Cover Photo Credit: The New Yorker
On March 15th 2026, Conan O’Brien hosted the 98th Academy Awards. It aired on CTV with over one billion viewers tuning in across the globe.
Amy Madigan took home Best Supporting Actress for Zach Cregger’s Weapons and surprised many, as horror films notoriously do not get the recognition they deserve. Sean Penn won, and was predicted to win, Best Supporting Actor for his character Steven J. Lockjaw (One Battle After Another), but shockingly did not attend. The category for Best Live Action Short had its first tie in history, leaving the audience to initially assume it was a joke. The recipients are Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh’s Two People Exchanging Saliva and Sam Davis’ The Singers, respectively. The Academy introduced a new category to the ceremony this year as well: Best Casting, won by Cassandra Kulukundis for One Battle After Another.
Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme lost all its nominations despite the $70 million dollar marketing budget allocated by A24. Conan also continued to take shots at Timotheé Chalamet throughout the award ceremony, due to Chalamet’s recent remarks pertaining to opera and ballet. Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent lost all of its four nominations as well. Jesse Buckley won Best Actress in a Leading Role for her character Agnes Shakespeare in Chloe Zeao’s Hamnet, after sweeping all awards season. Hamnet received eight other nominations, but unfortunately won only one category.
Although the event was relatively lighthearted, Conan made a few comments pertaining to pedophiles in positions of power, which mostly gained laughs, but led some people in the audience to boo him. Javier Bardem, known for No Country for Old Men, was a presenter for the Best International Feature Film category (won by Sentimental Value), and began his speech by bravely stating, “No to war, and free Palestine,” disturbing the Academy members as they have consistently tried to keep politics out of the ceremony.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another took home the most awards of the night, with four and six respective wins. Sinners broke the previous record of 14 nominations, replacing the amount to beat with 16. Micheal B. Jordan received Best Actor in a Leading Role for playing twins Smoke and Stack, along with Sinners winning Best Original Score, Best Cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s work—who became the first woman to win this award—and lastly Best Original Screenplay. One Battle After Another won Best Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Casting, and Director. Ultimately, One Battle After Another took the title for Best Picture in the 98th Academy Awards.
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