By: Sam Hepburn

The 2026 Oscar ceremony was one to remember. Broken records, emotional speeches, and first-time winners.

The award show was once again hosted by Conan O’Brain. He would start the ceremony with a hilarious cold open, spoofing all the films nominated for awards this year. He would then keep the show’s energy up with his opening monologue, poking fun at nominated actors.

One of the biggest highlights of the award ceremony was Michael B. Jordan winning the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Smoke and Stack in “Sinners”. This would be his first Oscar win in his career. When accepting the award, he showed gratitude to his personal heroes, highlighted the team behind “Sinners”, and thanked everyone who has supported him along the way.

Another huge moment that happened at this ceremony was Jessie Buckley winning an Oscar for Best Actress. She would win this award for her amazing performance as Agnes in “Hamnet”. This Oscar win also marks her as the first Irish actress to win in this category. 

Paul Thomas Anderson would also win his first Oscar in the directing category, for “One After Another”. Paul Thomas Anderson would graciously accept the award, paying respect to the late Adam Somner, producer of the film, and highlighting the hard work of the other nominees.    

This Oscar ceremony would also make new records. One of these would be the tie win of best live action short film, the two winners being “The Singer” and “Two People Exchanging Salvia”. Another would be Sean Penn winning his third Oscar for best supporting actor in “One Battle After Another”. However, the actor would not be at the ceremony that night to accept it, as he was in Ukraine showing his support to the country.

The nominees for Best Picture were all amazing films, making the competition this year even more extreme. There were also a lot of international films nominated this year as well. The films nominated were “One Battle after another”, “Sinners”, “Marty Supreme”, “Hamnet”, “The Secret Agent”, “Sentimental value”, “Frankenstein”, “F1”, and “Bugona”. With all these great films being nominated, the Oscar could go to any one of these films. Being presented by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, they would announce that “One Battle After Another” would revise the oscar for best picture. This would be the film’s third Oscar that night.

Justin Streets, a film fan and viewer, was interviewed on his thoughts about this ceremony. “This Oscars had a lot of great movies, and performers nominated”, Streets said. “I’m just very happy Michael B. Jordan won.” 

Overall, the 2026 Oscars was a night to be remembered in cinema. The competition in each category this year was beyond intense. Many of the winners this year were also getting their Oscar for the first time. After such a great year for films, it only makes next year’s expectations even higher. 

Photo from People.com, Taken by Mike Coppola/Getty.