2026 Oscars Predictions
Felix's take on this year's 98th Academy Awards nominations
As Hollywood’s awards season reaches its glittering finale, attention now turns to the 98th Academy Awards airing 15th March – the film industry’s most prestigious and closely watched night. After months of film festival premieres, critics’ lists, and precursor ceremonies, the Oscars remain the final and most influential stop in the awards race. And sure enough, the road to the Oscars is rarely predictable.
This year’s race has been defined by a handful of standout films that have dominated nominations and industry conversation. Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan, has emerged as one of the biggest stories of the season. The supernatural historical thriller made Oscar history with 16 nominations, the most of any film this year, and has been praised for its ambitious genre-blending storytelling and striking visual style. Alongside it is One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson’s political thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio, winning major precursor awards and positioning itself as a serious Best Picture frontrunner.
Other films have also gained strong momentum throughout the season. Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao and adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, has been widely praised for its emotional storytelling, with Jessie Buckley emerging as a leading contender in the Best Actress category. Meanwhile, films such as Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie’s fast-paced drama about a competitive ping-pong hustler, has received nine nominations and another acclaimed performance from Timothée Chalamet. The international film Sentimental Value has also attracted significant critical attention, highlighting the range of genres and storytelling styles represented in this year’s nominations. In many ways, the nominations reflect a broader shift in contemporary cinema, where dramas, international productions, and large-scale studio films are all competing for the same recognition.
In this special feature, Felix gives opinions on the favourites, snubs, and overall predictions for this Oscar season. You can also make your own predictions from the nominations below:
Nominations & Categories
Favourite for Best Picture: One Battle After Another vs. Sinners
Recent awards season trends suggest that One Battle After Another has quietly become the film to beat in the Best Picture race. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, the film has built steady momentum across key precursor ceremonies, including the BAFTA Awards and the Critics’ Choice Awards. At the same time, Sinners remains a major competitor after leading the nominations and generating huge buzz throughout the season. Having seen both films, I’d have to say I preferred Sinners over One Battle After Another. – Sijung Lee
Sijung Lee
Snub for Best Picture: No Other Choice
Did the Academy just not watch this film? The fact that it didn’t get even a single nomination is just baffling. Funny, beautifully shot, and amazing in a hundred other ways. It’s an incredibly sharp satire that was one of my favourite films from the last year. A few weeks ago, I genuinely thought that there was a chance this could be Best Picture. Baffling. Baffling. – David Latimer
Sijung Lee
Snub for Best Director: Park Chan-wook (No Other Choice)
For Park Chan-wook to still have not a single Oscar nomination is just criminal. After Oldboy was snubbed I admire Park for pushing on because, personally, I would be so demotivated. And I know that Oscars aren’t everything, but it’s important to be appreciated for your work! And for a decades-spanning, incredible career like his, it’s just such an insult. – David Latimer
Favourite for Best Actor:
Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)
Could it really go to anyone else? Michael B. Jordan was great but, God, Chalamet was something else. This really feels like the performance his entire career has been leading up to. Driven, energetic, believable, and truly incredible. Just completely stand-out. – David Latimer
David Latimer
Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)
He won the Actor Awards for Best Actor, surprising everyone, but I’d say rightfully so. His dual performance in Sinners was insanely captivating with so much range, making such a unique and strong character to follow. Timothée Chalamet, though with a strong performance, perhaps needs a bit of humility. – Sijung Lee
Favourite for Best Actress: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)
She fully deserves this spot, winning every single award for this category until now. Her acting was simply incredible, with such raw emotions of grief, loss, and nature shining through her expressions – both verbal and physical. Basically guaranteed win. – Sijung Lee
Sijung Lee
Snub for Best Supporting Actress: Gwyneth Paltrow (Marty Supreme)
Paltrow seemed such an obvious choice that I almost didn’t realise she had been passed over. Despite her well-received comeback performance in Marty Supreme, it seems the Academy find it easy to forget just how good an actor she really is (likely due to her real-life self’s escapades). Her performance was subtle and full of melancholy, contrasting with Odessa A’zion’s Rachel, without which Marty Supreme would not have worked anywhere near as well as it did. Not only did she deliver her own stellar performance, she played extremely well with Chalamet, showing just how fantastic she can be. – Grace Murray
Snub for Best Original Screenplay: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
I wasn’t expecting this one to get many awards, but waking up and seeing it missed out on even a nomination for screenplay really did catch me off guard. It’s an incredibly tight murder mystery story with a wonderful exploration of religion from a secular standpoint, and it doesn’t ever come across as condescending or dismissive. It might just be my penchant for Rian Johnson, but this one did hurt. – David Latimer
David Latimer
Favourite for Best International Feature: Sentimental Value
Sentimental Value stands out in this category for its deeply personal storytelling. Joachim Trier explores family, memory, and grief with a subtle intensity that feels both intimate and universal. The Norwegian film also touches upon culture and language barriers, and often how some things can best be expressed in certain ways. – Sijung Lee
Sijung Lee
Snub for Best International Feature: No Other Choice
No Other Choice would have had a good chance of winning the category overall, even with the incredibly stacked competition. Did you know that there is only one South Korean film that has ever been nominated for any Academy Award ever? Huh. – David Latimer
Favourite for Best Original Score: Sinners
Having already won in 2024 with Oppenheimer, Ludwig Göransson delivered another incredible score for Sinners.Its incredible blend of bluegrass country and choir-infused electric rock is such an interesting way to incorporate the two opposing forces within the movie into the score. Also, many scenes had their horror factor amplified when accompanied by one of the more unsettling pieces. Really, it had it all. Excited to see his work on The Odyssey later this year. – David Latimer
Favourite for Best Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash
Avatar 3 should surely take this win – the scale itself is simply massive and being able to create a new world that is both beautiful and rich in history is no small feat. By combining the aesthetics of different Na’vi tribes and making us root for aliens instead of humans, the franchise fully deserves this award. – Sijung Lee
Angèle Lecourt
Snub for Best Sound: Warfare
Warfare was a controversial film last year, and not without good reason. For all its ideological faults, the element of the film that really stuck with me after watching was its immersive sound design. Warfare’s use of sound was impressive, and made the film quite terrifying. You can really imagine being there with the soldiers, hanging onto each breath. Much less of a snub than some of the others on this list, but worth mentioning. – David Latimer
Favourite for Best Makeup & Hairstyling: Sinners
This year had a lot of makeup transformations but far and beyond my favourite was seeing Jack O’Connell slowly become more and more injured (and less human) throughout Sinners. I am stunned at the artists’ abilities to tear off a side of O’Connell’s face using only additive makeup. – David Latimer
Snub for Best Film Editing: No Other Choice
All hail the dissolve. In my opinion, it’s one of the most beautiful editing techniques out there and, boy, did No Other Choice have a lot. – David Latimer
