On Thursday 22nd of January, 2026, the nominations for the next Oscars ceremony were announced,
including the nominees for Best Picture, possibly the highest award a film can receive in Hollywood. Here are
the nominees:
1. One Battle After Another
Most likely the front-runner to win the award, One Battle After Another follows washed-up former left-wing revolutionary Bob Ferguson (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), as he tries to save his daughter (Chase Infiniti) from the terrifying, but almost unbelievably weird and creepy Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn). The film is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, former wunderkind known for epic films like Magnolia and There Will Be Blood.
2. Marty Supreme
Directed by Josh Safdie, one half of the brother duo that directed Uncut Gems, Marty Supreme follows a table tennis player, played by Timothee Chalamet, nominated for best picture, in the 1950s rising to fame and
success from humble beginnings. The film, which features a combination of famous movie stars and non-actors, is also nominated for Best Casting.
3. Sinners
Michael B. Jordan plays two identical twin brothers that found a speakeasy in 1930s Mississippi, only for it to be overrun by vampires. One of the only horror or musical movies to be nominated for Best Picture in the past few years, Sinners represented an early front-runner for the award through most of the year, prior to the release of One Battle After Another in September. Although Sinners has been nominated for a record-setting
16 nominations, it’s not expected to win a lot of them, with even Best Song being expected to go to KPop Demon Hunter’s “Golden”.
4. Sentimental Value
One of two foreign films nominated for Best Picture, Sentimental Value is a slow-burn Swedish drama starring Stellan Skarsgard as an elderly director and absentee father who makes a film about his daughter, but rather than casting her, casts a famous American actress, played by Elle Fanning. The film follows his two daughters as they cope with the fallout of this decision and navigate their difficult relationship with their father.
The four central characters are all nominated for acting awards.
5. F1
The wild card for the race, F1 is a blockbuster sports film following Brad Pitt as a Formula One driver who returns to the sport to save his failing team. The nomination of F1, which was well received but not acclaimed, over films like No Other Choice, Sorry Baby, Weapons, Eddington, or If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, was controversial.
6. Bugonia
Directed by avant-garde Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos in his fourth consecutive collaboration with Emma Stone, Bugonia follows a conspiracy theorist, played by Jesse Plemons, that kidnaps and interrogates a successful businesswoman (Emma Stone) to determine whether or not she’s secretly a space alien. One of the strangest and most satirical films ever nominated for Best Picture, Bugonia plays with themes of truth in the
21st century, whether capitalism is inherently exploitative, and internet echo chambers. Emma Stone is also nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
7. The Secret Agent
The second Brazilian film in a row to be nominated for Best Picture, the Secret Agent is a thrilling, paranoid thriller following a professor plunged into a world of suspicion, double-crossing, and confusing blurred lines almost overnight as he attempts to evade Brazil’s military dictatorship. The longest film nominated at nearly 3 hours, the film stars Wagner Moura, best known for playing Pablo Escobar in the Netflix show Narcos, in multiple roles. Moura is also nominated for Best Actor.
8. Hamnet
A historical period piece tragedy following William Shakespeare (played by Paul Mescal) and his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) as they cope with the death of their 11 year old son Hamnet. Buckley is nominated for
Best Actress. The film was directed by Chloe Zhao, also nominated for best director, who won both Best Director and Best Picture for her 2020 film Nomadland, starring Frances McDormand. A slow, tragic film about
grief and love, Hamnet is one of the only true period pieces nominated in recent years– although most of this year’s nominees take place in previous decades, only Hamnet and Frankenstein take place in a different century.
9. Frankenstein
Directed by Guillermo del Toro, shows a new perspective on the classic sci-fi novel by Mary Shelly, with Jacob Elordi playing the titular scientist’s misguided but kind monster. Del Toro, long acclaimed by the academy, has become well-known for his intense personal skill at creating textured, lived-in fantastical worlds.