The Moments That Rocked the 2026 Oscars: Surprises, Snubs & Key Takeaways

What a night! After months and months of toing and froing, the 2026 Oscars finally happened with a largely uneventful (no slaps or misreadings here) night where many historic things still managed to happen. 

It’s true: the most tumultuous and tightly-run awards season in recent memory wrapped up with a long, long, long overdue win for Paul Thomas Anderson. The Liquorice Pizza director’s remarkable 2025 film, One Battle After Another, ended up going home with six awards, including the coveted Best Picture gong and a further two for Anderson, with Ryan Coogler’s Sinners coming in at a well-deserved second place with four wins from its record 16 nominations. 

Before we go into awards hibernation, here are the biggest takeaways from last night. Read on to discover more and use the guide below to find some of the most nominated films on services like AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere. 

Conan O’Brien Should Host the Oscars Every Year

No surprises here: Conan O’Brien did another bang-up job as the Oscar host, managing to keep things moving while landing a few choice jabs here and there. Backed up by Matt Berry’s velvety voice, Conan charmed the crowd (admittedly, after a rocky start) for a second year running — albeit without too many standout jokes.

The best was probably the one that came after, with the ex-late-night king reenacting Sean Penn’s final moments in One Battle After Another with Penn’s co-star from that movie, and his long-time writing partner, Jim Downey. In his monologue, he found space for an Epstein gag and even a ballet jab straight off the bat. Which leads us to…

Timothée Chalamet Loses Best Actor

I guess it was coming? But hindsight is 20/20. Looking back in 10 years, I get the feeling that Oscar historians will recognise Chalamet for working so hard to promote his film — a marketing blitz that effectively made Marty Supreme a hit at the box office while, I think, over-saturating everyone else who follows these things. Ballet-gate didn’t lose Timmy the Oscar; it was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The Sinners Wave Receded

Awards season can seem endless, then all of a sudden it happens all at once. For a film like One Battle, there was a sense that Anderson had perhaps peaked too soon, with Ryan Coogler’s Sinners gaining momentum at just the right moment for it to get over the line in the biggest categories. This worked for Michael B. Jordan, who gave a typically endearing speech with his remarkable win for Best Actor, as well as a couple of others (which we’ll get to shortly), but in the end, One Battle had enough to win the night. 

Paul Thomas Anderson Finally Wins His Oscar

By yesterday evening, Paul Thomas Anderson looked destined to win at least the Oscar for Adapted Screenplay for turning Thomas Pynchon’s decades-old novel Vineland into a ruthlessly contemporary work of cinema. The big question was whether or not PTA would take Best Director or if he would join the likes of Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock as one of the great geniuses of cinema to never win the prize. Thankfully, he got past the post with Ryan Coogler a likely second place. His time, I’m certain, will come. 

Autumn Durald Arkapaw Makes History In Cinematography

Coming into Sunday night, only three women, including Autumn Durald Arkapaw, had been nominated for Best Cinematography in the 98 year history of the Oscars, and zero had won. It felt like it was a 50/50 race for the prize, between her and Michael Bauman (for One Battle), but it was Arkapaw’s name that Demi Moore read from the fateful envelope — making her not only the first woman, but the first woman of colour to take the award. It was richly deserved.

The Rare Oscars Tie

Yes, Kumail Nanjiani might be known for his humour, but he really wasn’t joking when he announced that the award for best Live Action Short was a tie. Two People Exchanging Saliva and The Singers were both awarded, with their respective filmmakers each taking their turn to come up and give a speech. I’d never seen anything like it and, by the sounds of online chit chat, nobody else had, either. 

Sean Penn Didn’t Show Up to Collect His Oscar

Having caused a stir by lighting up a cig at the Golden Globes, Sean Penn has been largely keeping stum this awards season. Despite not showing up for most subsequent galas, he has nonetheless continued to sweep up most of the Supporting Actor prizes for his memorable turn as Steven J Lockjaw in One Battle After Another. The question was whether or not he would break that run for the biggest awards of all.

In the end, he didn’t show. He also joined the rarified air of actors with three wins, adding last night’s Supporting gong to his previous Best Actor wins for Milk and Mystic River. Given that and Chalamet’s burnout, perhaps awards campaigns will be run a little differently in future. We will have to wait and see.