Hollywood’s biggest night took place on Sunday, March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Going into the night, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” was expected to win big as it broke the record for most nominations with sixteen, breaking the previous record of fourteen.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” won many precursor awards, such as the BAFTA for Best Film, the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture, and the Critics Choice Award for Best Picture.
Despite these major wins, many still believed “Sinners” had a shot at the elusive Best Picture award, but Anderson’s film ultimately took it home.
There was never much of a discussion when it came to who deserved the Best Actress award.
While Emma Stone’s performance in “Bugonia” and Rose Byrne’s in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” captured audiences, none of them were on the same level as Jessie Buckley’s portrayal of Shakespeare’s wife Agnes in “Hamnet.”
Her harrowing performance caused her to sweep the precursors, leaving no debate for who deserved the Academy Award. The Irish actress proudly took home her first Oscar, dedicating her award to “the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart.”
The Best Supporting Actress category wasn’t as predictable. Many believed Teyana Taylor might repeat her Golden Globe win and take home the Oscar for her role in “One Battle After Another” but that didn’t end up being the case.
Amy Madigan took home the award for her performance in “Weapons” forty years after her first nomination in 1985.
The Best Actor category was led by frontrunner Timothee Chalamet, who won the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for his role as the titular character in “Marty Supreme,” while Michael B. Jordan was the clear runner up.
Many believed that Jordan showed more range in his performance, as he played identical twins but perfected their individual mannerisms, going far enough as to give one twin a dimple. But others believed Chalamet’s charisma as the ping pong legend would win the voters over.
Jordan won in the end, taking home first win after his first Academy Award nomination while Chalamet lost his fourth nomination.
Best Supporting Actor was a bit more of an interesting award. Before the show Sean Penn was the favorite for his depiction of Lockjaw in Anderson’s film.
But Penn, who went into the night with two prior wins, is notorious for skipping the awards and mainly resides abroad where he focuses on his humanitarian work.
When he was ultimately announced the victor, Kieran Culkin, last year’s winner, accepted the award for him, humorously mentioning that Penn “didn’t want to be there.”
“One Battle After Another” ended the night with the most wins with six, followed by “Sinners” with four.