As in previous years, whilst I try to delay my Oscar predictions through a good deal of uncertainty it’s time to take a look at each of this year’s categories and see what I would vote for amongst the nominees. And so, let’s just cut right to it and see which nominees I would hand the Oscar to at the 98th Academy Awards.
Best Cinematography – Train Dreams
There’s something truly striking about the wide world that Train Dreams captures in its visuals. Showing the lonely state of the central character as the world around him rapidly broadens and changes. Sinners looks great and has some wonderful, wonderful shots, but, for me, there’s something truly striking in the way Train Dreams looks from start to finish. It’s easy to get lost in its landscapes which push the idea of the grandness of an ordinary life.
Best Costume Design – Frankenstein
As you’d expect from a Guillermo del Toro film there’s so much attention to detail in the technical aspects which really flesh out the world. Yes, this could be me falling into the trap of going for ‘most’ costume design rather than best, but there’s a lot to like about the different costumes that add to the settings throughout Frankenstein. Whether it be in the middle of the frozen sea or a regal household the costumes help to make each location the titular creator and his creation find themselves in feel even more lived in.
Best Makeup And Hairstyling – Frankenstein
As with many for this category, this may well be swayed by the design of The Creature over anything else in the film. Admittedly, I haven’t seen The Ugly Stepsister, and Kokuho is yet to be released in the UK, but for those that I have seen Frankenstein appears a good step above. Not just because of the look of Jacob Elordi’s character, but also the increasingly bedraggled appearance of Oscar Isaac as madness takes over him, in part helped by the costume design. There’s a good deal to like about both the more subtle hair and makeup effects and the grander more upfront elements.
Best Production Design – Frankenstein
Much like with the Production Design and Makeup And Hairstyling, there’s just a great deal of detail about the would of Frankenstein that pushes a lived in gothic feel. A dark coldness lingering in even the lightest of rooms. Once again down to how well realised the worlds that del Toro and his production team, in this case production designer Tamara Deverell and set decorator Shane Vieau, create.
Best Casting – Hamnet
I think this may well be based on the distance that’s felt between the characters, and what comes to the fore in the brilliant theatre scenes, and, of course, the performances in them. The pain that comes through in the wake of grief heightened by the distance and different responses to it, and what expression through art allows to come through, is in part down to the effective casting. I won’t lie, I wasn’t entirely sure what to go for for this category, it was largely between this and Sinners, but something about Hamnet seemed to click for Casting.
Best Sound – Sirāt
Not so much for the sound of dance beats drifting through the desert in rumbled echoes, through different kinds of speaker set ups, but the linger effect of sudden and dread-inducing sounds. One at the point where things take a sudden emotional turn around halfway through is sustained and added to with great impact. The audible landscape of the film is integral to the effect that the desert has, and while some of the sudden turns might start to feel a bit much towards the final stages of the film there’s no denying that they still have an effect because of the attention that’s gone into the sound. Into putting us into this situation where what quiet can be found has as much a sense of fear and threat as the loudness that can cause escape or pain.
Best Visual Effects – Avatar: Fire And Ash
While I wasn’t as blown away by the visuals this time around as in the previous two Avatar films there’s no denying the detail in the world of Pandora and how seamlessly the CG blends in with the live-action elements, especially in a film with such a grand scale. That being said, I saw some behind the scenes for the visual effects of F1 and what’s been done there is so seamless that it’s barely, if at all, noticeable in the film, and there’s quite a lot at play that’s not been disguised or under-talked. It’s rare to hear of a big film like this talking about just how much wasn’t done in camera.
Best Original Song – Golden from KPop Demon Hunters
This is actually a pretty strong category this year (well, 3 out of 5 isn’t bad). Yes, there are obvious omissions such as Let’s Prepare For Paddington or anything from The Ballad Of Wallis Island, but Nick Cave’s Train Dreams and I Lied To You from Sinners are great tracks. In fact, the latter was, like I think is the case for the actual award itself, very close for me for this. However, Golden is such a great song. One that I’ve listened to a good number of times, as likely many, many people have since the film and smash-hit-sensation soundtrack first dropped, since first hearing it and each time it just manages to be a pumped-up, energetic anthem. It’s just a great song, and (while I’m someone who really doesn’t listen to much modern music) perhaps one of the best of last year overall.
Best Original Score – Sinners
Yet another Ludwig Göransson score that’s filled with so many layers and so much personality. Perfectly complimenting and escalating the film whilst working as its own great piece of music. There’s a lot to love about the score to Sinners, the different styles it embraces and instruments that take the lead during different moments of the film (and, let’s not ignore the fact that it makes great utilisation of the banjo), yet slot in perfectly with everything around. It’s just a wonderful score that easily stands out from the rest in this category (and while I wish that Bryce Dessner’s fantastic, mesmeric score for Train Dreams had also been nominated, and I just wanted an excuse to mention it, Sinners would have still likely had a good upper-hand over it).
Best Film Editing – One Battle After Another
The propulsion that this film has to have a constantly barrelling energy that follows Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, and the movements of those linked to him, with such a fast-paced nature that crafts a multi-layered cat-and-mouse tale even after an already pacey extended set-up is truly key to One Battle After Another. Much of it comes through in the way in which it’s edited, especially in the tense car chase sequences of the second half (one particular hill-based scene comes to mind). Amongst the pacing there’s still time given to each shot without frantic cutting, we follow the characters rather than what’s happening around them, the other characters are what’s happening around them, and it allows for that focus and tension to once agian come through.
Best Documentary Feature – The Alabama Solution
The only film I’ve not seen in the line-up is Cutting Through Rocks, which do intend on watching when available in the UK because it does sound interesting, but out of the other four The Alabama Solution is the one that struck me the most. An unflinching, open and empathic look at unimaginable cruelty in the US prison system and how it fails to be looked after properly. The idea, as has come up in a handful of films over the last year or two – currently Wasteman in UK cinemas – of incarceration over rehabilitation. Shocking, painful and at times angering, in a line-up of interesting films it’s the one that, to me feels the strongest and most impactful throughout.
Best International Feature – The Voice Of Hind Rajab
I tend to say that if you want to find the best. most interesting films nominated at each year’s Oscars look at the Best International, Documentary and Animated Feature categories. There are a lot of big names in the International Feature category this year, and even more that didn’t quite make it (No Other Choice being one that stands out for many), but The Voice Of Hind Rajab stands out as the most devastatingly impactful of them all. A shattering portrait of desperation in the wake of tragedy and inhumanity I stand by the idea that Motaz Malhees and Saja Kilani should have been in serious contention for acting prizes this awards season. It’s a hugely powerful work.
Best Animated Feature – Little Amélie Or The Character Of Rain
For its entire just over 70-minute run-time this film made me feel calm. There’s a purity to the inquisitive nature of both the title character and the film itself as the mature aspects of the themes and narrative are dealt with with accessible humour and emotion that are consistently in-tune with each other. Add to that vibrant animation and I was utterly entranced by everything that happened from start to finish. It’s very likely that this will be one of my films of the year by the time 2026 ends (it was released in February here in the UK), it’s just fantastic; and perhaps my favourite of all the nominated films this year.
Best Original Screenplay – Blue Moon
I can’t say that there’s a screenplay in this category that stands out as particularly striking to me, but I do remember being taken in by the monologues of Blue Moon. The wit and frustrations pouring out of Ethan Hawke’s Lorenz Hart to anyone who will listen, usually the barman and piano player. In fact, the back and forths between these characters, the banter they engage in, is a particularly highlight of the film before, and something that’s always enjoyable to return to. There’s an intentional unease to other interactions, particularly those with Andrew Scott’s Richard Rodgers. And much of it is caught in the dialogue between each character and the regret-tinged quotes of Hart.
Best Adapted Screenplay – Train Dreams
I mentioned this when talking about the cinematography, but there’s something about Train Dreams that makes a normal life, playing out against the changing face of early 20th century America, feel so grand. The narration alone feels as if you’re experiencing one of the great American novels, all while so much of what we see is internalised or contrasts with the scope captured in what we’re being told. I’ve heard that the novella the film is based on is very internalised for the central character and that there’s very little dialogue. To take that, keep it intact and yet still open things out enough for a film that clicks, works and feels rather profound in all the subtleties of what it says and does is testament to the strength, and again subtlety, of the screenplay and the sparing interactions an dialogue throughout.
Best Supporting Actor – Sean Penn in One Battle After Another
Had Paul Mescal been here for his brilliant turn in Hamnet I would have absolutely gone for him here, however due to him not being nominated Sean Penn’s turn in One Battle After Another is still a strong pick. A gruff antagonist who’s gradually chipped away at by the film with his frustrations, feelings of inadequacy and vulnerable shortcomings, yet one who still manages to bring tension and a sense of threat during the same scenes where we’re chuckling at him. It’s a balanced and strong performance from Penn.
Best Supporting Actress – Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in Sentimental Value
There’s so much subtlety to the quietness of Lilleaas’ performance that it almost blends in entirely with the ideas at play in Sentimental Value. Her character is often seen at the side of things and it’s something that’s felt entirely in the leaking emotion of her performance. One full of understanding for both the character and what she’s feeling and what the film is dealing with as a whole. It’s an impactful yet very restrained (and at times intentionally restraining) performance that deserves the win because of just how much effect it has whilst being the complete opposite of showy, even in its moments of emotional confrontation.
Best Leading Actor – Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another
I just love DiCaprio’s performance in this film, it’s one of the best of last year. One that captures the frantic and rushed pacing of the film as his stoner character’s life catches up with him and he finds himself both chasing and on the run. Amongst his panicked and dazed attitude, still affected by the drugs in his system, you feel the care and worry for his daughter, the fear that something bad has happened to her. It’s a big, force performance that fits the film and doesn’t steal away from the actions and other characters at hand as it understands the chaos playing out.
Best Leading Actress – Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
With this performance Byrne masters the tired, exhausted, dead behind the eyes look of someone who is struggling to continue trying but knows that they have to, and wants to. Frustrated and burned out, with a therapist who doesn’t seem to take her seriously you can see her character, Linda, wearing down more and more as the film goes on. Exasperated, telling herself she needs to keep going on and that she can be better when in actuality she just needs, and desperately wants, to sleep. But, the world and its stresses, worries and demands continue to weight down more and more, leading her to be on the verge of collapse at any and all moments. It’s a brilliant performance that masters the looks and feelings of Linda’s swelling breakdown.
Best Director – Ryan Coogler for Sinners
While it may not be my favourite of the Best Picture nominees, although a film I’ve enjoyed more on re-watches (perhaps having known about the way the largely unadvertised first half plays out), just how much Coogler brings together in Sinners is undoubtedly impressive. His film is one where all the elements are working in harmony with an understanding that they’re all key in creating the one piece, and in some ways this is caught in the film itself. From the build-up to the events at the juke joint to the vampire action itself. There’s so much happening in the film and yet it doesn’t distract from the thrill and tension of the bloody events that start to unfold, and explode onto the screen in the third act. And, of course, let’s not forget that whole I Lied To You sequence, undoubtedly one of the best scenes of the year and expertly tracked and brought together by Coogler and his team.
Best Picture
As Best Picture is voted for by preferential ballot, I’ve put my personal ranking of this year’s nominees below (from strongest to weakest) with my thoughts on my number one placement after that.
1. Train Dreams
2. Sinners
3. One Battle After Another
4. Hamnet
5. Sentimental Value
6. Frankenstein
7. Marty Supreme
8. The Secret Agent
9. Bugonia
10. F1
Train Dreams is just a wonderfully quiet yet impactful film. Capturing the grandness of the everyday life with such contained scale I’ve seen it a couple of times now and each time its swept me away in both the landscapes that it captures and the tales that are told amongst it. Joel Edgerton physically carries the weight of pain and isolation that his character feels, and should have been in more consideration for Lead Actor. His character, Robert Grainier, is very internalised yet thanks to Edgerton, and the details around him, you feel and empathise with the tragedies that he faces and carries with him over the course of his life. I just loved and was truly struck by Train Dreams, I thought it was one of the best films of last year and it would absolutely be my pick for Best Picture out of this year’s line-up.
Just A Little Bit Random 