The film made more than $211 million worldwide at the box office and is Anderson’s highest-grossing release. It’s a really well crafted film, so seeing it dominate wasn’t shocking. Nonetheless, it was still a big night for the team behind it.

In the acting categories, Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for Hamnet and Michael B. Jordan took Best Actor for Sinners. The wins were widely predicted, but that doesn’t make them any less satisfying, especially since it was the first Oscar win for them both.

Other highlights included K-Pop Demon Hunters winning, as we all knew it would, Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. Meanwhile, the Norwegian film Sentimental Value, directed by Joachim Trier, took home the Oscar for Best International Feature.

I’ve honestly always liked the latter category, as it works perfectly as a reminder that high-quality cinematography exists beyond Hollywood.

The discussion intensified after a few controversial remarks he made a few weeks before the Oscars. “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive’, even though it’s like, no one cares about this anymore,” Chalamet said. Many in the performing arts community criticised the comment as dismissive and disrespectful towards the arts.

At the Oscars, host Conan O’Brien even referenced the controversy in his opening monologue.

Of course, there’s a lot more that could be said about this year’s Oscars. Between all the technical categories, supporting roles and smaller wins, the ceremony covered way more than I have room to mention.

What’s particularly interesting is the overall feel of the results. One Battle After Another definitely dominated in terms of wins (six out of 13 nominations won), but it didn’t completely take over the others. Sinners still showed up with an impressive four wins out of 16 nominations – the most nominations in the Academy Awards’ history.

 

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Hamnet also had its moment with Jessie Buckley. Even the films that didn’t win big were still part of the conversation, and it felt like a pretty competitive year.

While the results didn’t feel too predictable, they also weren’t shocking. It was kind of in between – like you could see why things won, even if you might have picked something else. And I think that’s what made it work. It didn’t feel frustrating to watch, but it was slightly debatable in places, which made it more interesting.

Personally, I think this year was about a mix of solid films all getting some level of recognition. To me, it felt a bit more varied than usual, which I liked.

At the end of the day, the Oscars did what they usually do. Some choices made perfect sense, while others will probably keep getting debated. And frankly, that’s what I like about the ceremony: it always gives people something to talk about and proves how relevant movies still are.