As predicted, the 2026 Oscars were largely unpredictable, with the awards fairly well spread across the main contenders and as many surprises as expected winners.

The vampire horror Sinners went into the night with a record 16 nominations – helped by the addition of a new category for casting – and came away with a perfectly respectable 4 wins, including Michael B Jordan for Best Actor and director Ryan Coogler for his original screenplay. It also won for the original score and Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman to be named the best cinematographer.

But it was the pre-awards favourite, the revolutionary thriller, One Battle After Another, which came out top on the night, leaving the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, with six Oscars – including Best Picture. Paul Thomas Anderson won both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, with Best Supporting Actor going to Sean Penn over his cast-mate Benicio Del Toro. The film also won the inaugural Academy Award for casting.

Ireland’s Jessie Buckley continued her run of awards success, being named the best actress of 2025 for her portrayal of Shakespeare’s wife in Hamnet. The best supporting actress went to Amy Madigan for Weapons – unusually seeing the Oscars honour not only one horror film, but two.

Frankenstein secured three Oscars in the technical categories – for production design, costume design and hair & make-up, with Avatar: Fire And Ash winning the visual affects Oscar, while F1 was honoured for its suond editing – the second Oscar in a row for British sound engineers, Gareth John, who won last year for Dune: Part 2.

The South Korean animated sensation KPop Demon Hunters came away with two Oscars – best animated feature and best original song, for Golden, while one of the most unusual results of the night came in the live action short category, which saw the first tie at the Oscars for more than a decade, with the award shared between The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva.

Here is the full list of winners at the 98th Academy Awards: