Awards pundits were taken by surprise from the first two words spoken at the Oscar nominations on Thursday.
“Elle Fanning, for Sentimental Value,” said hosts Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman, as they kicked off the nominations with the best supporting actress category.
Fanning’s appearance got things off to a spicy start – she had received praise for her performance in the Norwegian family drama, but few had predicted a nomination.
The opening category set the tone for a string of snubs and surprises, which started coming thick and fast. Here are eight of the big takeaways.
1. Some hot favourites missed out
Although Hamnet and One Battle After Another did well, both had a slightly softer showing than expected in the acting categories.
Paul Mescal missed out on a supporting actor nod for Hamnet – a surprising omission, although we’re confident it won’t have much impact on his co-star Jessie Buckley’s frontrunner status for best actress.
Meanwhile, four big actors from One Battle After Another were recognised, but its break-out star Chase Infiniti missed best actress despite being a red-hot contender.
It was an admittedly competitive category. But at 25 years old and with rave reviews for her performance in the film, we’re pretty sure we haven’t heard the last of her.
Other actors who had momentum but ended up missing included Jesse Plemons for Bugonia and Joel Edgerton for Train Dreams. But both of those movies made it into best picture – so the Academy clearly liked them overall.
2. F1 is a comfort-food movie
F1, which stars Brad Pitt as a racing driver brought out of retirement, was the biggest surprise in the best picture category.
It wasn’t exactly an outsider – many awards pundits expected it to pick up several below-the-line nominations for its impressive technical achievements (we recommend watching the film in a cinema or with surround sound if you can).
But the fact that it had enough momentum to propel it into best picture was a real show of strength – especially without other major nominations in best director or the acting categories.
It shows the old guard of the Academy still appreciates traditional, well-made films that can simply be enjoyed with a bucket of popcorn.
3. Sinners were the big winners
Sinners scored a record-breaking 16 nominations, flying way past the previous joint record holders La La Land, Titanic and All About Eve, which got 14 each.
Ryan Coogler’s vampire horror has done particularly well to maintain its momentum with voters, considering it was released last spring.
But it’s exactly the kind of film the Academy would want to recognise. Although vampire movies might not be traditional Oscars bait, Sinners was a real artistic achievement, blending genre horror with 1930s blues music against the backdrop of the Mississippi Delta.
Coogler also made headlines in the Hollywood trade publications last year for the deal he negotiated with Warner Brothers, which will see the film’s ownership rights return to him after 25 years.
4. Wicked did not bewitch the Academy
The first Wicked film received 10 Oscar nominations and went on to win two. So it’s an extraordinary fall from grace for its sequel to have got zero.
This was largely expected, however. Wicked: For Good was far less well received than its predecessor – something it shares with the original musical.
The second act of the stage show is widely considered weaker than the first, partly because all the big hits appear before the interval.
But it was still thought that Wicked: For Good could get into a couple of categories, with many predicting a best original song nomination for The Girl in the Bubble, a track performed by Ariana Grande that was newly added for the film adaptation.
There was better news for another blockbuster, Avatar: Fire and Ash, which at least managed a couple of technical nominations for visual effects and costume design.
Some of the most mainstream films can instead be found in the animated category. That’s where we find the $1.7bn-grossing Zootopia 2 (known as Zootropolis 2 in the UK) and viral streaming hit KPop Demon Hunters.
5. The Brits showed up
Sinners didn’t just score the highest number of nominations, it also delivered the only two Brits to be nominated in the acting categories.
Wunmi Mosaku and Delroy Lindo made it into best supporting actress and actor respectively.
While Mosaku’s nomination was broadly expected, Lindo’s was more of a surprise, and his inclusion is perhaps the most telling indicator of how much love there clearly is for Sinners across the Academy.
Lindo narrowly missed a best actor nomination a few years ago for Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. The 73-year-old’s first ever Oscar nomination feels long overdue.
6. Several actresses carried their films to a nomination
Three of the actresses nominated on Thursday ended up being the only recognition their film received.
Rose Byrne was the sole representation for motherhood drama If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, while Kate Hudson made it in on her own for the touching musical love story Song Sung Blue.
Meanwhile, Weapons star Amy Madigan was nominated for her role as an eccentric aunt who shows up in a US town just before the local school children go missing.
Madigan’s nomination is perhaps the most impressive, given that jump-scare horror movies aren’t traditional Oscars fodder.
But the 75-year-old was a passion pick for many pundits and voters, and her fans have been campaigning hard for her to be recognised for her memorable (and slightly terrifying) performance.
7. New category is a mixed bag
The newly introduced casting category overlapped with many of the general frontrunners, with nominations for Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Hamnet, Sinners and The Secret Agent.
We can’t help but feel slightly bemused, however, that one other film in particular missed out.
Sentimental Value failed to score a casting nomination despite all four of its lead stars scoring individual nods – Stellan Skarsgård, Elle Fanning, Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas.
If that quartet was impressive enough to be nominated individually, you might’ve thought there was a good chance of recognition for the casting directors who put them together – Avy Kaufman and Yngvill Kolset Haga.
8. Timothée is even closer to greatness
At the SAG Awards last year, Timothée Chalamet spoke about his desire to eventually be considered “one of the Hollywood greats”.
He’s a big step closer to that with the likelihood that he will win his first Oscar this year, as the clear frontrunner in best actor for table-tennis drama Marty Supreme.
Although he’s only been nominated twice before, Chalamet is popular with the Academy, having starred in a whopping eight best picture-nominated films.
He is also the youngest actor since Marlon Brando to receive three nominations for best leading actor. Brando was 30, the same age as Chalamet, when he got his third in 1954.
Timothée came close to a win last year for playing Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, but we’re confident that 2026 will be his time to reign supreme.
