At the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, Paul Thomas Anderson’s multi‑generational epic One Battle After Another dominated the ceremony, taking six Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film also won the Academy’s inaugural Best Casting award and Best Supporting Actor for an absent Sean Penn.
Accepting the Adapted Screenplay award, Anderson said he wrote the film “for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world,” and expressed hope that younger generations would “bring us some common sense and decency.” The win marked Anderson’s first Oscar after more than a decade of nominations.
Major category winners included:
– Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson — One Battle After Another
– Best Picture: One Battle After Another
– Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson — One Battle After Another
– Best Supporting Actor: Sean Penn — One Battle After Another
Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for Hamnet, completing a sweep of the season’s top acting honors. In her speech she thanked her Irish family and spoke of the lineage of women who “continue to create against all odds.”
Best Actor went to Michael B. Jordan for Sinners, in which he portrays twin brothers. Jordan paid tribute to trailblazers such as Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington and Halle Berry, and thanked his family and supporters.
Other notable winners:
– Best Original Song: “Golden” — Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park. The song appears in the animated K‑pop film Demon Hunters, Netflix’s most‑watched title; a sequel is reportedly in development.
– Best Original Score: Ludwig Göransson — Sinners, adding to his previous Oscars for Black Panther and Oppenheimer.
– Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw — Sinners. In accepting, Durald Arkapaw asked the women in the room to stand in recognition of their support.
– Film Editing: Andy Jurgensen — One Battle After Another. Jurgensen dedicated the award to his aunt, former Academy film archivist Barbara Hall.
– Best Sound: Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta — F1.
– Best International Feature Film: Sentimental Value — Norway (starring Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård).
– Best Documentary Feature: Mr. Nobody Against Putin. Co‑directors and producers accepted; Pavel Talankin, the film’s subject who smuggled footage out of Russia and now lives in exile, urged in Ukrainian to “stop all of these wars now.”
The ceremony blended celebratory moments with reminders of the industry’s global influence and political engagement — from K‑pop’s mainstream breakthrough to documentaries spotlighting conflict. One Battle After Another emerged as the night’s clear winner, further cementing Anderson’s standing among contemporary filmmakers.