2026 Oscar Nominations

Something for everyone — except Paul Mescal, Ariana Grande & two of the biggest movies of the year

January 22, 2026

“And the winner is … La La Land!” (Image via Warner Bros.)

Oscar nominations are here, with only a few noteworthy surprises.

With 16, Sinners is now the most nominated film in Oscar history, beating All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997) and La La Land (2016). This baffles me for what felt like an okay vampire drama, but I’m far more baffled by all the love for One Battle After Another (13 nominations, yet not for Chase Infiniti as Best Actress) which left me cold.

Probably the two most shocking missing names would be Paul Mescal for Hamnet (he was playing William Shakespeare, for fook’s sake) and Ariana Grande for Wicked: For Good (she’d been viewed as the soggy sequel’s highlight). Paul’s exclusion feels especially harsh — he was equally brilliant in the shamefully overlooked queer drama The History of Sound this year.

It Was Just an Accident’s failure to connect as a Best Picture nominee while that lemon F1 zoomed in is an under-the-radar eyebrow-raiser.

Wicked: For Good received a surprising zero nominations — it is not a good film, but not even anything in technical categories?

I knew Joel Edgerton as Best Actor was a longshot, but it was still sad to see him overlooked for his affecting work in Train Dreams — but at least the film got a Best Picture nod.

Sadly, Matt Nadel’s Cashing Out, a powerful documentary short about the AIDS-driven viatical industry that had been shortlisted for Best Documentary Short, failed to make the grade.

Happy inclusions: Kate Hudson deserves her nod in the likable film Song Sung Blue, Delroy Lindo is finally honored with a nomination, Wunmi Mosaku was not just a support in Sinners but carried it and let’s not forget Stephen Fry’s queer short Friend of Dorothy:

Finally, it is worth noting that Teyana Taylor thinks she has already won (and maybe she has) — check out her reaction statement:

“I fell asleep last night watching Pretty Woman, thinking about happy endings and how impossible they sometimes feel… and I woke up realizing I’ve been living in one that God has been preparing me for my own fairytale ending. 🥺🥹

“To be an Academy Award nominee is beyond anything I ever allowed myself to fully believe was possible. I am so deeply emotional, so humbled, and so grateful for every person who has walked this road with me & honored to be nominated alongside these amazing women in my category. 💕

“My career has been filled with battles, doubts, and moments of deep uncertainty. It has felt like one long fight for space, for respect, and for opportunity. But today feels like a gentle reminder that dreams really do survive… even when the journey is hard. Today feels like a soft, beautiful ‘yes’ from the universe.

“And as I always say… the wait was not punishment, it was preparation for what was already written.

“To our OBAA family…. Sara, Leo, Chase, Sean, Benicio, Regina, Cassandra, and the entire cast and crew! Congrats on an amazing morning for all of us & our film.

“To Pam, Mike, and the whole WB family, thank you for trusting us, for seeing us, for championing this journey, and for creating something so special together. We love you.

“As always and forever.. to Paul ‘Let Him Cook’ Thomas Anderson, thank you for your vision, your trust, and your brilliance. My gratitude is endless.

“I am emotional. I am humbled.

“My heart is full. My life is forever changed, and I give all glory to God. 🙏🏾🤍”

I always recoil from the God squad, so I’ll be rooting for satanic Aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan in Weapons). [Insert evil grin]

Full list of nominees:

Best Picture
Bugonia
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Best Actress
Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue
Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Emma Stone, Bugonia

Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Best Supporting Actress
Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan, Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners
Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best Supporting Actor
Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo, Sinners
Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Best Original Screenplay
Blue Moon
It Was Just an Accident
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Best Adapted Screenplay
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Train Dreams

Best Cinematography
Frankenstein
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams

Best Visual Effects
Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
Jurassic World Rebirth
The Lost Bus
Sinners

Best Sound
F1
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Sirāt

Best Editing
F1
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Best Production Design
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Frankenstein
Kokuho
Sinners
The Smashing Machine
The Ugly Stepsister

Best Costume Design
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
Sinners

Best Casting
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sinners

Best Original Score
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle after Another
Sinners

Best Original Song
“Dear Me,” Diane Warren: Relentless
“Golden,” KPop Demon Hunters
“I Lied to You,” Sinners
“Sweet Dreams of Joy,” Viva Verdi
“Train Dreams,” Train Dreams

Best Documentary Feature
The Alabama Solution
Come See Me in the Good Light
Cutting Through Rocks
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
The Perfect Neighbor

Best International Feature
The Secret Agent, Brazil
It Was Just an Accident, France
Sentimental Value, Norway
Sirāt, Spain
The Voice of Hind Rajab, Tunisia

Best Animated Feature
Arco
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

Best Animated Short
Butterfly
Forevergreen
The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Retirement Plan
The Three Sisters

Best Live-Action Short
Butcher’s Stain
A Friend of Dorothy
Jane Austen’s Period Drama
The Singers
Two People Exchanging Saliva

Best Documentary Short
All the Empty Rooms
Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Children No More: Were and Are Gone
The Devil Is Busy
Perfectly a Strangeness

Good luck to them all. Well, to most of them. ⚡️