Seth Lamey
The 98th Oscars celebrated many of the top films from 2025 both from the mainstream and independent scenes. Host Conan O’Brien was back in his second straight year as host, keeping the broadcast and audience laughing and in good spirits throughout the night. The show sprinkled in live performances of best original song nominees highlighted by “I Lied to You” from Sinners and Oscar-winner “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters. After a year of losing numerous Hollywood legends, an extended In Memoriam featured a heart-felt montage with sentimental respect for Rob Reiner, Diane Keaton, and Robert Redford.
It was a big night for Paul Thomas Anderson and Ryan Coogler, as their films One Battle After Another and Sinners dominated the major awards. After 30 years of film making and 14 nominations but zero wins Anderson took home Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture Oscars. Sean Penn won his third Oscar for his supporting role in the film, which also won Best Casting and Editing. Sinners won Best Original Screenplay for Coogler, who became the fifth black writer to win an Oscar for a screenplay (with all winners coming in the last 16 years). Michael B. Jordan won Best Leading Actor, while the film’s composer Ludwig Goransson took home his second Oscar for Best Musical Score and Autumn Durald Arkapaw made Academy history becoming the first woman to win Best Cinematography.
Other notables include Frankenstein taking home three technical awards: makeup and hairstyling, costume design, and production design. Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for Weapons in her first nomination since 1986. Jesse Buckley finished off a dominant award season with a Best Actress in a Leading Role win for Hamnet. Marty Supreme received a healthy nine nominations but went home with zero wins.
Listed below are the complete listed winners, along with links to reviews to nearly every nominated film and instant analysis of major category wins in comparison with our Film Obsessive critics’ predictions.
Best Picture: One Battle After Another
Film Obsessive predicted this big win, as juggernaut One Battle After Another won best film at nearly every award show this season. This continues a trend this decade where one film dominates the major awards as it joins Everything Everywhere All At Once, Oppenheimer, and Anora. A culmination of Paul Thomas Anderson’s 30 years of work, the film showcased excellent film making with relevant themes and a sharp cast. Anderson joins fellow Gen-X filmmaker Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) in having his crowning year at the Oscars.
Actress in a Leading Role: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Jessie Buckley dominated the awards circuit this year, winning at nearly ever show she was nominated at and matched our pick for best lead actress. A well respected character actress, she gave the performance of a lifetime in Hamnet as William Shakespeare’s wife Agnes. Showcasing depths of wonder and nerve-ending grief, she steals the show with a vibrant and scarring performance in Chloe Zhao’s well-made melodrama.
Actor in a Leading Role: Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Michael B. Jordan pulls the tight late-season upset over our prediction of Timothee Chalamet for Marty Supreme. With a stacked field that offered nearly every candidate a win throughout award season, Jordan gained steam with a win at SAG and the Academy leaned into the first-time nominee as well. The difficult task of playing twins in the star role of Sinners, Jordan with his director muse Ryan Coogler crafted the memorable “smokestack” twins who were the heart and soul of an iconic ensemble. Jordan embodied the physicality and nuance Smoke and Stack needed to carry the southern vampire drama and became just the sixth Black man to earn the Lead Actor Oscar.
Actor in a Supporting Role: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Sean Penn pulls a slight upset over our prediction of Stellan Skarsgard from Sentimental Value. This win adds Penn to an elite tier of only eight actors who have won three Oscars, having previous won for Mystic River and Milk. Penn’s performance as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw in One Battle After Another provided an insecure menace of tension throughout the entire film, and his dedication to such an intense role brought a great villain to the dramatic thriller. His absence at the awards show also adds to the actor’s off-screen mystique.
Actress in a Supporting Role: Amy Madigan, Weapons
In a race that was close all awards season, Amy Madigan pulled a slight upset over Teyana Taylor from One Battle After Another. Her win comes an astonishing 40 years after her previous nomination for Twice in a Lifetime. Her performance as the sly and domineering witch Gladys in Weapons anchors the film with an iconic villain. Madigan’s veteran presence in Hollywood and on screen crafted a memorable performance for one of the years underrated hits. Director Zach Cregger waited to unleash her character in the second half of the film, and even with restrained screen time, Madigan’s Gladys she left a chilling wake of subtle terror.
Directing: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Paul Thomas Anderson finally gets his directing Oscar after a dominating award season in the category for One Battle After Another matching our prediction. This marked Anderson’s 4th film nomination for Best Director and 1st win. Few film makers in 2025 had their hands on as many steering wheels of film making like Anderson penning his script, having hands-on cinematography credit, and directing an ensemble that won the inaugural Best Casting award and Sean Penn for best supporting actor. One Battle After Another represents not only one of the best films of 2025 but a culmination of Anderson’s work.
Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Coogler gets Sinners on the board with a win in best original screenplay, matching our prediction for the category. This well deserved win is Coogler’s first win in three nominations. Sinners dazzled audiences for the past year and his hard work with the script and in the directing chair brought a southern gothic vampire musical-drama to life. His maturation from Marvel studios and franchise films (Creed) show a trajectory of a very skilled writer/director entering his film making prime.
Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
After 14 nominations Paul Thomas Anderson finally gets an Oscar win for his adapted screenplay for One Battle After Another. Matching our prediction for the category, Anderson crafted a contemporary adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland with appropriate social and political charge for modern audiences. Balancing rich characters with intense storyline, Anderson’s script brings out the best of his writing and marks One Battle After Another as one of his best scripts and films in his acclaimed work.
Alongside these, the Academy also awarded statuettes to the following:
- Film Editing: Andy Jurgensen, One Battle After Another
- Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners
- Music (Original Score): Ludwig Goransson, Sinners
- Music (Original Song): “Golden” – KPop Demon Hunters
- Production Design: Frankenstein
- International Feature Film: Sentimental Value (Norway)
- Animated Feature Film: KPop Demon Hunters
- Costume Design: Frankenstein
- Documentary Feature Film: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
- Documentary Short Film: All the Empty Rooms
- Makeup and Hairstyling: Frankenstein
- Animated Short Film: The Girl Who Cried Pearls
- Live Action Short Film: The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva
- Sound: F1: The Movie
- Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash
- Casting: One Battle After Another
