‘One Battle After Another’ is Oscar best picture
LOS ANGELES—Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” was crowned best picture at the 98th Academy Awards, handing Hollywood’s top honor to a comic, multi-generational American saga of political resistance.
The ceremony on Sunday, which also saw Michael B. Jordan win best actor and “Sinners” cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw make Oscar history as the first female director of photography to win the award, was a long-in-coming coronation for Anderson, a San Fernando Valley native who made his first short at age 18 and has been one of America’s most lionized filmmakers for decades. Before Sunday, Anderson had never won an Oscar.
But “One Battle After Another,” the favorite coming in, won six Oscars, including best director and best adapted screenplay for Anderson, the Oscars’ first trophy for best casting and best supporting actor for an absent Sean Penn.
“I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world—we’re handing off to them,” said Anderson while accepting the screenplay trophy. “But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.”
Best actor, cinematographer
“Sinners,” which came in with a record 16 nominations, also landed some big and even historic wins. Ryan Coogler, the widely loved filmmaker, won the first Oscar in an unblemished career that started out with Jordan in 2013’s “Fruitvale Station.” Arkapow, only the fourth female cinematographer ever nominated, won the award in a long-in-coming triumph for women behind the camera.
“I really want all the women in room to stand up,” said Arkapaw. “Because I don’t feel like I get here without you guys.”
And Jordan, one of Hollywood’s most liked leading men, won best actor in one of the night’s closest races. The Dolby Theatre rose to its feet in the most thunderous applause of the night.
“Yo, momma, what’s up?” said Jordan after staggering to the stage.
The Oscar night belonged to Warner Bros., the studio of “One Battle After Another” and Coogler’s vampire tale. It was an oddly poignant note of triumph for the fabled studio, which weeks earlier agreed to a sale to Paramount Skydance, David Ellison’s rapidly assembled media monolith. The deal, which awaits regulatory approval, has Hollywood bracing for more layoffs.
“Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” were each Hollywood anomalies: big-budget originals born from a personal vision. In a year where anxiety over studio contraction and the rise of artificial intelligence often consumed the industry, both films gave Hollywood fresh hope.
Jessie Buckley won best actress for her performance as Agnes Shakespeare in “Hamnet,” making her the first Irish performer to ever win in the category.
Victory for Netflix
From the start, when host Conan O’Brien sprinted through the year’s nominees as Amy Madigan’s character in the horror thriller “Weapons” in a pretaped bit, Sunday’s ceremony was quirky, a little clunky and preoccupied with the shifting place of movies in culture. There was, of all things, a tie for best live-action short film.
As expected, the Netflix sensation “KPop Demon Hunters,” 2025’s most-watched film, won best animated feature, as well as best song for “Golden.” It was a big win for Netflix but a more qualified victory for the movie’s producer, Sony Pictures. Though it developed and produced the film, Sony sold “KPop Demon Hunters” to the streaming giant instead of giving it a theatrical release.
On Netflix, “KPop Demon Hunters” became a cultural phenomenon and the streaming platform’s biggest hit. It has more than 325 million views and counting.
“This is for Korea and Koreans everywhere,” said codirector Maggie Kang.
Another Netflix release, Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” picked up three awards for its lavish craft, for costume design, makeup and hairstyling and for production design.
O’Brien presides over a ceremony shadowed by politics.
Hosting for the second time, O’Brien began the Dolby Theatre show alluding to “chaotic and frightening times.” But he argued that the current geopolitical climate made the Oscars all the more resonate as a globally unifying force.
“We pay tribute tonight, not just to film, but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of qualities today—optimism,” O’Brien said. “We’re going to celebrate. Not because we think all is well, but because we work, and hope, for better.”
