The 98th Academy Awards have come and gone. What a fun night celebrating the films that were released in 2025. There were a few sound mishaps and quite a few people got played off, but nonetheless it was an incredible Oscars night. There were so many surprises, fun reunions, a touching in memoriam sequence, and a killer hosting job by the great Conan O’Brien. Here are the main 8 awards detailing who/what won and this author’s take on who/what should have won…

Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘One Battle After Another’

Best Picture

What Won: One Battle After Another

After a months long battle between Sinners and One Battle After Another, the war ended with Paul Thomas Anderson’s 10th feature film taking home the prize. One Battle After Another is an epic about fixing your mistakes and fighting for what’s right (along with a white supremist cult, a bunch of weed, and some swearing nuns). It had some fantastic performances from veteran actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn, and Regina Hall to some rising stars such as Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor, and Alana Haim. It also contained some incredible action scenes, tense dramatic scenes, and some laugh-out-loud moments. It was the type of film that fit our time.

What Should Have Won: One Battle After Another

As mentioned above, Sinners sadly didn’t win; but the world finally can relax now that Paul Thomas Anderson has 1, no 2, no 3 Oscars. The Academy deemed it fit to award a film about standing for what you believe and the quest to do what’s right.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio Del Toro in Paul Thomas Anderson’s OBAA.

Best Director

Who Won: Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another

PTA finally did it!!! After hitting the scene in 1996 with his little indie Hard Eight, being bigger and bolder with 1997’s Boogie Nights and 1999’s Magnolia, giving intimate character studies in Punch-Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, The Master, and Phantom Thread, and then giving us a blockbuster that was funny, dramatic, thrilling, and had something to say. He has been long overdue for the Oscar and his peers decided that it was time and he won 3 on Sunday.

Who Should Have Won: Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another

Yes. This is not an error nor a typo; Paul Thomas Anderson deserved his Oscar. Was Sinners directed fantastically by Ryan Coogler? Absolutely. That doesn’t change the fact that Paul Thomas Anderson has been crafting high quality films for over 3 decades that are well reguarded by cinephiles, critics, and the average moviegoer. Coogler is still young and has the reputation, but his peers didn’t seem to think he was ready for his “Best Director” little gold man (he did win one for Original Screenplay).

Michael B. Jordan in ‘Sinners’

Best Actor

Who Won: Michael B. Jordan – Sinners 

The Best Actor race was a hard category to predict who would win and last night Michael B. Jordan took home the Oscar statuette for his dual performances of Smoke and Stack in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. He played both twins with their own traits and personalities. Both twins have tragic stories and want the best for their young cousin. Was it the strongest performance(s) of the year? Probrably not, but it was great to see Michael B. Jordan receive his flowers for his 20+ year career and his longtime collaborations with Ryan Coogler.

Who Should Have Won: Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

The Best Actor Oscar should have went to Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent. He played 3 different roles, Armando Solimões/Marcelo Alves/Fernando Solimões. It details the story of a man who is a researcher in 70s Brazil during its military dictatorship and is working on escaping with his son. Wagner Moura fills his performance with nuance; never overdoing it or using too much exposition to convey the dire circumstances that his character(s) is experiencing.

Jessie Buckley in ‘Hamnet’

Best Actress

Who Won: Jessie Buckley – Hamnet

Jessie Buckley is the only actor to have a clean sweep this awards season. Her portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet is filled with so many emotions (though not as much as Rose Byrne). To no one’s surprise she accepted her Oscar and gave an incredible speech, proving that not liking cats does not affect your Oscar chances.

Who Should Have Won: Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Rose Byrne should have won for her performance as Linda, a psychiatrist who is GOING THROUGH IT. Linda’s husband is always away at work and she has to deal with patients that are incapable of making any decisions, a massive hole in her apartment roof, pressure from everyone around her, and a daughter who is on a feeding tube. Rose Byrne gives it her all and shows how being a caretaker, a mother, and a psychiatrist all at once can weigh on the soul.

Best Supporting Actor

Who Won: Sean Penn – One Battle After Another

Sean Penn collected his third Oscar for his portrayal of Col. Lockjaw, a complicated and perverted man who is chasing after Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Willa Ferguson (Chase Infiniti). Sean previously won for Mystic River and Milk. He is menacing, weird, and funny. Though the Oscar should have been Stellan’s all along.

Who Should Have Won: Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Stellan Skarsgård gave the most nuanced and grounded performance of all the supporting actor nominees as Gustav Borg, a director who is emotionally constipated and has a frought relationship with his daughters. Stellan took a character that would come across as a dislikeable human being and brings grace, humility, and a softness to Gustav. He won the Golden Globe, but sadly the Oscar went to Sean Penn.

Amy Madigan in ‘Weapons’

Best Supporting Actress

Who Won: Amy Madigan – Weapons

Ed Harris…what is going on??? Amy beat you to the Oscar?!?! It was incredibly well earned (she holds the record for longest time between nominations, 40 years). Amy’s portrayal of the mysteriously kooky and sinister Aunt Gladys completely took the world by storm; inspiring Halloween costumes from all ages and becoming an LGBTQ+ icon. People were unsure if Amy could even break into the fold (plot twist…she did). Her speech was so funny and she was in awe that she was recognized by her peers and awarded for a witch that kidnaps an entire classroom of children (to eventually be mauled by them in a comic way).

Who Should Have Won: Any of the nominees

Any of the Supporting Actress nominees were deserving of the Oscar: Elle Fanning as Rachel Kemp, an actress unsure about a role she’s preparing for in Sentimental Value, Teyana Taylor as Perfedia Beverly Hills, a revolutionary who abandons her husband and daughter in One Battle After Another, Wunmi Mosaku as Annie a woman who is a cajun witch in Sinners, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Anges Borg Pettersen, a historian who is caught in the middle of a tense relationship between her sister and father in Sentimental Value.

still from ‘Sinners’

Best Original Screenplay

What Won: Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Ryan Coogler won his first Oscar for his vampire film. Coogler took what would be standard horror fare and put meaning behind it. He told the story of assimilation, preservation, and celebration. His story was fully fleshed out and his characters felt real. This is the second original horror film to win Best Original Screenplay, the first being Get Out.

What Should Have Won: Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Honestly, Sinners had every reason to win original screenplay. The themes, characters, set pieces, and story attracted audiences and critics alike to sing its praises. The other nominees Sentimental Value, It Was Just an Accident, Marty Supreme, and Blue Moon would have been perfectly acceptable winners, but Sinners brought the action, laughs, thrills, and drama to everyone.

Best Adapted Screenplay

What Won: Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another: based on the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon.

The Best Adapted Screenplay category had one frontrunner, that was One Battle After Another. Sadly, Bugonia, Train Dreams, Hamnet, and Frankenstein couldn’t hold a candle to the epic from Paul Thomas Anderson. No aliens, trees, grief, or reanimated bodies had enough power to beat standing for what’s right in the USA.

What Should Have Won:  Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another: based on the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon.

As previously mentioned, there was no other option to win in this category. A story about being a true American and loving your country and its people seemed to triumph. Sometimes the movies that reflect our current state deserve the accolades.