In a ceremony defined by the poignant reconciliation of legacy and rebellion, Paul Thomas Anderson finally ascended to the Dolby Theatre podium as his counter-culture caper One Battle After Another secured six statuettes, while Michael B. Jordan’s searing gravitas in Sinners and Jessie Buckley’s ethereal turn in Hamnet solidified their places in the firmament of acting royalty.
Anderson’s lavishly mounted film, an irreverent and politically tinged caper loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, emerged as the dominant force of the evening after a fiercely contested awards season, claiming six Oscars including best picture, best director, adapted screenplay, editing, supporting actor for Sean Penn and the newly instituted prize for casting.
The victory marked a watershed moment for Anderson, who had previously received nominations for films such as Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread but had never before secured an Oscar, and the filmmaker used his acceptance speech to strike a reflective tone as he described the film as an apologetic gesture to a younger generation inheriting a troubled world.
He also expressed the hope that those who come after might restore what he called a measure of “common sense and decency” to public life.
Penn’s supporting actor triumph represented the third Oscar of his career, although the actor was notably absent from the ceremony, prompting presenter Kieran Culkin to remark wryly that Penn either could not attend or had chosen not to. The category had included Penn’s co-star Benicio del Toro among the contenders.
This victory for Warner Bros. marked their first Best Picture summit since Argo, providing a moment of stability for a studio currently navigating the turbulent waters of a pending merger with Paramount.
Despite Sinners entering the fray with a record-breaking sixteen nominations, Ryan Coogler’s vampire epic yielded a more modest, yet historic, haul of four awards, including a milestone for Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who became the first female and first Black cinematographer to be so honoured.
Michael B. Jordan, the sixth Black man to win Best Actor, utilised his platform to invoke the names of his predecessors, acknowledging the ancestral shoulders upon which his contemporary success rests.
Similarly, Coogler’s win for Original Screenplay—the second for a Black writer following Jordan Peele—was marked by a tender tribute to his cast and a weary apology to his children for the domestic sacrifices necessitated by his craft.
The international contingent flourished under the spotlight as Jessie Buckley became the inaugural Irish recipient of the Best Actress award, heralding the "beautiful chaos" of the maternal spirit in Chloé Zhao’s Shakespearean tapestry.
Norway also tasted victory for the first time in the International Feature category with Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, a family drama that Trier used as a vehicle to echo James Baldwin’s sentiments regarding the collective responsibility of adults toward children.
Political fervour remained a constant thread throughout the proceedings, from Javier Bardem’s explicit condemnation of conflict to the Documentary win for Mr. Nobody Against Putin, a film described by its creators as a cautionary tale regarding the fragility of national identity and the creeping shadow of oligarchy.
Technological anxiety and cultural shifts were satirised and celebrated in equal measure; Conan O’Brien and Will Arnett both issued stinging rebukes of Artificial Intelligence, while the animated sensation KPop Demon Hunters made history with the first-ever K-pop song to win an Oscar.
As the industry paused to commemorate the departures of luminaries such as Rob Reiner, Robert Redford, and Catherine O’Hara, the night remained a testament to the enduring power of the human narrative.
Although heavyweights like Bugonia and The Secret Agent departed empty-handed, the 98th Academy Awards will be remembered as the moment the old guard and the new vanguard finally spoke the same sophisticated language of cinematic excellence.