Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” was crowned best picture at the 98th Academy Awards, giving Hollywood’s top honor to a comedic, multigenerational American saga of political resistance.
Sunday’s ceremony, which also saw Michael B. Jordan win best actor and “Sinners” cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw make Oscar history as the first cinematographer to win the award, was a long-overdue coronation for Anderson, a San Fernando Valley native who made his first short film at age 18 and has been one of America’s most acclaimed filmmakers for decades. Before Sunday, Anderson had never won an Oscar.
But “One Battle After Another,” the incoming favorite, won six Oscars, including best director and best adapted screenplay for Anderson, the first Oscar trophy for best ensemble and best supporting actor for an absent Sean Penn.
“I wrote this movie to make my kids apologize for the mess we left in this world; we’re handing it over to them,” Anderson said while accepting the screenplay trophy. “But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that will hopefully bring us some common sense and decency.”
“Sinners,” which earned a record 16 nominations, also scored some important and even historic wins. Coogler, the much-loved filmmaker, won the first Oscar in an unblemished career that began with Jordan in 2013’s “Fruitvale Station.” Arkapow, the fourth female director of photography ever nominated, won the award in a long-overdue triumph for women behind the camera.
“I really want all the women in the room to stand up,” Arkapaw said. “Because I don’t feel like I got here without you.”
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And Jordan, one of Hollywood’s most beloved leading men, won best actor in one of the closest races of the night. The Dolby Theater rose to its feet with the most thunderous applause of the night.
“Hey, mom, what’s up?” Jordan said after staggering onto the stage.
Oscar night belonged to Warner Bros., the studio of “One Battle After Another” and Coogler’s vampire story. It was a strangely poignant note of triumph for the legendary studio, which weeks earlier agreed to a sale to Paramount Skydance, David Ellison’s quickly assembled media monolith. The deal, which awaits regulatory approval, has Hollywood bracing for more layoffs.
“Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” were Hollywood anomalies: big-budget originals born from a personal vision. In a year when anxiety over studio shrinkage and the rise of artificial intelligence often consumed the industry, both films gave Hollywood new hope.
Jessie Buckley won best actress for her portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare in “Hamnet,” making her the first Irish performer to win in the category. In an Oscars where no other acting award seemed certain, Buckley arrived at Sunday’s Oscars at the Dolby Theater as the heavy favorite.
“It’s Mother’s Day in the UK,” Buckley said on stage. “I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart.”
From the beginning, when host Conan O’Brien ran through the year’s nominees as Amy Madigan’s character in the horror thriller “Weapons” in a prerecorded portion, Sunday’s ceremony was quirky, a little heavy-handed and concerned with the changing place of movies in culture. Of all things, there was a tie for best live action short film.
As expected, Netflix sensation “KPop Demon Hunters,” the most-watched movie of 2025, won best animated film, as well as best song for “Golden.” It was a big win for Netflix, but a more qualified victory for the film’s producer, Sony Pictures. Although it developed and produced the film, Sony sold “KPop Demon Hunters” to the streaming giant instead of releasing it in theaters.
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On Netflix, “KPop Demon Hunters” became a cultural phenomenon and the streaming platform’s biggest hit. It has over 325 million views and counting.
“This is for Korea and Koreans around the world,” said co-director Maggie Kang.
Another Netflix release, Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” won three awards for lavish art, costume design, makeup and hair, and production design.
Amy Madigan won best supporting actress for her performance in the horror thriller “Weapons,” a victory that came 40 years after the 75-year-old actor was first nominated, in 1986, for “Twice in a Lifetime.” Letting out a giant laugh as he took the stage, Madigan exclaimed, “This is great!”
Hosting for the second time, O’Brien began the Dolby Theater show by alluding to “chaotic and scary times.” But he argued that the current geopolitical climate made the Oscars resonate even more as a global unifying force.
“Tonight we pay tribute, not only to cinema, but to the ideals of global art, collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of modern qualities: optimism,” said O’Brien. “Let’s celebrate. Not because we think everything is fine, but because we work and hope for something better.”
Throughout the show, O’Brien hit several targets, including Timothée Chalamet for his criticism of opera and ballet. But the ceremony was rarely overshadowed by politics, whether in references to changes under U.S. President Donald Trump or the recently launched war in Iran.
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Joachim Trier, whose Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value” won best international film, cited James Baldwin in his acceptance speech.
“All adults are responsible for all children,” he said. “Let’s not vote for politicians who don’t take this seriously.”
Host Jimmy Kimmel, whose late-night show was suspended last year after comments he made about the murder of Charlie Kirk, was among the most forceful.
“There are some countries that do not support freedom of speech,” Kimmel said. “I’m not at liberty to say which one. Let’s leave it to North Korea and CBS.”
Shortly after, “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” a film about a Russian elementary school teacher who documents the indoctrination of his students to support Russia’s war with Ukraine, won best documentary.
“‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ is about how your country is lost,” the co-director said. “And what we saw in working with this footage is that you lose it through countless, small, small acts of complicity.”
“We are all faced with a moral choice,” he added, “but fortunately, no one is more powerful than you think.”
The elegy also marked the Oscars. Producers expanded the in memoriam segment after a year that featured the deaths of so many Hollywood legends, including Keaton, Robert Duvall and Redford. Barbra Streisand talked about Redford, her “The Way We Were” co-star.
“Bob had a lot of backbone,” said Streisand, who called Redford “an intellectual cowboy” before singing a few bars of “The Way We Were.”
Billy Crystal has paid tribute to Rob and Michele Reiner, who were murdered in their home in December. Crystal, a close friend of Rob Reiner who memorably starred in 1989’s “When Harry Met Sally…” and 1987’s “The Princess Bride.” In her moving remarks, Crystal cited the latter.
“All we can say is: Dude, how much fun we had storming the castle,” Crystal said.
The final award of the night was again not for a streaming release; Apple’s “CODA” remains the only streaming movie to achieve that distinction. “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” were theatrical releases shot on film. And both come from Warner Bros., the legacy studio that agreed to merge with David Ellison’s new media colossus, Paramount Skydance. The $111 billion deal, which awaits regulatory approval, has shaken an industry already coming to terms with the acquisitions of MGM (for Amazon) and 20th Century Fox (for The Walt Disney Co.).
Apple’s “F1,” a film it partnered with Warner Bros. to distribute theatrically, won for best sound. The only blockbuster of the year that went home with a win was “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” visual effects-wise.
Some of O’Brien’s best digs came at the expense of streamers. Netflix boss Ted Sarandos joked he was in a movie theater for the first time. The host also lamented the lack of nominees for Amazon MGM: “Why doesn’t the website where I order toilet paper win more Oscars?”
“I’m honored to be the last human host of the Academy Awards,” O’Brien said. “Next year it will be a Waymo in a tuxedo.”
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
