It was one Oscar after another for Warner Bros. Discovery, as they collected 11 Oscar trophies from the 98th Academy Awards. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another won six Oscars, including three for the venerated director in Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay. The film also won a Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn (making him the fourth male actor to win three Oscars, after Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, and Walter Brennan), Best Film Editing for Andy Jurgensen, and the first Best Casting Oscar for Cassandra Kulukundis.
The Best Picture win marks Warner Bros. fourth win this century, after Argo (2012), The Departed (2006), and Million Dollar Baby (2004). Best Actor nominee Leonardo DiCaprio joins the club of similar leading men like Clarke Gable and Dustin Hoffman, who have led three Best Picture winners. (DiCaprio led 1997’s Titanic and The Departed).
It was an undeniable race, as it won the Golden Globe for Comedy/Musical, Best Film prizes at Critics’ Choice, BAFTA, PGA, DGA, WGA, ACE Eddie, and a SAG acting win for Penn. Aside from missing the Ensemble award at SAG, it had the strongest precursor haul of any Best Picture Contender. It was one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2025, with many feeling it was Anderson’s time to win after delivering beloved films like Boogie Nights (1997), There Will Be Blood (2007), and Phantom Thread (2017).
The biggest competition for One Battle After Another throughout awards season was Ryan Coogler’s horror blockbuster, Sinners, winning four Oscars, including Original Screenplay for Coogler (becoming the second black screenwriter to win this award after Jordan Peele), Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan (becoming the sixth black actor to win in this category), Original Score for Ludwig Göransson (his third Oscar in eight years). The biggest win came for Autumn Durald Arkapaw in Best Cinematography, making her the first female winner (and person of color) in this category in Academy history. (This was also the last non-gendered category for a woman to win the first time.)
After One Battle After Another won significant cinematography precursors at BAFTA, ASC, and BSC, it seemed like the hill was too big for Sinners to pull off an upset win, yet this marks the first time a film has won all three precursors, only to lose the Oscar since The Man Who Wasn’t There lost to Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring at the 2002 Oscars.
Sinners broke the all-time Oscar nomination record at 16, and many felt the most original studio blockbuster had a path for Best Picture, as it came off strong from winning Best SAG Ensemble during the window of Oscar voting. While it fell short, fans needn’t worry, as the success of the film has cemented Coogler among the most successful and in-demand directors in the industry.
Yet, the night had already started with Amy Madigan winning Best Supporting Actress for Weapons, becoming the second-oldest actress to win the category at 75, behind Peggy Ashcroft, who won at 77 for A Passage to India (1984). Madigan follows in the legendary footsteps of Ruth Gordon, who won a Supporting Actress Oscar for Rosemary’s Baby (1968). It was an incredible night not just for Warner Bros. but the horror genre, as Jordan and Madigan became the seventh and eighth performers to win for a horror film.
Indeed, it was the most chaotic Best Supporting Actress race in recent memory. Madigan began the season strong, winning the most wins at critics’ groups and her first televised win at Critics’ Choice. Yet, Teyana Taylor won the Globe for One Battle After Another, while Sinners’ Wunmi Mosaku took the BAFTA (a precursor where Madigan wasn’t nominated). Madigan’s SAG win solidified her Oscar win, as Aunt Gladys was celebrated by many in the industry (Oscar Host Conan O’Brien dressed up as Gladys in the ceremony’s opening montage) as an actress of her caliber, delivering an iconic horror performance that people loved.
Speaking of horror, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein walked away with three wins in Costume, Production, and Makeup & Hairstyling. The craft and design were always hard to dispute, as every Guillermo del Toro film has had his eye for detail and quality. This marks the third del Toro film to win for Production Design, after 2017’s The Shape of Water and 2006’s Pan’s Labyrinth (which also won for Makeup).
Netflix won seven Oscars, the second-most wins for a studio (tying their haul for the 2021 Oscars). After Frankenstein, KPop Demon Hunters won both of their nominations for Animated Feature and Original Song for “Golden.” Their most successful film on the platform has enjoyed riches and fandom beyond the streamer’s wildest dreams, and with a sequel already announced, one can expect this won’t be the last time we see Huntrix at the Oscars. Netflix lost in a surprise upset in Best Documentary, where The Perfect Neighbor lost to Mr. Nobody Against Putin. Mr. Nobody won the coveted BAFTA; this marks the third international documentary in a row to win in this category, something to take notice of, as the international Academy shows some influence in certain categories that feel locked for certain contenders.
Netflix won two of the short film categories; All the Empty Rooms won the Documentary Short film, marking the streamer’s fifth win in the category. In Live Action Short, Netflix’s The Singers won in a history-making tie with Two Girls Exchanging Saliva. This marks the seventh overall tie in Oscar history, the last one happening at the 2013 Oscars in Sound Editing between Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall. It’s the second tie to happen in the Live Action Short category since the 1995 Oscars, where Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life and Trevor. Props to Kumail Nanjiani for handling the situation with firm control and light humor.
Jessie Buckley became the first Irish actress to win Best Actress for Hamnet. She had swept the entire season, between the Globe, Critics’ Choice, BAFTA, and SAG. The last time a lead actress contender swept all major precursors was Renee Zellweger for Judy (2019). Chloé Zhao becomes the first female filmmaker to direct two Best Actress Oscar winners, after Frances McDormand won for Nomadland (2020).
It was such an incredible year for major studios at the Oscars, a stark contrast from last year’s Oscars, where reputable indie studios (Neon and A24) won top honors for the independent awards fair, Anora and The Brutalist. This year, A24 walks away with the biggest Oscar losses, as Marty Supreme lost all nine of its nominations, including Timothée Chalamet in Best Actor. Coincidentally, this follows up on Chalamet’s A Complete Unknown (2024), which also lost all eight of its Oscar nominations last year. Neon did walk away with a win in International Feature for Sentimental Value, making it Norway’s first Oscar win in the category. The film premiered at last year’s Cannes, where it won the Grand Prix.
Like last year’s analysis, what did we learn from this awards season? It’s hard to talk about the success Warner Bros. had without crediting the two Chief heads of Film, Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. They took a bold chance greenlighting One Battle After Another, Sinners, and Weapons, and not only did they become financial successes, but they also brought them prestigious acclaim.
It feels bittersweet, as Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of the historic studio is underway, it calls into question the future of bold auteur-driven films that can be produced and released in the studio system. All three films were universally loved, and there’s no denying that their craft and artistry made them formidable contenders that no other film could dismantle.
The future is grey as to what will happen to De Luca and Abdy, as WDB gets subsumed by Paramount Skydance, yet this year’s awards season validated their palette as cinematic tastemakers.
Neon and A24 will continue their path championing bold indie and international artists. Last year felt like the Cannes/Venice Oscar awards; this year seemed like Hollywood’s last hold on assuring audiences they can create, market, and award studio films that can sit along the likes of Anora, Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), and Parasite (2019). All of these films are made by revered, unique directors who were allowed to express a deep creative desire for how they view the world with massive budgets. Paul Thomas Anderson and Ryan Coogler fit this lineage, and it’s only a matter of time before both will be back at the Oscars and continue to make history.
This awards season has produced a lot of chaotic discourse between these camps, and the competitive margins in which film could usurp the other in numerous categories. The sad truth is this is a case where, much like No Country for Old Men (2007) vs There Will Be Blood (2007), or La La Land (2016) vs Moonlight (2016) — all these films were beloved by the Academy, and had the misfortune of having to compete against each other. Yet all filmmakers have benefited from time, aiding their legacy and proving how valuable and grateful we are to have directors operating at the top of their game.
One Battle After Another and Sinners will stand the test of time as beautiful pillars to not just their respective directors, but also as testaments to studio film production and the types of art that can be made for mass appeal. Take a note from Ryan Coogler himself on why he declined an invitation to join the Academy. “I don’t buy into this versus that, or ‘this movie wasn’t good enough to make this list,’” Coogler emphasizes.
“I love movies.… For me, that’s good enough.”
Analysis Courtesy of Amritpal Rai