14 March 2026
San Francisco
No film had ever received more than 14 Oscar nominations in a single year. This year, Sinners broke the record with the highest-ever 16 nominations. It is competing head-to-head with One Battle After Another, which has 14 nominations. Equally impressive are other contenders such as the Norwegian film Sentimental Value (9 nominations), Frankenstein (8), and Hamnet (8).
Such is the glory of 2025 — a year crowded with masterpieces competing for the ultimate prize in motion pictures. Despite the onslaught of OTT platforms and the ever-increasing popularity of web series, cinema is far from dead. In fact, it delivered one classic after another in 2025.
Paul Thomas Anderson, one of Hollywood’s greatest writer-directors (There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, The Master, Phantom Thread, Boogie Nights), has received 14 Academy Award nominations so far and has not yet won an Oscar. The Academy may finally reward him with more than one Oscar this year — Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay — for One Battle After Another, his 10th film in a career spanning 30 years. Adapted from the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, the film follows a former radical activist who returns to his old revolutionary life to protect his daughter and confront his past. Shot largely in California, including locations such as Borrego Springs and Eureka, the film is also expected to contend strongly in major craft categories such as Best Cinematography and Best Editing.
No horror film has made such a strong impact on the Academy since The Silence of the Lambs in 1991. Now Sinners has done just that. Director Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed) recreates a mesmerizing universe set in the 1932 Mississippi Delta, blending vampires, race, and the rich traditions of Southern music. He once again teams up with Michael B. Jordan — who has appeared in all his films — in Sinners. Jordan portrays criminal twins who return to the Jim Crow South, only to confront a lurking supernatural evil. The film is further elevated by the blues-infused score of Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson, an Oscar winner for his work on Oppenheimer and Black Panther. His music introduces audiences to some of the finest traditions of Southern Black music and gives Sinners its haunting atmosphere.
In the end, it may be a toss-up between One Battle After Another and Sinners for Best Picture. One Battle After Another has won every major award leading up to the Oscars, but the latest surge in momentum at just the right time may see Sinners edge past it to win Best Picture. The Academy may also honor Sinners with the newly created Best Casting Oscar for its terrific ensemble of performances.
Best Actor
Before turning 30, Marlon Brando received four consecutive Best Actor nominations: A Streetcar Named Desire (1952), Viva Zapata! (1953), Julius Caesar (1954), and On the Waterfront (1955), for which he won the Best Actor Oscar.
This year, Marty Supreme brings 30-year-old Timothée Chalamet his third Best Actor nomination. He was previously nominated for Call Me by Your Name (2018) and A Complete Unknown (2025). His performance as a charismatic 1950s table-tennis hustler inspired by Marty Reisman won rave reviews.
Until recently, he seemed almost a lock in this category before facing backlash over his derogatory remarks about ballet and opera. The Best Actor race, which had been tight between him and other contenders — Michael B. Jordan (Sinners), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), and Brazilian actor Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent) — is now wide open. It is extremely difficult to predict who will walk onto the stage to receive the Oscar on Sunday night. However, given the strong momentum of Sinners throughout the awards season, Michael B. Jordan may have a slight edge for his portrayal of twin brothers.
Best Actress
In comparison, the Best Actress category seems easier to predict. British actress Jessie Buckley has won nearly every major award leading up to the Oscars for her tour-de-force performance in Hamnet. The story centers on Agnes — Anne Hathaway — the wife of William Shakespeare, and the death of their son Hamnet, an event that later inspires the writing of Hamlet.
The film was directed by Chinese American filmmaker Chloé Zhao, who won Best Director and Best Film for Nomadland at the 93rd Academy Awards (the film also won Best Actress for Frances McDormand).
Another performance worth praising in this category comes from the surprising turn by Rose Byrne — remembered by many as the bride in Bridesmaids — in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. I happened to watch this film around the same time as the tragic suicide of a software professional mother with children on the railway tracks at Cherlapally, Hyderabad. Both stories — about managing the stress of holding a family together while the spouse is away, building a career, and battling depression — felt eerily similar.
Renate Reinsve is also excellent in Sentimental Value, which, incidentally, secured nominations for all four of its leading performers: one for Best Actress, one for Best Supporting Actor, and two for Best Supporting Actress.
Best Supporting Actor and Actress
Both Best Supporting categories are neck-and-neck this year, with the rivalry between Sinners and One Battle After Another extending across both.
The nominees in the Best Supporting Actor category are Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn (both for One Battle After Another), Delroy Lindo (Sinners), Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein), and Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value). Each actor deserves the Oscar, but the race appears to be narrowing to a three-horse contest among Penn, Skarsgård, and Lindo.
Another horror film noticed by the Academy is Weapons, which garnered a lone nomination for 75-year-old Amy Madigan in the Best Supporting Actress category. Madigan has been acting for nearly 50 years, and her last Oscar nomination came about 40 years ago. The Academy may be inclined to honor her this time, even over strong performances from Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another), Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners), and Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (both for Sentimental Value).
Best International Film
Many films nominated for Best International Feature in the past rarely found audiences outside their home countries. However, this trend reversed after Covid, as moviegoers became more willing to watch subtitled films. With many of these movies also becoming available quickly on OTT platforms, they began attracting attention not only from audience and critics but also in multiple awards categories.
This year’s nominated Best International films received multiple nominations. Both Sentimental Value (9 nominations) and The Secret Agent (4 nominations) were also nominated in the Best Picture category. Choosing a winner between these two as the Best International Film is extremely close and difficult to call.
My Predictions on Oscar Night:
• Best Picture: “Sinners”
• Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (“One Battle After Another”)
• Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan (“Sinners”)
• Best Actress: Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”)
• Best Supporting Actor: Sean Penn (“One Battle After Another”)
• Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan (“Weapons”)
• Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler (“Sinners”)
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson (“One Battle After Another”)
• Best Casting: Francine Maisler (“Sinners”)
• Best International Feature: “Sentimental Value" (Norway)
• Best Cinematography: Michael Bauman ("One Battle After Another")
• Best Sound: “F1”
• Best Editing: “One Battle After Another”
• Best Original Score: Ludwig Göransson (“Sinners”)
• Best Song: “Golden” (“KPop Demon Hunters”)
• Best Production Design: “Frankenstein”
• Best Costume Design: “Frankenstein”
• Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “Frankenstein”
• Best Visual Effects: " Avatar: Fire and Ash”
• Best Animated Feature: “KPop Demon Hunters”)
• Best Documentary Feature: “The Perfect Neighbor”
• Best Documentary Short: “All The Empty Rooms”
Prasad Nadhavajhala can be contacted at [email protected]
Past articles:
Oscar musings 2025
Oscar musings 2024
Oscar musings 2020
Oscar musings 2018
Oscar musings 2017
Oscar musings 2016
Oscar musings 2015
Oscar musings 2014
Oscar musings 2013
Oscar musings 2012
Oscar musings 2011
Oscar musings 2010
Oscar musings 2009
