical and short/feature categories also reflected a spread across films: Frankenstein won Costume Design and Makeup & Hairstyling plus Production Design; F1 claimed Best Sound; Mr. Nobody Against Putin won Best Documentary Feature; Sentimental Value took Best International Feature. Winners in short and documentary short categories included The Singers, Two People Exchanging Saliva and All the Empty Rooms.
Why this matters now
Sinners’ record nomination haul had made it the assumed frontrunner, so One Battle After Another’s dominance reframed year-end narratives about momentum and Academy tastes. Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s win is notable beyond a single ceremony: it marks a concrete milestone for women behind the camera in a category long dominated by men.
Reaction and social buzz
ABC and Hulu carried the live broadcast, and outlets ran live blogs chronicling the night’s moments as winners were announced. Fans and critics quickly debated the results online—some calling the show a two-horse race, others praising surprises like Amy Madigan’s supporting-actress victory and Penn’s absence at his win.
Outlets that compiled vote galleries invited readers to weigh in on whether the Academy got it right, underscoring how award-night verdicts often split public opinion from industry voting patterns.
What to watch next
With awards season concluded, attention turns to how these wins will affect streaming, box-office bumps and awards-season legacy: look for One Battle After Another and Sinners to see renewed interest on streaming platforms and in catalog searches. Expect interviews, acceptance speech follow-ups, and critics’ essays in the days after the ceremony.
For viewers who missed the show, full winner lists and moment-by-moment coverage remain available via the Academy’s broadcast partners and news sites’ Oscars live blogs.