Icon’s predictions for the 2026 Oscars
In keeping with yearly tradition, we present the key contenders for the awards and our knowledgeable film reviewers’ predictions.
Los Angeles hosted the biggest night in entertainment on March 15 as the Oscars were held at the city’s iconic Dolby Theatre. Dark-comedy One Battle After Another swept with six awards, including the evening’s highest honour — Best Picture. In second and third place, the paranormal period pieces Sinners and Frankenstein took home four and three statuettes respectively.
The 98th edition of the Academy Awards also had one of the longest In Memoriam segments in history and included a number of firsts, like the first time a K-pop number won Best Original Song.
Here are some of the main moments from the night:
Conan O’Brien does not usually get as overtly political as other hosts. But in his opening monologue this year, he warned otherwise. To those unhappy with that, he said they could attend an alternative show hosted by Kid Rock, an American singer who during the Super Bowl in February staged a competing halftime show to Bad Bunny’s performance.
“Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos is here and this is exciting: This is his first time in a theatre. ‘This is what they’re talking about? Why are they together enjoying themselves?! They should be home alone!’” O’Brien joked about the home streaming platform in his opening monologue.
Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel, a previous Academy Awards host, lauded the courage of documentary filmmakers, noting that in some countries, they don’t believe in free speech. He said he wasn’t at liberty to say which ones, then joked, “Let’s leave it at North Korea and CBS.”
He then poked fun at US President Donald Trump, saying, “Oh, is he going to be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this.” First lady Melania Trump’s documentary wasn’t released until 2026 so it did not qualify for the awards.
Marty Supreme did not win any awards, including Timothée Chalamet losing Best Actor to Michael B Jordan. Chalamet’s loss follows his negative comments about the ballet and opera that sparked controversy online and led to a joke by O’Brien: “Security is extremely tight tonight. I’m told there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet community.”
While many were offended by Chalamet’s comment during an interview in February, opera singer Ana María Martínez said on Sunday she was grateful to the actor for highlighting her craft.
“Saying what he said, he has put opera and ballet more in the pop culture lingo in the everyday conversation. And I will emphasise that opera and ballet are very strong,” Martinez told Reuters. “It might not have been intentional, but he gave us a lot with that.”
Mr. Nobody Against Putin, about a young Russian schoolteacher waging quiet resistance against Russia’s war on Ukraine, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Director David Borenstein said in his acceptance speech that the film was about how to lose one’s country through small acts of complicity.
“When we act complicit, when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities, when we don’t say anything, when oligarchs take over media and control how we produce it,” he said. The comments followed the killing of two Americans in Minneapolis by immigration agents.
The loss of so many iconic names in Hollywood this year led to one of the longest segments for the long show. Director Rob Reiner was honoured by actor Billy Crystal after Reiner and his wife Michele were found dead at their home in the upscale Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles on December 14, 2025. Reiner’s younger son, Nick Reiner, stands charged with their murders; he has pleaded not guilty.
Barbra Streisand, who played opposite Robert Redford in The Way We Were, called him a “brilliant, subtle actor” and an “intellectual cowboy.” She finished her remarks by singing a few lines from the movie’s title song.
The award for Achievement in Casting is the first new award category established since best animated feature film in 2001.
It formally recognises the role casting directors contribute to a film’s vision and its overall success. Cassandra Kulukundis received the award for One Battle After Another.
Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman and first black cinematographer to win the cinematography honour, ‘Golden’ gave the K-pop genre its first win in the Best Original Song category and Sentimental Value became the first Norwegian film to win for Best International Feature.
The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva tied to win Best Live Action Short Film. There have been only six ties previously in Oscars history — the last time was in 2013 for Best Sound.
Anne Hathaway joined Anna Wintour on stage to present two awards in a Devil Wears Prada reunion ahead of the sequel due out in May. Wintour leaned into her Miranda Priestly persona, ignoring Hathaway’s question about her dress and later calling her “Emily,” the name Priestly wrongly ascribes to Hathaway in the film.
Some guests wore pins with political messaging, including “ICE OUT,” calling out the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and others demanding an end to the wars in Iran and Gaza.
Spanish actor Javier Bardem wore one that said “NO A LA GUERRA,” which translates to “No to War” and another reading “Free Palestine.” While presenting Best International Film, he said, “No to war and free Palestine,” to applause from the crowd.
In a rare pre-recorded clip that aired once the telecast ended, O’Brien appeared in a parody scene adapted from the Oscar-winning film for Best Picture, One Battle After Another, in which O’Brien is named by an academy official as the Oscar “host for life” and given a special corner office only to end up gassed to death — an homage to the movie demise of Colonel Lockjaw, the character played by Sean Penn.
Winner: One Battle After Another
Bugonia
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams
Winner: Michael B Jordan, Sinners
Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
Winner: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue
Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Emma Stone, Bugonia
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Chloé Zhao, Hamnet
Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Winner: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo, Sinners
Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value
Winner: Amy Madigan, Weapons
Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners
Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
Winner: Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Robert Kaplow, Blue Moon
Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident
Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”
Will Tracy, “Bugonia”
Guillermo del Toro, “Frankenstein”
Maggie O’Farrell and Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet”
Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, “Train Dreams”
Winner: KPop Demon Hunters
Arco
Elio
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2
Winner: The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Butterfly
Forevergreen
Retirement Plan
The Three Sisters
Winner: Cassandra Kulukundis, One Battle after Another
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
The Secret Agent
Sinners
Winner: Sentimental Value
It Was Just an Accident
The Secret Agent
Sirāt
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Winner: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
The Alabama Solution
Come See Me in the Good Light
Cutting through Rocks
The Perfect Neighbor
Winner: Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones, All the Empty Rooms
Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Children No More: Were and Are Gone
The Devil Is Busy
Perfectly a Strangeness
Winner: Ludwig Göransson, Sinners
Jerskin Fendrix for Bugonia
Alexandre Desplat for Frankenstein
Max Richter for Hamnet
Jonny Greenwood for One Battle After Another
Winner: ‘Golden’ from KPop Demon Hunters
‘Train Dreams’ from Train Dreams
‘Dear Me’ from Diane Warren: Relentless
‘I Lied To You’ from Sinners
‘Sweet Dreams Of Joy’ from Viva Verdi!
Winner: F1
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Sirāt
Winner: Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau, Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Winners (tie): The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva
Butcher’s Stain
A Friend of Dorothy
Jane Austen’s Period Drama
Winner: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners
Frankenstein
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Train Dreams
Winner: Frankenstein
Kokuho
Sinners
The Smashing Machine
The Ugly Stepsister
Winner: Frankenstein
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
Sinners
Winner: Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
Jurassic World Rebirth
The Lost Bus
Sinners
Winner: Andy Jurgensen, One Battle After Another
F1
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Cover photo: Reuters