The 2026 Oscar race might be one of the greatest of all time due to how many categories are so close. Powerhouses go head to head in a year so divisive it begs the question, will the favorites win this year or will it be another darkhorse story similar to moonlight in 2016?

On Sunday March 15 at the Dolby Theater off Hollywood Boulevard, the Oscars will once more take place. With 24 categories this year, the most ever, it’ll be interesting to see who walks away with each award. To watch this year’s Oscars they will be streamed on ABC.

These are not my predictions of who will win; these are who I would pick if I was a voter.

BEST PICTURE:
“Bugonia”, Yorgos Lanthimos
“F1”, Joseph Kosinski
“Frankenstein”, Guillermo del Toro
“Hamnet”, Chloé Zhao
“Marty Supreme”, Josh Safdie
“One Battle After Another”, Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Secret Agent”, Kleber Mendonça Filho
“Sentimental Value”, Joachim Trier
“Sinners”, Ryan Coogler
“Train Dreams”, Clint Bentley

In one of the most tightly contested best picture categories in recent years, any of the 2025 nominees could run away with the award, however there are two favorites. “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler’s grand compounding of horror, musical and crime has come together to create a movie that broke the record for most nominations for a movie ever with 16. PTA’s “One Battle After Another,” another crime movie, has since swept everything it can, winning best picture at the Critics Choice Awards, National Society of Film Critics and the BAFTAS. Yet, it should be Chloé Zhao’s devastating masterpiece, “Hamnet” that takes home the award.

“Hamnet” follows the story of Agnes and her husband WIlliam Shakespeare as they lose their only son to the Plague. The way this film handles love, grief, resentment and triumph is magnificent. Zhao lets the film breathe, opting for longer takes and wider shots, allowing Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal to carry the film with their tremendous performances. The score from Max Richter perfectly supports the film and the final scene is one of the best in recent memory. This is the best film of the year and of the last decade, Zhao should walk away with her second best picture Oscar (Previous for Nomadland in 2021).

ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE:
Timothee Chalamet, “Marty Supreme”
Leonardo Dicaprio, “One Battle After Another”
Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon”
Michael B. Jordan, “Sinners”
Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent”

Which of these favorites is going to walk away with the Oscar? Dicaprio delivers an amazing performance as a revolutionary-turned-dad trying to save his only daughter from Sean Penn as Colonel Lockjaw in “One Battle After Another.” Chalamet gives a riveting performance as Marty Mauser in “Marty Supreme,” keeping everyone on the edge of their seat for two and a half hours. Jordan bestows the best performance of his career playing twin brothers that dream of having a successful juke joint in “Sinners.” Yet despite these three groundbreaking performances, dark horse Ethan Hawke is going to walk away with the award.

Hawke plays songwriter Lorenz Hart in Richard Linklater’s “Blue Moon” and he has pleasantly surprised with one of the greatest performances of all time. Throughout the film, his muted energy is unmatched, going from conversation to conversation, person to person, flip-flopping back and forth, giving his lines as if it were one long monologue to the point of dizziness. You love him and hate him and want to be there with him talking about his love for art and his girl and the world, all at the same time.

This film feels a lot like the Outkast song “Hey Ya,” upbeat on the surface but extremely heartbreaking underneath. Hawke delivers Hart as this charismatic, funny, charming man but ultimately he’s a sad, lonely, drunkard who just wants a life partner, whether it be his oldest friend and collaborator Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) or what he deems the love of his life Elizabeth Weiland (Margaret Qualley).Truly, Hawke has given a top 20 performance of all time here and is well deserving of the award.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Benicio Del Toro, “One Battle After Another”
Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein”
Delroy Lindo, “Sinners”
Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”
Stellan Skarsgard, “Sentimental Value”

The best supporting actor category might be the most competitive category this year, not because they don’t stand out against each other but rather because everyone nominated put in a stellar performance. The one change I would make to this category would be to add in Paul Mescal and take away Delroy Lindo or Stellan Skarsgard but I cannot, so, who does my vote go to instead? That’s a difficult question, everyone here is deserving, even Skarsgard and Lindo, but I do have to say Sean Penn in “One Battle After Another” is going to get the edge here. Yes, Benicio Del Toro was some amazing comedic relief and Jacob Elordi did so much with so little dialogue but Sean Penn was terrifying. He manages to complete a whole range of stature from commanding to pathetic so uniquely and vividly and it really does show the ignorance and hypocrisy that plagues the U.S government.

ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE:
Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”
Rose Bryn, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
Emma Stone, “Bugonia”
Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”
Kate Hudson, “Song Sung Blue”

Understandably there is only one person who is in line to walk away with this award, Hamnet’s Jessie Buckley. Buckley burst on the scene in 2017 in Micheal Pearce’s “Beast.” Since then she’s turned in multiple award winning performances, including pulling a best supporting nod for her role of Leda Caruso in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter.”

Buckley plays Agnes Shakespere (Anne Hathaway), the wife of William Shakespere. The movie follows her falling in love with William and in turn having to deal with him being away from home. She also has to deal with the loss of her son Hamnet. Buckley’s performance frankly cannot be described with words. It must be seen, her range from the comedic bits of the movie to the most gut wrenching, horrendous scenes is incredible. She provides such emotion, such understanding of the themes at hand that the entire theater cries at least once. She holds herself at equal parts charm and devastation throughout the film. It’s the greatest female acting performance of all time. It’s one A and one B with Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Elle Fanning, “Sentimental Value”
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value”
Amy Madigan, “Weapons”
Wunmi Mosaku, “Sinners”
Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another”

This is a difficult category to judge as there’s not really a favorite. It’s flip flopped mainly between Teyana Taylor and Amy Madigan, but recently it looks like Wunmi Mosaku might win after winning the BAFTA for best supporting actress, and she should be looking to take home her first Oscar. While I wouldn’t be mad if any of these performances would win, I do think that Mosaku’s ability to deliver her character so tenderly while also being stern towards the characters in “Sinners,” puts her a tick above the rest of the nominees.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
“Arco”, Ugo Bienvenu
“Elio”, Adrian Molina, Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi
“KPop Demon Hunters”, Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang
“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”, Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han
“Zootopia 2”, Jared Bush and Byron Howard

Best Animated feature film is 100% going to “KPop Demon Hunters” come Oscar night, but it should go to “Zootopia 2.” While this is a weak year for best animated feature, “Zootopia 2” was a step in the right direction for Disney Animations. The plot features positive themes for kids to learn and it’s backed up by good vocal performances from Ginnerfer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Andy Samberg and Ke Huy Quan. The animation is fine and the expansion to the Zootipia city is great. Overall it’s not a very interesting category.

CASTING:
Nina Gold, “Hamnet”
Jennifer Venditti, “Marty Supreme”
Cassandra Kulukundis, “One Battle After Another”
Gabriel Domingues, “The Secret Agent”
Francine Maisler, “Sinners”

Casting is the newest category that the academy has put forth. It will be interesting to see what the academy will prioritize in this category. “Sinners” cast by Francine Maisler should win this award. Everyone fits perfectly into their role from Michael B. Jordan to Delroy Lindo to Li Jun Li. While it does help being directed by one of the best working directors today Ryan Coogler, it’s impossible to imagine this movie with any other cast.

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Dan Lausten, “Frankenstein”
Darius Khondji, “Marty Supreme”
Michael Bauman, “One Battle After Another”
Autumn Durald Arkapaw, “Sinners”
Adolpho Veloso, “Train Dreams”

It’s painful that “Train Dreams” is in this year’s Oscars. If it were last year, it would win at least five awards. However, they will walk away with the cinematography award. Shot in almost entirely natural light, “Train Dreams” brings the Pacific Northwest to the screen in a way no other has before. Its stunning use of nature and golden hour makes it hard to look away. The cinematography adds to the surrealness of the story. Cinematographer Adolpho Veloso opted for the ARRI Alexa 35 for its mobility and the Kowa Spherical lenses during the day shot, citing the reason is because of their unique lens flairs and the Zeiss Super Speeds which have an extremely fast T1.3 for the night scenes.

Veloso also splits the frame up into fourths rather than the more traditional ninths (rule of thirds) in order to provide the shots a sense of balance that further compliments the film’s themes of life and the delicate walk that we take to find balance. Again, it really is unfortunate that this movie is in such a stacked year because it truly is a masterpiece.

COSTUME DESIGN:
“Avatar: Fire And Ash”, Deborah L. Scott
“Frankenstein”, Kate Hawley
“Hamnet”, Malgosia Turzanska
“Marty Supreme”, Miyako Bellizzi
“Sinners”, Ruth E. Carter

The costume design category is between “Sinners” and “Frankenstein.” Ruth E. Carter did an amazing job with the costuming in “Sinners,” making each character feel like their own person without straying too far from the time period. While Carter is great, Kate Hawley’s work on “Frankenstein” is above and beyond. She does well in the costuming for both Mia Goth characters, dressing her in extravagant dresses and rare Tiffany & Co. necklaces, but she shines most in Victor Frankenstein’s character design. It doesn’t hurt that Oscar Issac is playing the character, but Hawley manages to add to the terrifying descent into madness with subtle costuming colors, the largest of which being the blood red gloves that he wears symbolizing the blood that is on his hands by creating the Monster. Hawley also sprinkles in red in his tie. Overall a great costumed picture from Frankenstein and Hawley should win her first Oscar.

DIRECTING:
“Hamnet”, Chloé Zhao
“Marty Supreme”, Josh Safdie
“One Battle After Another”, Paul Thomas Anderson
“Sentimental Value”, Joachim Trier
“Sinners”, Ryan Coogler

Much like the best picture award, Chloé Zhao should walk away with best director. Zhao’s ability to get the most out of her actors is prevalent throughout the entirety of “Hamnet.” She pulls from this chasm of human emotion like none other. Her understanding of beats and lingering complement the heavy themes so well. While other directors are still much deserving of praise, Zhao just goes above and beyond anyone else this year to deliver such a heavy blow to one’s heart and rethink life all together.

FILM EDITING:
“F1”, Stephen Mirrione
“Marty Supreme”, Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
“One Battle After Another”, Andy Jurgensen
“Sentimental Value”, Olivier Bugge Coutte
“Sinners”, Michael P. Shawver

Once more there is really only one clear front runner for the editing category. While “One Battle After Another” is the favorite in many categories it hasn’t shown up as a winner many times in this list, this category will be one where it walks away as a winner. The film’s run time comes in at two hours and 42 minutes, turning many away from it though the editing paces it well. Every cut feels intentional and moves the story forward.

The highlight of the editing is the famed “River of Hills” chase scene towards the end of the film, where it manages to match the rhythm of the hills. Matched with Jonny Greenwood’s score it becomes one of the best scenes of the year, a masterclass in film.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM:
Brazil, “The Secret Agent”
France, “It Was Just An Accident”
Norway, “Sentimental Value”
Spain, “Sirat”
Tunisia, “The Voice of Hind Rajab”

Best International feature film is another strong category with the favorite being “Sentimental Value.” The real story however is “It Was Just An Accident” being left off of the Best Picture nominations despite being the best international film. The film is a grand achievement in indie filmmaking, being shot entirely in secret in Iran. It would go on to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival. The restraint that director Jafar Panahi has is impressive, it would be very easy for him to turn this into some sort of action movie but instead he treats it almost like a messed up road trip movie. Throughout the whole film your heart is beating through your chest because you feel as if the characters are on the verge of making a massive mistake that will cost them their lives. It has great themes of revenge and if justice comes in the form of death. It really is a shame that “F1” got a Best Picture nomination over it because it truly is amazing and is well deserving of Best International Feature Film.

MAKE UP AND HAIRSTYLING:
“Frankenstein”, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey
“Kokuho”, Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu
“Sinners”, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry
“The Smashing Machine”, Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein
“The Ugly Stepsister”, Thomas Foldberg and Anne Catherine Sauerberg

Once more “Frankenstein” should take this award. The film has a superb makeup team that adds to Elordi’s masterful performance. They also did well with Goth’s hairstyles, adding to her extraordinary character design.

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE):
“Bugonia”, Jerskin Fendrix
“Frankenstein”, Alexandre Desplat
“Hamnet”, Max Richter
“One Battle After Another”, Jonny Greenwood
“Sinners”, Ludwig Goransson

Another year, another amazing score from Ludwig Göransson. His score in Sinners’ is one of the best in recent memory. The entire score weaves its way through, as Göransson and Coogler collaborate to make almost a musical-esc feel around the film. The most interesting thing about the score is how they integrate it into what’s happening on screen. There are many instances throughout the film where the chords of the song will match what the characters are doing on screen, adding into the sound design of the movie. This should be Göransson’s third Oscar win (previous wins include Best Original Score for “Black Panther” and “Oppenheimer”) .

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG):
“Dear Me”, “Diane Warren”
“Golden”, “KPop Demon Hunters”
“I Lied To You”, “Sinners”
“Sweet Dreams Of Joy”, “Viva Verdi!”
“Train Dreams”, “Train Dreams”

While it will most likely be “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” that wins this award after it took over the world this summer, it should be “I Lied To You” from “Sinners”. While “Golden” is the more popular song, “I Lied to you” is the better and more impactful song for the movie. It clashes hundreds of years worth of Black music in one of the year’s best scenes where the camera floats across the room, clashing the present with the past and future.

PRODUCTION DESIGN:
“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”

Production design is an interesting category this year on the basis that there isn’t a runaway favorite. Many think that “Frankenstein” will win for their amazing set designs in Frankenstein’s lab and the cottage where the Monster briefly lives. Some are saying “Sinners,” mainly for the design of the church and juke joint. However, once again “Hamnet” should win this category. Hamnet’s sets are almost entirely practical including a massive set of Stratton-Upon-Avon and a 75% to-scale rendition of the Globe Theater which was built within 14 weeks for the final, most pivotal moment of the film.

SOUND:
“F1”
“Frankenstein”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”
“Sirat”

“Sinners” should walk away with this award, plain and simple. While there is a call to respect “F1”’s ability to integrate sound, the way “Sinners” is able to display suspense in a film that is otherwise tame by horror standards nowadays is incredible. There are two moments in the film where the sound design really stands out, Cornbread’s (Omar Benson Miller) scene and Annie’s (Wunmi Mosaku) scene. In Cornbread’s scene he steps outside of the Juke Joint to relieve himself. As he’s doing that, whispers and risers surround him before he ultimately is bitten by a vampire. Annie’s scene is very simple and not that flashy, but in the scene she strikes a match three times and it lines up with the score perfectly. Little things like this really make “Sinners” stand out as a movie.

VISUAL EFFECTS:
“Avatar: Fire And Ash”
“F1”
“Jurassic World Rebirth”
“The Lost Bus”
“Sinners”

While I concede that “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will most likely win best VFX as the existence of these movies are a miracle in and of itself, the movie wasn’t good and at what point does it become a glorified mashup of videogame cutscenes? “Avatar” and James Cameron have already gotten their flowers, each of the first two movies winning an Oscar for best VFX. So who of the four films left should win? “F1” should, for they laid the liveries of Apex GP over real life clips. “Jurassic World Rebirth” should also be praised as they’ve made dinosaurs come to life. But ultimately, I think “Sinners” should walk away with this award. The main VFX in “Sinners” is the twin Michael B. Jordan’s. While it is not new technology, it is still extremely impressive and “Sinners” might have done it the best. The highlight of this department however is the train station scene. When watching it for the first time I thought that the train station was entirely practical sets, however it is mostly VFX and it’s done incredibly well.

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
“Bugonia”, Will Tracy
“Frankenstein”, Guillermo del Toro
“Hamnet”, Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell
“One Battle After Another”, Paul Thomas Anderson
“Train Dreams”, Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar

Best Adapted Screenplay this year is a conflicting category. One screenplay is above and beyond the rest and that is Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another.” The problem with “One Battle After Another” is the fact that it’s very loosely based on the 1990 novel “Vineland” by Thomas Pynchon, so if this were an award based on how true an adaptation is to an original source, I don’t think that “One Battle After Another” would win and most likely not even be nominated. In that world, “Train Dreams” would win a second Oscar this season, however we don’t live in that world and Paul Thomas Anderson is a mastermind. His craft of writing and growth that he shows throughout all his films has cultivated in his magnum opus. Every character, even the smaller ones feel alive and lived in, especially Benicio Del Toro’s character, Sensi Sergio St. Carlos. He brings this much needed comedic relief to this movie and parallel to life. He shows that you can still make a difference while still being a lighthearted individual.

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
“Blue Moon”, Robert Kaplow
“It Was Just An Accident”, Jafar Panahi
“Marty Supreme”, Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
“Sentimental Value” Eskil Bogot and Joachim Trier
“Sinners”, Ryan Coogler

Over the past couple of years we’ve had some really great Original Screenplay nominees, this year is no different. All five screenplays are extremely good. Rober Kaplow’s (“Blue Moon”) ability to weave dialogue in and out of a single night. Jafar Panahi’s tense “It Was Just An Accident” is so impressively well written that in any other year this might be the winner but alas there can only be one and once again it will be Ryan Coogler and his masterpiece “Sinners.” Sinners has come completely out of the blue with this original film and took the American pop culture world by storm. “Sinners” is the first original film that Coogler has made since his 2013 film “Fruitvale Station” also starring Michael B. Jordan. He takes a lot of risks in this film, some of the criticisms that people are saying surrounding this film are that it’s “predictable,” however there’s nothing wrong with being predictable. Coogler is able to take a relatively simple story and supercharge it into a tour de force.

He frankensteins multiple genres including crime, musical, romance, horror, action and thriller into one. He manages to put together not only an all star cast, but also amazing characters for them to play. Every character feels so alive. Everyone feels like they matter towards the story and not one line of dialogue is wasted. In the next decade this movie will become a cult classic that many talk about and several rewatches later, never get tired of. Thank you, Ryan Coogler, for this absolute masterpiece.

There are some categories missing from this list, including all of the short categories and the Best Feature Documentary categories. The reason for this is that it was hard for me to find some of the films for general viewing or, in the case of Best Feature Documentary, I felt like I wasn’t someone qualified enough to speak on it, citing my lack of knowledge on documentary filmmaking as the reason. Either way it will be an exciting award show this year and I’m interested to see how my picks will hold up.

Final Oscar Count:
Sinners”, 7
“Hamnet”, 4
““One Battle After Another”, 3
“Frankenstein”, 2
“Blue Moon”, 1
“It Was Just an Accident”, 1
“Train Dreams”, 1
“Zootopia 2”, 1