The Oscars are finally here! After months of debating whether Hamnet and Frankenstein were any good, whether Sinners or One Battle After Another will take the top prizes, or if Kate Hudson really warranted that Best Actress nod, here we go: the 98th annual Academy Awards.
Conan O’Brien is back on hosting duties after a well-reviewed debut last year, while Sinners ranks as the most nominated film of the night, with a total of 16 – this also makes it the most nominated film in Oscar history, surpassing the likes of Titanic and All About Eve.
Major nominees this year include Hamnet’s Jessie Buckley, who is widely predicted to win the Best Actress prize, as well as Marty Supreme’s Timothée Chalamet, One Battle’s writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, and Weapons scene-stealer Amy Madigan, who received a Best Supporting Actress nomination 40 years after her first Oscar nod for the drama Twice in a Lifetime.
We’ll be taking you through all the latest Oscars updates in our live blog below, from the most outrageous jokes and the most outrageous red carpet looks, to any slaps across the face that might occur on the Oscar stage… though we reckon that might be unlikely.
Key Points
- From Sinners to Hamnet, the 2026 Oscar nominations in full
- Who will win, who should win, and who shoulda had a look-in
- Why Sinners should win Best Picture
- Why One Battle After Another should win Best Picture
- Watch live: Oscars get underway as 98th Academy Awards held in Los Angeles
A lay of the land
21:54 , Carsen HoladayHappy Oscars! Coming to you live from The Independent’s newsroom in New York City, where the majority of our U.S. culture team is hunkered down with Diet Cokes and battered paper ballots scribbled with our predictions.
We’ll be bringing the latest updates to you from the 98th Academy Awards, from the fashion do’s and don’ts to the full list of winners.
Over on the West Coast, our own Kevin E. G. Perry is holding down the fort from the winners’ pressroom, while Caitlin Hornik will bring us glamorous tidbits from the legendary Vanity Fair Oscar party red carpet later in the night.
So follow along here for everything you need to know about Hollywood’s most glamorous evening — we have a long night ahead of us!
'One Battle After Another' inspired poster near the ceremony
21:51 , Kevin E G PerryThe opening sequence of Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another follows a group of radical activists as they launch a daring raid on an immigration detention center, but out on the streets of Hollywood the film’s title is being repurposed by artists to deliver a slightly different anti-Trump message.
On a bus stop near the ceremony, an altered version of the film's poster shows Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Presumably in reference to recent joint US and Israel attacks on Iran, a pull quote attributed to Jeffrey Epstein reads: “A great distraction.”
Kevin O'Leary bet $1,000 on Timothée Chalamet
21:22 , Carsen HoladayMarty Supreme actor Kevin O’Leary said on the red carpet that before he arrived, he bet on $1,000 on Timothée Chalamet winning best actor.
Chalamet is up against Leonardo DiCaprio, Ethan Hawke, Michael B. Jordan and Wagner Moura for the big prize.
There are some questionable looks
21:15 , Carsen HoladayWhile celebrities are showing up in their Sunday best on Hollywood’s biggest night of the year, some stars have raised eyebrows with their fashion choices.
Here’s a look at some of the most questionable outfits of the night.
Oscars 2026 red carpet: The most questionable looks from celebrities
Diane Warren is rooting for herself
21:04 , Carsen HoladayWhen asked who she’s rooting for at the Oscars tonight, singer Diane Warren simply said, “Me.”
Warren received her 17th Academy Award nomination for best original song for “Dear Me,” which was performed by Kesha for Warren’s 2025 documentary.
A look at the best dressed celebrities
20:50 , Carsen HoladayA-listers are beginning to file on to the red carpet — and here’s a peek at some of the best looks of the night so far.
Oscars 2026: Best dressed stars on the red carpet
Mr. Wonderful has arrived
20:43 , Carsen HoladayKevin O’Leary, who appeared in nominated film Marty Supreme, has arrived on the red carpet.
The Shark Tank star, nicknamed Mr. Wonderful, is wearing NBA cards around his neck.
Order of presentation revealed
20:34 , Carsen HoladayThe award categories will be presented in the following order:
- Supporting Actress
- Animated Feature
- Animated Short
- Costume Design
- Makeup and Hairstyling
- Casting
- Live Action Short
- Supporting Actor
- Adapted Screenplay
- Original Screenplay
- Production Design
- Visual Effects
- Documentary Short
- Documentary Feature
- Original Score
- Sound
- Film Editing
- Cinematography
- International Feature
- Original Song
- Lead Actor
- Lead Actress
- Director
- Best Picture
The show, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will also include performances and an in memoriam tribute.
Shaboozey arrives
20:32 , Carsen HoladayAs stars are filing on to the red carpet, “Tipsy” singer Shaboozey has arrived wearing a black tux and silver jewelry.
The singer will perform tonight alongside actor Miles Caton and singer Brittany Howard to honor the movie Sinners, which is nominated for best original song for “I Lied To You.”
19:45 , Louis Chilton That’s the Best Picture line-up for you! And we’re now getting awfully close to the start.
A reminder that you can watch the live feed here:
Watch live: Oscars get underway as 98th Academy Awards held in Los Angeles
19:30 , Louis ChiltonThen, finally, the favourite. One Battle After Another. It would be a deserving winner any year, writes Annabel Nugent...
Why One Battle After Another should win Best Picture
19:15 , Louis ChiltonFinally, we have the first of the two horses in what seems for all the world to be a two-horse race.
Sinners is still the outside bet, but only slightly: it’s a blockbuster juggernaut that has only seemed to gain momentum as the awards season has progressed.
It’s not just Best Picture that Sinners stands a good chance of winning, either. Ryan Coogler’s film should be competitive in basically all of the record-breaking 16 categories it was nominated in.
Why Sinners should win Best Picture
18:50 , Louis ChiltonNext we have Hamnet. For a while, Chloé Zhao’s historical fiction adaptation was being tipped as the film to beat One Battle to Best Picture.
Going into the evening, though it seems unlikely that Hamnet will really pose a threat – despite Jessie Buckley’s Best Actress award being perhaps the most bankable win of the whole ceremony. Bookmakers now place Hamnet’s odds of winning Best Picture at about 25-1.
Jessie Thompson argued that it really deserved to go the distance:
Why Hamnet should win Best Picture
18:20 , Louis ChiltonMarty Supreme faces a very real chance of going home empty-handed, though Chalamet may well still win Best Actor. It’d be a harsh shutout for a film that’s quite obviously one of the year’s very best.
It’s unlikely to win Best Picture at this point (between 33-1 and 50-1, per bookies), but you could make the case that it’d be a deserving winner.
Ellie Harrison did, in fact, make exactly this case!
Why Marty Supreme should win Best Picture
17:50 , Louis ChiltonRight, onto the “very unlikely to win, but stranger things have happened” Best Picture nominees.
Sentimental Value is one such film. Reviews for this one were positive across the board, and it’s picked up a healthy number of nominations elsewhere. If Sean Penn doesn’t win Best Supporting Actor, there’s a good chance Stellan will.
Stellan Skarsgård powers the tender, Oscar-tipped Sentimental Value – review
17:20 , Louis ChiltonNext up, there’s Train Dreams, the bittersweet Denis Johnson adaptation that inexplicably kicked off a lot of discourse among online film communities last year.
Joel Edgerton plays a logger in rural Idaho whose life is marked by tragedy; the film has shades of Terrence Malick.
Odds on this one vary but seem to be in the region of 100-1, placing it firmly in the “very unlikely” bracket.
16:50 , Louis Chilton Bugonia is another of the films up for Best Picture, and another that’s almost certain to miss out on the gong. (Odds are as high as 150-1.)
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the film stars Emma Stone as a CEO who may or may not be an extra-terrestrial, and Jesse Plemons as an oddball who kidnaps her. A fun film!
The mad Euro genius who conquered Hollywood – and convinced Emma Stone to go bald
16:20 , Louis ChiltonThe Secret Agent is another Best Picture nominee we can more or less rule out. It’s in with a good shout for Best International Film, however, and Wagner Moura – who’s really quite terrific in it – is up for Best Actor.
Tom Murray spoke to Moura just a few weeks ago...
Wagner Moura: ‘I didn’t want to keep playing drug dealers. That’s a stereotype’
Next up we have Frankenstein, also being given odds of between 50-1 and 250-1. That is to say, it’s another looooong shot.
The Netflix-produced monster movie has been divisive, to say the least.
Inside Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein: ‘This is autobiographical for me’
15:20 , Louis ChiltonLet’s run through the contenders for Best Picture, from most to least likely.
First up, the biggest outsider is F1, the Brad Pitt racing movie that seemed to sneak into the shortlist by virtue of its popularity in the more technical voting spheres. Odds to win are as much as 250-1. It’s not got a chance.
Reviewing it last year, Clarisse Loughrey gave the film two stars...
Brad Pitt vanity project F1 is just a bad version of Top Gun: Maverick – review
14:44 , Louis ChiltonLots of people seem excited for this year’s announcer... it’s Matt Berry!
Surely one of the best, funniest-sounding voices in the biz.
14:11 , Louis ChiltonPresenting your 98th Oscars announcer, Matt Berry.
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 11, 2026
Watch the #Oscars LIVE on Sunday, March 15th, at 7e/4p on ABC and Hulu. #OnlyAtTheOscars pic.twitter.com/WC6PJmSIUV
Could Sentimental Value take home any of the acting prizes this year? Bookmakers seem to think not, but make no mistake, any of the four nominated cast members would be a worthy winner.
Annabel Nugent spoke to them, and the film’s director, Joachim Trier, at the end of last year...
Stellan Skarsgård on Sentimental Value: ‘Truthfully, you can never be a good parent’
13:42 , Louis ChiltonWatch a live feed from Los Angeles as the Oscars take place on Sunday, 15 March, at the Dolby Theatre.
(Pretty quiet there currently, as you’d expect, but things should liven up as the event approaches.)
Watch live: Oscars get underway as 98th Academy Awards held in Los Angeles
13:10 , Louis ChiltonWondering what the Oscars is actually like to attend? Kevin went last year, and wrote about his backstage experience...
I was at the 2025 Oscars. Here’s what it was like with the jubilant winners backstage
12:42 , Louis ChiltonKevin E G Perry wrote about Delroy Lindo’s place at the 2026 Oscars, and the other veteran actors who had to wait nearly a lifetime to finally get their flowers (from the Academy, at least)...
Never too late: Delroy Lindo isn’t first Oscar star to be celebrated in golden years
12:07 , Louis ChiltonIt’s only a matter of hours now...
Here’s a refresher: who’s most likely to win tonight in the major categories
Oscars 2026: Who will win, who should win, and who shoulda had a look-in
11:30 , Louis ChiltonConan O’Brien, returning to host the ceremony after a wickedly funny stint last year, revealed that he’s been trialling jokes at several different comedy clubs around Los Angeles.
There is, however, one Oscar-nominated film that he’s been “unable to crack”.
Any guesses?
Conan O’Brien shares the one Oscar-nominated movie he can’t joke about this year
11:00 , Louis ChiltonA look back at the youngest-ever Oscar winner, Tatum O’Neal, and the sad backstory behind her victory at age 10
Tatum O’Neal and the horrible backstory behind the youngest ever Oscar win
10:33 , Louis ChiltonThe stars were out at the Polo Lounge for this year’s pre-Oscar dinner...
Stars pack the Polo Lounge for Chanel and Charles Finch’s 17th pre-Oscar dinner
10:00 , Adam WhiteThe favourite to win the Best Documentary prize tonight is The Perfect Neighbor, a terrific if incredibly disturbing doc for Netflix that revolves around the controversial “Stand Your Ground” law.
Last year, Lydia Spencer-Elliott spoke to the film’s director Geeta Gandbhir, as well as Pam Owens, the mother of a woman named Ajike who was shot and left to die in the street by her neighbour.
The Netflix documentary exposing the horrors of America’s deadliest law
09:00 , Adam WhiteThis is the first year since 2001 that a new category has been introduced to the Oscars, with Sunday night marking the debut of the Academy Award for Achievement in Casting. This is a very big deal, and has been championed within industry circles for a while. (A stunt performer Oscar is surely next?)
The inaugural winner will be between One Battle After Another, Sinners, Marty Supreme, Hamnet and The Secret Agent, and it’s quite tough to call at this point. If I were a betting man, I’d say Sinners has the edge. But this is one category that remains a bit of a mystery ahead of tonight’s ceremony...
08:00 , Adam White Shortly after the Oscar nominations were announced – but before he became a bit of a pariah in the ballet and opera worlds – Timothée Chalamet got the career overview treatment by writer Xan Brooks, who charted his meteoric rise so far.
At the age of 30, Chalamet is now the youngest actor to receive three Best Actor nominations since Marlon Brando, which is a mightily impressive stat!
Timothée Supreme: How Chalamet finally escaped boy-next-door purgatory
07:00 , Adam WhiteNominated in the Best International Film category is the stirring, urgent Iranian movie It Was Just an Accident, from celebrated filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Last year, I spoke to Panahi just days before it was announced that the Iranian authorities were seeking to sentence Panahi in absentia to one year in prison and a travel ban over “propaganda activities” against the nation.
Despite the dangers he faces at home, Panahi told me – from his temporary base in New York – that he has no intention of staying overseas.
This is Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. He was sentenced to jail after this interview
06:00 , Adam WhiteConventional wisdom suggests that One Battle’s Sean Penn is likely to take home Best Supporting Actor on Sunday night (though whether he’ll attend the ceremony is anyone’s guess). But there’s definitely a chance he might lose at the last hurdle, with Sinners star Delroy Lindo within coughing distance of swiping the prize.
Earlier this year, Louis Chilton sat down with Lindo himself to discuss his long and winding career, from his recurring work with filmmaker Spike Lee to his joy at the success of Sinners.
Delroy Lindo: ‘I get tired of my own voice – but I never get tired of Sinners’
05:00 , Adam WhiteWith nine nominations – including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Jacob Elordi – Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein adaptation is one of the bigger deals at Sunday night’s Oscars. And it has a big fan in The Independent’s film critic Clarisse Loughrey, who chatted to Del Toro, Elordi and Oscar Isaac for this fascinating deep dive into the film’s production...
Inside Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein: ‘This is autobiographical for me’
04:00 , Adam WhiteGlance over this year’s Best Picture nominees and, yes, one does stick out like a sore thumb. Reader, what is F1 doing there? Joseph Kosinski’s milquetoast racing car movie may have been a big hit, but isn’t it strange to see it earn such a massive nod when the likes of Weapons or It Was Just an Accident didn’t break through?
Kevin E G Perry had similar thoughts, writing about which movies should have taken F1’s spot...
F1 shocks with Best Picture Oscar nod - here’s what should be on the podium instead
03:00 , Adam WhiteAnd because we’re not entirely negative Nancys, we’ve also ranked the 10 best Best Picture Oscar winners, from Casablanca to Lawrence of Arabia. Could One Battle After Another join the list?
The greatest Best Picture winners in Oscars history
02:00 , Adam WhiteThey can’t all be winners, including actual winners. Yes, the Oscars do have years in which they select the right movie for Best Picture, but more often than not their decision is regrettable. Coda anyone? (Remember Coda?)
Here Geoffrey Macnab salutes the very worst Best Picture winners in Academy Awards history, from 10 to 1. And guess what? Crash doesn’t lead the list!
The 10 worst Oscar Best Picture winners of all time
01:00 , Adam WhiteTeyana Taylor gave one of the best performances of 2025, starring as messy revolutionary Perfidia Beverly Hills in One Battle After Another. While Taylor awaits whether she’ll take home the Best Supporting Actress prize, why not dig into her very eccentric backstory, which includes time as Beyoncé’s choreographer to her TV debut on the seminal MTV reality series My Super Sweet Sixteen?
The meteoric rise of this year’s Oscar frontrunner Teyana Taylor
00:00 , Adam WhiteOur final “this is what should win Best Picture” piece is Jacob Stolworthy on Sinners, which has emerged lately as a real threat to a once seemingly inevitable One Battle victory.
It’d come as a surprise, I’d say. But also one that’s easy to rally behind...
Why Sinners should win Best Picture
Saturday 14 March 2026 23:00 , Adam WhiteDepending on who you ask, Hamnet is either one of the year’s best films, or the villain of this year’s Oscar season. Falling on the first side of that equation is Jessie Thompson, who wrote this convincing argument for why it ought to take home Sunday night’s biggest prize.
Why Hamnet should win Best Picture
Saturday 14 March 2026 22:00 , Adam WhiteWhile the Oscars are taking place on Sunday, Saturday marked the annual Razzies ceremony, which “awarded” the very worst films of the year. And sweeping the major categories was none other than Ice Cube’s deranged version of War of the Worlds! Released to widespread bafflement on Prime Video last year, the movie won Worst Picture, Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel, Worst Actor, and Worst Director for Rich Lee.
It was also further bad news for Rebel Wilson, who took home Worst Actress for the action comedy Bride Hard. Good news, though, for Oscar nominee Kate Hudson, who took home the coveted Razzie Redeemer award for Song Sung Blue, four years after she won Worst Actress for the pop star Sia’s unhinged autism drama Music. Good for her!
Saturday 14 March 2026 21:30 , Adam White With nine nominations, Sentimental Value is expected to be a major victor at Sunday’s ceremony, and likely to take home the Best Film Not in the English Language prize.
Last year Annabel Nugent spoke to the film’s director Joachim Trier, as well as four of its stars, among them Best Supporting Actor nominee Stellan Skarsgard. The film tells the story of a revered if absent film director dad, whose dysfunctional relationship with his two daughters further unravels.
Stellan Skarsgård on Sentimental Value: ‘Truthfully, you can never be a good parent’
Saturday 14 March 2026 21:00 , Adam WhiteYes, they’re rich and beautiful and nominated for Oscars, but did you know that this year’s nominees also receive a goodie bag worth $350,000? Great!
This year’s “Everybody Wins” goodie bag contains all-inclusive trips to Ibiza and Sri Lanka, a trip to a seven-day wellness retreat, a $25,000 facial, and somewhat hilariously, the opportunity to have a pre-nuptial agreement custom made by a celebrity divorce attorney.
Lash Fary, a representative for the company behind the goodie bag, said in a statement: “We are acknowledging these amazing nominees while elevating and showcasing small businesses, minority‑owned brands, female entrepreneurs and companies that give back at a time when everyone can use a little more fun and frivolity.”
Sounds really, really, really good. Stars! They’re absolutely nothing like us and it’s all a bit sick-inducing, isn’t it.
Saturday 14 March 2026 20:30 , Adam WhitePaul Thomas Anderson’s funny, thrilling and unexpectedly heartwarming One Battle After Another is one of the favourites to win Best Picture this year, along with a Best Director trophy for Anderson himself.
This week Annabel Nugent wrote about its genius, and why it ought to take home the top prizes. Separately, can you believe Paul Thomas Anderson has never won an Oscar? For shame, Academy!
Why One Battle After Another should win Best Picture
Saturday 14 March 2026 20:00 , Adam WhiteWidely predicted to win the Best Animated Feature award this year is Netflix’s runaway smash KPop Demon Hunters, which will be celebrated during the ceremony by a musical performance from Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, the singers who voice the movie’s fictional band Huntrix.
They’ll be performing the inescapable earworm “Golden”, which is also widely expected to win the Best Original Song award. (If this comes to pass, it’ll also mark the 17th loss for singer/songwriter Diane Warren in this category, which is mad!)
Saturday 14 March 2026 19:30 , Adam White Nominated in the Best Film Not in the English Language category this Sunday is the Tunisian docudrama The Voice of Hind Rajab, a heartbreaking and quite remarkable film that dramatises a 70-minute phone call between a humanitarian organisation and a six-year-old Palestinian girl pleading for help as she is trapped under an upturned car in Gaza. The audio you hear in the film, spoken by a girl named Hind Rajab, is real.
Sadly, one of the film’s stars won’t be appearing at this Sunday’s ceremony due to Donald Trump’s travel ban against Palestinians.
“I had the honor of playing one of the lead roles in a story the world needed to hear, but I will not be there,” actor Motaz Malhees wrote on his Instagram, “I am not allowed to enter the United States because of my Palestinian citizenship.”
Trump’s travel ban, which was widened last December, pledges to “fully restrict and limit the entry of individuals using travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority,” along with people from countries including South Sudan and Syria.
Malhees wrote that he was hurt by the ban, but added: “You can block a passport. You cannot block a voice.”
Saturday 14 March 2026 19:00 , Adam White One of the best performances from last year came courtesy of Brazilian actor Wagner Moura, who is nominated in the Best Actor category for his work in The Secret Agent.
Tom Murray sat down with Moura to discuss the film ahead of its UK release last month, for a wide-ranging conversation about Moura’s own experiences of political censorship, and the parallels between today and the historic events depicted in his movie.
Wagner Moura: ‘I didn’t want to keep playing drug dealers. That’s a stereotype’
Saturday 14 March 2026 18:30 , Adam White2025 was a particularly brutal year for A-list deaths, with Diane Keaton, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, Rob Reiner and Val Kilmer among the biggest names we lost.
While it hasn’t yet been confirmed, reportedly Barbra Streisand – Redford’s co-star in the classic romance The Way We Were – will be making an appearance at Sunday’s ceremony to pay tribute (via song!). Could she perform alongside the In Memoriam segment? Time will tell...
Saturday 14 March 2026 18:00 , Adam White Speaking of Chalamet, the last few weeks have seen both him and Hamnet’s Jessie Buckley embroiled in very, very low stakes controversies about comments the pair have made: him on the worlds of ballet and opera, and her on cats. (We may collectively be experiencing psychosis, I agree.)
But could these minor snafus really have an impact on their respective Oscar chances? Kevin E G Perry dug into it...
Opera, cats and other controversies: Can a public backlash really hurt Oscar chances?
Saturday 14 March 2026 17:30 , Adam WhiteMarty Supreme, much like its obnoxious hero, has ended up being the real underdog of this year’s Oscars, despite earning nine nominations in total. It’s very possible it could miss out on wins for any of them, such is the competition.
Earlier this week Ellie Harrison wrote about why it’d be a mistake to count it out, however. No matter how many slightly tone deaf remarks are made by star Timothée Chalamet...
Why Marty Supreme should win Best Picture
Saturday 14 March 2026 17:00 , Adam WhiteThe producers of Sunday’s ceremony are currently holding a few surprises close to their chests for the night itself, but this week came confirmation that there will be a handful of starry reunions due to take place on stage.
Executive producers Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan told reporters that cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and cast members from the seminal 2011 comedy Bridesmaids will reunite.
“There’s been rumours of what that [reunion] is, and we are very excited to announce that we have a Bridesmaids reunion that is going to be very special,” said Kapoor.
Mullan added: “There’s also going to be a Marvel reunion for the superhero fans, so we’re gonna have superstars and superheroes. And there is also going to be an extraterrestrial on the stage, so you can figure that one out.”
The Bridesmaids reunion is somewhat appropriate as one of its stars, Rose Byrne, is nominated in the Best Actress category for her frazzled, funny work in the dark comedy If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
Saturday 14 March 2026 16:30 , Adam White Earlier this week the Academy announced the full list of presenters at this year’s awards, confirming the return of last year’s four acting winners (Adrien Brody, Mikey Madison, Rory Culkin and Zoe Saldaña), who will presumably announce their four successors.
Also due to appear on Sunday to announce winners and nominees are (deep breath...) Javier Bardem, Demi Moore, Kumail Nanjiani, Maya Rudolph, Chris Evans, One Battle After Another’s Chase Infiniti, Robert Downey Jr, Anne Hathaway, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Mescal, Will Arnett, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Nicole Kidman, Sigourney Weaver, Ewan McGregor, Pedro Pascal, Channing Tatum, and father and son actors Bill and Lewis Pullman.
Three of this year’s acting nominees – Rose Byrne, Wagner Moura and Delroy Lindo – will also present on the night, as well as former Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel.
Saturday 14 March 2026 16:00 , Adam White 2025 was a fraught year, politically speaking, so you might assume that Sunday’s ceremony will be awash in protest and impassioned political speeches... but chances are many will stay quiet. And that’s despite the political urgency of any number of this year’s nominated films, from One Battle After Another to Bugonia.
Earlier this year, Xan Brooks wrote about what this means, and how we got here...
This year’s Oscar nominees are furiously political – so why are their stars silent?
Saturday 14 March 2026 15:30 , Adam WhiteIt’s really anyone’s game at the Oscars this year... unless you’re Jessie Buckley, frankly.
The Irish actor, who is pretty much guaranteed to win the Best Actress prize, gives a phenomenal performance as a grieving mother in the Shakespearean weepie Hamnet. It also marks the latest turn in a career full of unexpected pivots and rich, complex characters.
Earlier this year, writer Katie Rosseinsky wrote about her story so far, including her often forgotten start on an Andrew Lloyd Webber reality show...
How Jessie Buckley went from an Andrew Lloyd Webber reality show to Oscar hopeful
Saturday 14 March 2026 14:55 , Adam WhiteThis year’s Oscar nominees are generally well selected, but I couldn’t help but mourn the timeline where Josh O’Connor, Jennifer Lawrence, Jafar Panahi and Gwyneth Paltrow also earned nominations.
So I wrote about them! As well as predicted the likely winners of the major categories at year’s ceremony...
Oscars 2026: Who will win, who should win, and who shoulda had a look-in
Saturday 14 March 2026 14:10 , Adam WhiteHello! And welcome to our live blog for this year’s Academy Awards! This is Adam and I’ll be guiding you initially through Hollywood’s most important night of the year, before being joined by my colleagues as we inch closer to the ceremony itself.
The Oscars kick off at 7pm EST in the US on Sunday night, and 10.30pm in the UK, where it’ll be broadcast on ITV.
As for the blog, let’s kick off with our big guide to this year’s nominees! Sinners leads the pack with 16, including Best Picture, Best Director for Ryan Coogler and Best Actor for Michael B Jordan – it’s also the most nominated film in Oscar history, which is quite mad! Close behind is One Battle After Another with 13 nods, and Frankenstein, Marty Supreme and Sentimental Value tied for third spot with nine nods each.
