2026 OSCARS: Who Will Win and Who Should Win

We’re just barely a week away from the Academy Awards. The Internet has been going gaga over the recent releases of anonymous voters who have given out their picks. The main controversial part about this is the identity of the voters and what exactly their choices were for the awards. Apart from this, 2025 was also considered a year of pathbreaking cinema by many. The films have already proven themselves this year at the BAFTA and the Golden Globe. Be it Paul Thomas Anderson’s polarising political satire, Ryan Coogler’s Vampire Blues Musical Drama, or Chloe Zhao’s medieval Shakespearean tragedy that shook the audiences to the core. 2025 has truly been a wild year for cinema.

Out of all the movie studios, Warner bros is the frontrunner in this race -- with its two big-budget films leading with more than 30 nominations. Neon and A24 are trailing (18) and (11), respectively, which is a tremendous feat because both are Independent production companies. The Streaming Giant Netflix has also received 16 nods for it’s Auteur Driven films Frankenstein and Train Dreams.

This year, multiple films have a higher chance of winning in some categories, while others have clear winners already decided. So let’s dig in through our Oscar predictions in which we’re going to tell who will win and who actually deserves to win across all the categories, featuring the showdown between One Battle After Another and Sinners, to the tight Best Actor race between Timothee Chalamet and Michael B. Jordan.

Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Timothée Chalamet - Marty Supreme

Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle after Another

Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon

Michael B. Jordan - Sinners

Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent

Who Will Win: Timothee Chalamet

Who Should Win: Michael B Jordan

Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees:

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

Who Will Win: Jessie Buckley

Who Should Win: Renate Reinsve

Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Benicio Del Toro - One Battle after Another

Jacob Elordi - Frankenstein

Delroy Lindo - Sinners

Sean Penn - One Battle after Another

Stellan Skarsgård - Sentimental Value

Who Will Win: Sean Penn

Who Should Win: Stellan Skarsgard

Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan - Weapons

Wunmi Mosaku - Sinners

Teyana Taylor - One Battle after Another

Who Will Win: Teyana Taylor

Who Should Win: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Nominees:

Blue Moon - Written by Robert Kaplow

It Was Just an Accident - Written by Jafar Panahi; Script collaborators - Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian

Marty Supreme - Written by Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie

Sentimental Value - Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

Sinners - Written by Ryan Coogler

Who Will Win: Sinners

Who Should Win: Marty Supreme

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Nominees:

Bugonia - Screenplay by Will Tracy

Frankenstein - Written for the Screen by Guillermo del Toro

Hamnet - Screenplay by Chloé Zhao & Maggie O'Farrell

One Battle after Another - Written by Paul Thomas Anderson

Train Dreams - Screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar

Who Will Win: Paul Thomas Anderson

Who Should Win: Frankenstein

Sound

Nominees:

F1 - Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta

Frankenstein - Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern

One Battle after Another - José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor

Sinners - Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker

Sirāt - Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas

Who Will Win: F1

Who Should Win: One Battle After Another

Production Design

Nominees:

Frankenstein - Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau

Hamnet - Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton

Marty Supreme - Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis

One Battle after Another - Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

Sinners - Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne

Who Will Win: Frankenstein

Who Should Win: Marty Supreme

Music (Original Song)

Nominees:

Dear Me - from Diane Warren: Relentless; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

Golden - from KPop Demon Hunters; Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park

I Lied To You - from Sinners; Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson

Sweet Dreams Of Joy - from Viva Verdi!; Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike

Train Dreams - from Train Dreams; Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; Lyric by Nick Cave

Who Will Win: I Lied To You

Who Should Win: Train Dreams

Music (Original Score)

Nominees:

Bugonia - Jerskin Fendrix

Frankenstein - Alexandre Desplat

Hamnet - Max Richter

One Battle after Another - Jonny Greenwood

Sinners - Ludwig Goransson

Who Will Win: Ludwig Goransson

Who Should Win: Jonny Greenwood

Makeup and Hairstyling

Nominees:

Frankenstein - Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey

Kokuho - Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu

Sinners - Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry

The Smashing Machine - Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein

The Ugly Stepsister - Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg

Who Will Win: Frankenstein

Who Should Win: Frankenstein

International Feature Film

Nominees:

Brazil - The Secret Agent

France - It Was Just an Accident

Norway - Sentimental Value

Spain - Sirāt

Tunisia - The Voice of Hind Rajab

Who Will Win: Sentimental Value

Who Should Win: The Secret Agent

Film Editing

Nominees:

F1 - Stephen Mirrione

Marty Supreme - Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie

One Battle after Another - Andy Jurgensen

Sentimental Value - Olivier Bugge Coutté

Sinners - Michael P. Shawver

Who Will Win: One Battle After Another

Who Should Win: F1

Documentary Short Film

Nominees:

All the Empty Rooms - Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud - Craig Renaud and Juan Arredondo

Children No More: "Were and Are Gone" - Hilla Medalia and Sheila Nevins