“Someone get me a gun!” My best friend posted on his Close Friends story after the full 2026 Oscar nominations list was released. Typical of the Academy, listening to Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman present this year’s noms felt like using sunscreen at the beach and still getting burnt. There were whoos of joy and huh’s of annoyance. Here’s my take on what happened:

The Good

Sinners Breaking Records

This is what I’m talking about! Sinners is now the most nominated film in Oscar history, with a whopping and well-deserved 16 nods. Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, and Delroy Lindo received nominations for their phenomenal performances; Ryan Coogler is nominated for Best Director. The movie also received nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Original Score (which they won at this year’s Golden Globes), and, most notably, the coveted Best Picture. This is a very personal win for me. Sinners was the best cinematic experience of last year. The ingenuity exhibited by everyone involved in the making of that movie is astounding. I remember coming out of that IMAX theatre speechless (in a good way). 

A Win for The Girls

This year, like any other year, is a great year filled with amazing performances from leading and supporting actresses. Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas each got a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for their understated and layered performances in Sentimental Value, as well as Wunmi Mosaku for Sinners, and Teyana Taylor for her unforgettable show of talent in One Battle After Another (OBAA). 

The Best Actress category is led by Jessie Buckley, a force of nature in the film adaptation of Hamnet. Not close behind is Rose Byrne with her haunting performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, for which she won at the Globes. Emma Stone is back with another nomination for Bugonia, too, making her the second-youngest person to have 7 Oscar nominations. This is also her third nomination for a performance in a Yorgos Lanthimos film, continuing their streak as an electric actor-director duo.  

Let’s not forget the cultural behemoth that is KPop Demon Hunters. I simply don’t see how “Golden” would not win Best Original Song. And a toast to Chloe Zhao, who has now become only the second female filmmaker to be nominated twice for Best Director, behind Jane Campion.

The Kids Are All Right

The youths are cooking their food on high and washing big loads because they’re busy trying to win awards. Timothée Chalamet is now the youngest actor to have three Best Actor nominations, taking over that title from Marlon Brando in 1954, for his supreme performance in Marty Supreme. Jacob Elordi, who was most known to play high school bad boys in The Kissing Booth trilogy and Euphoria for the first years of his career, is now nominated for Best Supporting Actor as The Creature in Frankenstein. They both won in their respective categories at the Critics’ Choice Awards earlier this month. While we’re still missing Chase Infiniti’s nomination for her breakthrough role in OBAA, it seems that the tides are changing… Right?

A Tight Race for Best International Feature Film

There is not one weak film in this category. It Was Just an Accident won the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The Voice of Hind Rajab received a record-breaking 24-minute standing ovation after its premiere there. Sentimental Value is another Joachim Trier x Renate Reinsve masterpiece that left everyone ??; and Sirāt has nothing short of an impressive slate of reviews. While this is a good list, I still would’ve loved to see A Poet (dir. Simón Mesa Soto) on this list—and one more deserving film that I will talk about in a second.

The Bad

F1 Nominated for Best Picture

Now, I don’t even know where to begin. Should I even start?

No Other Choice Snub

I’ve read the list of nominations more than thrice and have yet to find No Other Choice in any of the categories. There must have been a mistake somewhere. Best International Feature Film or Best Adapted Screenplay? Best Actor for Lee Byung-hun or Best Supporting Actress for Son Ye-jin? The lack of acknowledgement from the Academy for this movie is truly baffling to me—and yet another example of legendary director Park Chan-wook, and Korean cinema in general, being completely shut out. It was a rollercoaster ride of a journey to a man’s self-inflicted purgatory, fueled by the pressures of capitalism. And what a trip, let me tell you! 

I’m Sorry Sorry, Baby

Speaking of snubs, Eva Victor’s directorial debut deserved a Best Original Screenplay nomination. A patient and poignant story that depicts trauma, coping, and human connection realistically with all its darkness and hope. Give them their flowers!

The Interesting

This Just in: Best Casting Category

This category acknowledges films and casting directors who have built a world actor-by-actor. It’s not just picking the perfect lead, but building the whole ensemble; it’s finding new talents, casting someone for the perfect role, and curating chemistry on screen. 

Sinners and OBAA is the more obvious ensemble movie, with both stories clearly revolving around a group of influential characters. But movies like Marty Supreme, while marketed like a Chalamet one-man show, cast supporting roles and extras just right. Who do you think will bring home the first Best Casting award?

Wicked: For Good Lockout

While some may say this is a snub–a “Bad”–I say it’s a neutral thing, albeit a little surprising, considering the 10 nominations Wicked (2024) got last year. There are stronger contenders this year that I feel performed better than Wicked: For Good, but I thought at least for Best Production Design? A complete shutout. Oh well!

The Veterans

While I previously raved about the youths, I have to celebrate the veterans who deserve it. Stellan Skarsgård delivered a great performance as the imperfect father and aging director in Sentimental Value, earning him the title of first Best Supporting Actor nominee for an international feature film. Delroy Lindo is also competing in that category with a memorable performance in Sinners. 

Surprisingly, Kate Hudson is nominated for Best Actress. While a veteran in the industry, a nomination for her role in Song Sung Blue came as a surprise to many. Less surprisingly, Sean Penn is nominated as well for his role as Col. Lockjaw in OBAA; his performance was great, but considering his history with the Academy, it’s nothing out of the ordinary. 

I also want to give a personal shoutout to Ethan Hawke for his performance in Blue Moon, which he got a nod for in the Best Actor category. He truly transformed and disappeared into Lorenz Hart. 

Now, The Question Is:

Will the Academy go the distance and give us an entertainingly good award show, or will they end up letting the obvious choices win again?

We’ve got a lot of wins in the nominations and a chance for multiple good surprises come March 15. But is it far-fetched to hope for the Academy to deliver that, when we know they tend to revert to what they like when finally choosing a winner? I think a lot of us have it in the back of our minds that OBAA has a high probability of making a sweep this year—the more classically Oscars movie. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great movie. But somehow… I’m still holding out for a more interesting mix of winners.