Hollywood’s biggest night and the end of the 2025 awards season saw some much-deserved wins and a fair share of late-season hopefuls take the industry’s top prize, all while keeping the presentation short and entertaining — if not occasionally cringey.
Kicking off the night and breaking from recent tradition, this year’s host Conan O’Brien immediately set the stage with a digital short. Recreating one of the most iconic scenes of the past year in homage to Weapons, the short highlighted nearly every Best Picture nominee, including KPop Demon Hunters.
Taking the stage, O’Brien brought a fresh voice and comedic style to the Oscars. While Jimmy Kimmel had defined the gig for nearly 10 years, O’Brien’s fresh anti-cool comedic style was much appreciated.
In an evening often seen as too prestige-driven or unapproachable, viewers could rest assured that when Conan returned to the stage, they would get a good laugh.
His bits played extremely well, even to such a large crowd. From outlandish throwaway lines — often at his own expense — to absurdist prerecorded video cutaways, O’Brien’s Oscars allowed the at-home viewer to stay amused while the evening unfolded.
The first award of the evening, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, went to Amy Madigan for Weapons. The only nomination the film received at this year’s awards, it was a trophy well deserved for an actress with as much history as Madigan. Being 40 years since her last Oscar nomination, Weapons has introduced Madigan to a whole new generation of viewers. Her role as Aunt Gladys was truly chilling.
Best Animated Feature went to the global phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters. Becoming one of the most popular and culturally significant films of the past year, KPop Demon Hunters broke records for Netflix and the Billboard music charts, all while bringing K-pop to the main stage of the Oscars. In their acceptance speech, South Korean and Canadian producer Maggie Kang said, “this is for Korea and for Koreans everywhere.”
Canada won big in the animation categories this year. Following the historic Demon Hunters win, The Girl Who Cried Pearls won Best Animated Short — a haunting stop-motion film that took nearly five years to make. Set in Montreal, the film was funded by the National Film Board of Canada.
Each year, the Academy pairs stars from upcoming blockbusters and nostalgic past films to present each award. While not every interaction is worth the speech time it takes up, the pairing of past Vogue editor-in-chief Dame Anna Wintour and Anne Hathaway was extremely memorable — a clear nudge to The Devil Wears Prada 2, set to premiere later this spring.
Best Supporting Actor went to Sean Penn for One Battle After Another. Penn was not in attendance at this year’s ceremony, and the award was accepted on his behalf by last year’s winner Kieran Culkin.
Presumably for the sake of run time, this year’s awards didn’t see every nominee for Best Original Song perform. However, the two performances of the evening — the category frontrunners “I Lied to You” and “Golden” — were showstoppers.
Miles Clayton (Sinners) took center stage for his rendition of “I Lied to You” in an explosive collage echoing the film’s most pivotal scene. Arranging various Black artists across the stage, including Shaboozey, Alice Smith and Misty Copeland, it was a cinematic performance brought to life by Clayton’s incredible voice.
The second performance of the evening was a rendition of “Golden” from Best Original Song winner KPop Demon Hunters. Incorporating traditional Korean dance and K-pop influences, the performance was shorter than I had expected, but the vocal abilities of HUNTR/X — EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami — were undeniable.
Making history, the 98th Academy Awards marked the first year that casting was formally recognized. Seen as long overdue by the industry, Best Casting honours the achievement and skill required to assemble the actors who bring a film to life. This year’s award went to Cassandra Kulukundis for One Battle After Another.
Rounding out the evening, Best Director was awarded to Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another. After earlier winning his first Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Anderson has finally ascended — with 14 nominations under his belt — to join the ranks among the greatest directors of all time.
After some well-deserved late-season buzz, Best Actor in a Leading Role went to Michael B. Jordan for Sinners. In Sinners, Jordan plays two roles — each identical, yet entirely different. In his portrayal of Smoke and Stack, Jordan changed his mannerisms, posture and even how he held his face. While watching the film, I forgot they were played by the same actor.
The undisputed and most deserving winner of the evening was Jessie Buckley for Hamnet. Her portrayal of motherhood was beautiful, intense and captivating from the first scene. This was the strongest performance of the year, in my opinion, Buckley’s Agnes was the ideal role to showcase the raw talent the Irish-born actress has developed over the years. With this Academy Award, Buckley becomes the most awarded actor of the year.
While late-season buzz made Best Picture a toss-up between Sinners and One Battle After Another, the evening’s final award went to Paul Thomas Anderson’s three-hour epic One Battle After Another. Becoming the film’s sixth award of the evening, the film is captivating and a true achievement of the past year.
The 98th Academy Awards proved why it can still be worth tuning into award shows. Although too many speeches were cut short, the Academy seems to have found its stride in creating a broadcast that doesn’t feel like a chore to watch. Next year, the Oscars will move to YouTube, expanding the Academy Awards’ audience and ushering in a new era for the can’t-miss black-tie event of the year.
Other notable winners include:
Best International Feature: Sentimental Value (Norway)
Best Documentary Feature: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Best Original Screenplay: Sinners — Ryan Coogler
Best Original Score: Sinners — Ludwig Göransson
Best Cinematography: Sinners — Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Best Film Editing: One Battle After Another — Andy Jurgensen
Best Sound: F1 — Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta
Best Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash — Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
Best Production Design: Frankenstein — Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau
Best Make-Up and Hairstyling: Frankenstein — Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey
Best Costume Design: Frankenstein — Kate Hawley
Best Live Action Short: Tie — The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva
Best Documentary Short: All the Empty Rooms