One battle after another wins best picture at 98th Academy Awards

Monday 16 March 2026 - 15:47

By: Dakir Madiha

One battle after another wins best picture at 98th Academy Awards

Paul Thomas Anderson’s political thriller One Battle After Another won the Academy Award for best picture at the 98th Oscars, completing a dominant awards season for the adaptation of a novel by Thomas Pynchon.

The film secured six Oscars overall, including best director and best adapted screenplay for Anderson. The victories marked the filmmaker’s first Academy Awards after a career that had previously earned him 14 nominations.

Anderson, long regarded as one of the most influential directors of his generation, had been nominated three times before for best director for There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread, and Licorice Pizza. His first award of the evening came for best adapted screenplay, presented by Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.

In his acceptance speech, Anderson thanked novelist Thomas Pynchon, whose 1990 book Vineland loosely inspired the film. He dedicated the project to his children, saying he wrote the story partly as an apology to younger generations for the world they are inheriting while expressing hope that they will bring greater wisdom and decency.

Sean Penn won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Colonel Lockjaw, a corrupt military officer in the film. The award made Penn only the fourth male actor to win three Academy Awards, joining Daniel Day Lewis, Jack Nicholson, and Walter Brennan.

Penn did not attend the ceremony. According to The New York Times, he had traveled to Europe with plans to visit Ukraine. Presenter Kieran Culkin joked during the broadcast that he would accept the award on Penn’s behalf.

The film also won the first Academy Award ever presented for best casting. Casting director Cassandra Kulukundis received the honor after collaborating with Anderson on all ten of his feature films since Hard Eight in 1996. In her speech, she dedicated the award to casting directors who had rarely been recognized publicly within the film industry.

Editor Andy Jurgensen also received an Oscar for best film editing, adding to the film’s awards tally.

Other winners during the ceremony included Michael B. Jordan, who won best actor for his performance in Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners, and Jessie Buckley, who received the award for best actress for her role in Hamnet. Coogler also earned his first Oscar for best original screenplay.