Sean Penn won his third Oscar on Sunday night. He was not in the building. While the Dolby Theatre erupted in applause, Penn was already wheels-up to Kyiv, where he showed up the next morning — cigarette dangling, getting off a train — to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukrainian Railways posted the video. The caption read: “Sean Penn chose Ukraine instead of Oscar.” I have been covering this industry for over twenty years, and I genuinely cannot think of a more Sean Penn way to handle winning an Academy Award. Only at the Oscars, folks. Only at the Oscars.
- 98th Academy Awards: Quick Stats Table
- The Big Story: One Battle After Another Dominates the Night
- The Acting Races — Upsets, History, and One Very Absent Winner
- The Controversy Corner — Politics, Records, and One Very Unlucky Songwriter
- Complete 2026 Oscar Winners List
- Films Compared: Who Won What and How Many
- 3 Things Most People Missed About the 2026 Oscars
- 1. The Best Casting Category Changed Everything — And Nobody Talked About It
- 2. Sean Penn Made History With His Third Win — From a Different Continent
- 3. Conan O’Brien Quietly Delivered One of the Best Hosting Jobs in Recent Memory
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Who won Best Picture at the 2026 Oscars?
- Who won Best Actor and Best Actress at the 2026 Oscars?
- Why was Sean Penn not at the Oscars?
- What was the most nominated film at the 2026 Oscars?
- What new award was introduced at the 2026 Oscars?
- Final Verdict: Was the 2026 Oscars Worth Staying Up For?
The 98th Academy Awards happened Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Conan O’Brien hosted for the second year running. And while the ceremony had its share of moving speeches, political moments, and one historically futile songwriter — more on Diane Warren in a second — the real story was a two-horse race between Sinners and One Battle After Another that kept everyone guessing until the very end.
Spoiler: Paul Thomas Anderson finally got his. And the internet had feelings about all of it.
98th Academy Awards: Quick Stats Table
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Ceremony | 98th Academy Awards |
| Date | Sunday, March 15, 2026 |
| Venue | Dolby Theatre, Ovation Hollywood, Los Angeles |
| Host | Conan O’Brien (2nd consecutive year) |
| Announcer | Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows) |
| Best Picture | One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson) |
| 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 |
| Most Wins | One Battle After Another — 6 Oscars |
| Most Nominations | Sinners — 16 nominations (record-setting) |
| New Category Introduced | Best Casting (first new category since 2002) |
| Broadcast | ABC, Hulu, and 200+ territories worldwide |
The Big Story: One Battle After Another Dominates the Night
Let me give you the full picture. Sinners walked in with a record-setting 16 nominations — the most of any film this year. The internet was convinced Ryan Coogler’s film was going to sweep. Then One Battle After Another quietly picked up category after category and walked out with six wins, including the big one: Best Picture.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s action-thriller took home six Oscars at the 98th Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor, Best Directing, and Best Picture — along with Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, and the first-ever Oscar for Best Casting. Anderson, upon accepting his award, delivered what might be the most relatable speech of the night: after being nominated roughly a dozen times across his career without a win, he told the crowd, “You make a guy work hard for one of these, I really appreciate it.”
I remember when PTA was the critical darling who kept coming close and never landing. Boogie Nights. There Will Be Blood. The Master. Phantom Thread. Nomination after nomination. Award season after award season. The industry insiders always said it was a matter of time. Well. Time finally showed up.
Sinners was not shut out, not even close. The film, which had previously set a record with 16 nominations, took home four Oscars including Ryan Coogler’s win for Writing (Original Screenplay) and Actor in a Leading Role for Michael B. Jordan. Jordan’s win was historic in its own right — it was his first career Academy Award nomination, and he won it for his dual role as twins Smoke and Stack. In his acceptance speech, he thanked the Black actors “who came before me.” Short, sincere, powerful. No notes.
The Acting Races — Upsets, History, and One Very Absent Winner
The acting categories were genuinely compelling this year. That does not always happen. Sometimes you know the winner three months out and the ceremony is just a long, expensive confirmation. Not this time.
Best Actress went to Jessie Buckley for Hamnet, and this one felt both inevitable and thrilling at the same time. Buckley picked up her first career Oscar on her first nomination and became the first Irishwoman to win the Best Actress prize, after steamrolling through awards season for her portrayal of William Shakespeare’s partner Agnes. She has been one of the most criminally underrecognized actresses in the English-speaking world for years — Wild Rose, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Women Talking — and the Academy finally did the right thing. About time.
Best Supporting Actress went to Amy Madigan for Weapons. This was the night’s genuine surprise. Most tracking had Wunmi Mosaku from Sinners as the frontrunner. Madigan, a veteran actress who has been working since the 1980s, won her first Oscar. She is 72 years old. The room gave her a standing ovation before she even reached the microphone.
And then there was Sean Penn. After skipping the Oscars ceremony — where he won his third career Academy Award — Penn arrived Monday in Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Most fans miss this detail: Penn’s win for One Battle After Another was accepted in absentia. The film’s producers took the stage. Penn was already on a plane to a war zone. Say what you want about the man — and people have said plenty — but his commitment to his convictions is not performative.
The Controversy Corner — Politics, Records, and One Very Unlucky Songwriter
No Oscars ceremony is complete without at least a handful of moments that send Twitter — sorry, X — into full meltdown mode. This year delivered.
The Political Speeches. Javier Bardem, presenting Best International Feature Film, said plainly from the stage: “No to war and free Palestine.” The clip went viral within minutes. David Borenstein, co-director of winning documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin, used his speech to talk about how you lose a country through “countless small, little acts of complicity.” His co-director, Pavel Talankin — who shot footage while working inside a Russian school — closed with: “In the name of all of our children, stop all of these wars now.” These were not the speeches the Academy’s PR team had scripted in their heads. They happened anyway.
Conan’s Hosting. O’Brien returned for year two and delivered. He skewered the Oscars’ pending move to YouTube with a glimpse of what that future might look like — the crowd laughed, the executives probably did not. He also stung Donald Trump and CBS in the same breath about free speech. Sharp, fast, and he closed by nodding to a grieving Martin Short. The tone was exactly right: funny without being cruel, political without being preachy.
Diane Warren’s Record. Oh, Diane. Since 1987, Warren has been nominated 17 times for Best Original Song at the Oscars. She has lost each time — including Sunday, when “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters took the prize. That is 17 nominations. Zero wins. A record for futility that she now officially holds alone. Her response on Facebook: “Well at least I’m consistent!” Industry insiders love her for this. The woman is made of Teflon and determination. Seventeen times. Incredible.
Best Cinematography History. Sinners cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw made history as the first-ever female winner for Best Cinematography. This happened in the same year the Academy introduced Best Casting as a category for the first time since Best Animated Feature in 2002. Two historic firsts in one ceremony. That is worth underlining.
Complete 2026 Oscar Winners List
- 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 Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
- Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler – Sinners
- Best Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters
- Best International Feature Film: Sentimental Value (Norway)
- Best Documentary Feature: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
- Best Documentary Short: All the Empty Rooms
- Best Live Action Short: The Singers (tie winner)
- Best Animated Short: Two People Exchanging Saliva (tie winner)
- Best Film Editing: Andy Jurgensen – One Battle After Another
- Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw – Sinners (historic first female win)
- Best Original Score: Ludwig Göransson – Sinners
- Best Original Song: “Golden” – KPop Demon Hunters
- Best Production Design: Tamara Deverell – Frankenstein
- Best Costume Design: Frankenstein
- Best Makeup & Hairstyling: Frankenstein
- Best Sound: Sinners
- Best Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash
- Best Casting (New Category): Cassandra Kulukundis – One Battle After Another
Films Compared: Who Won What and How Many
| Film | Nominations | Wins | Key Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| One Battle After Another | Multiple | 6 | Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Editing, Casting |
| Sinners | 16 (record) | 4 | Best Actor, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Original Score |
| Frankenstein | Multiple | 3 | Production Design, Costume Design, Makeup & Hairstyling |
| KPop Demon Hunters | Multiple | 2 | Animated Feature, Original Song |
| Hamnet | Multiple | 1 | Best Actress |
| Weapons | Multiple | 1 | Best Supporting Actress |
| Mr. Nobody Against Putin | Multiple | 1 | Best Documentary Feature |
| Avatar: Fire and Ash | Multiple | 1 | Best Visual Effects |
| Sentimental Value | Multiple | 1 | Best International Feature Film |
3 Things Most People Missed About the 2026 Oscars
1. The Best Casting Category Changed Everything — And Nobody Talked About It
The Academy introduced Best Casting for the first time in 23 years — the first new category since Best Animated Feature in 2002. Cassandra Kulukundis won for One Battle After Another. This matters because casting directors have been lobbying for Academy recognition for decades. They are among the most influential people in Hollywood and have historically received zero awards-season acknowledgment. The category’s debut flew under the radar because of all the acting drama, but industry insiders know: this is a big structural shift in how Hollywood recognizes its own work.
2. Sean Penn Made History With His Third Win — From a Different Continent
Most fans are focused on Penn being absent. The bigger detail is that this was his third Academy Award. He now sits in extraordinarily rare company — actors with three or more Oscar wins. He joins Meryl Streep, Daniel Day-Lewis, Frances McDormand, and Katharine Hepburn in that conversation. And he collected this one from a train station in Kyiv. That sentence will be in film history books.
3. Conan O’Brien Quietly Delivered One of the Best Hosting Jobs in Recent Memory
The post-ceremony discourse focused on the films and the speeches. But Conan — in his second year — ran a tight, funny, politically aware show that ended on time. That last part alone is practically miraculous. He roasted the right targets, landed his callbacks, and gave the evening genuine warmth when Martin Short — whose wife Anne Meara died years ago — was referenced in a poignant closing moment. The Academy would be foolish not to bring him back for a third year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won Best Picture at the 2026 Oscars?
One Battle After Another, directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson, won Best Picture at the 98th Academy Awards. The film took home six Oscars in total, the most of any film at the ceremony.
Who won Best Actor and Best Actress at the 2026 Oscars?
Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor for his dual role as twins Smoke and Stack in Sinners — his first-ever Oscar nomination and win. Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for Hamnet, becoming the first Irishwoman to win the award, also on her first nomination.
Why was Sean Penn not at the Oscars?
Sean Penn skipped the 2026 Oscars ceremony despite winning Best Supporting Actor for One Battle After Another. He was in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky the morning after the show. Ukrainian Railways posted a video of him arriving by train. Penn has been a long-time supporter of Ukraine and has made multiple visits to the country since Russia’s invasion began.
What was the most nominated film at the 2026 Oscars?
Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, set a record with 16 nominations — the most of any film at this year’s ceremony. It converted four of those into wins, including Best Actor and Best Cinematography, the latter being a historic first female win in that category.
What new award was introduced at the 2026 Oscars?
The Academy introduced Best Casting for the first time in 23 years — the first new category since Best Animated Feature Film was added in 2002. Cassandra Kulukundis won the inaugural award for One Battle After Another. The category has been a long-standing request from casting directors who have historically been excluded from awards recognition despite their central role in shaping every film.
Final Verdict: Was the 2026 Oscars Worth Staying Up For?
Yes. And I do not say that every year.
The two-film rivalry between Sinners and One Battle After Another gave the ceremony genuine stakes. The acting winners were not predictable — Amy Madigan’s win was a full surprise, and Jessie Buckley’s felt earned rather than coronated. The political speeches had real weight. Conan was sharp. And Sean Penn won from a train station in Kyiv, which is the most dramatic possible way to collect hardware.
My prediction for next awards cycle? Sinners will be studied and rewatched for years — Ryan Coogler just made his generation’s defining film even if it came second on Oscar night. Jessie Buckley is now a bonafide A-list name who will headline anything she wants. And Paul Thomas Anderson, finally vindicated after decades of near-misses, will probably not make another film for four years. That is just how he works. And whenever it comes, we will all be watching.
The 98th Academy Awards reminded us why this ceremony — frustrating, political, too long, too short, always somehow both — still matters. Because when the right films win, it feels like the whole industry exhaled at once. That happened Sunday night. I was there for all of it. So were you.
