Nathan Villasenor / Daily Nexus
As the ultra-competitive 2026 Academy Awards approach, here are Artsweek’s official predictions for who will take home the golden statuettes in the major categories.
Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan
Best Actor is one of the most competitive categories, with prolific actors including Timothée Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio being nominated. However, one actor stands out twice as much because he filled the shoes of twice the characters: Michael B. Jordan, who plays twins Smoke and Stack in “Sinners.” The film has won the hearts of audience members and critics, and has dominated the awards circuit, largely thanks to Jordan’s dynamic performance. Though the characters looked identical, Jordan was tasked with creating vastly different personalities, contrasting the cool and calm Smoke with the outspoken and fiery Stack. Jordan’s talent is blatantly clear at the climax of the movie, where he performs two separate compelling scenes from both twins’ separate points of view. Jordan did something most actors aren’t able to do, and he is more than deserving of the Academy Award.
– Carly Rattner, Staff Writer
Jordan received the Outstanding Performer Award at the 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Best Actress: Jessie Buckley
While the Best Actress nominees feature the best of the best, there’s a glaringly obvious winner for the 2026 Academy Award — Jessie Buckley, for her gut-wrenching, tear-jerking and oh-so-beautiful portrayal of Agnes in Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet.” Buckley is magnetic, drawing in the audience and allowing them to experience her character’s grief with her. Her portrayal has incredible range, bringing a lightness and levity to Agnes in the beginning of the film when running around the forest with her on-screen husband Paul Mescal and playing with their children in the backyard of their home. It is these scenes of joy and happiness that make the dark turn so much more impactful, and Buckley’s emotionally charged performance all the more compelling. After winning the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, BAFTA and SAG Award for Best Actress, Buckley’s Academy Award is practically guaranteed.
– Lauren Chiou, Artsweek Editor
Best Supporting Actor: Stellan Skarsgård
In Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Stellan Skarsgård plays an aging filmmaker past the golden age of his career, struggling to reconnect with his estranged daughters. It’s a career-best for Skarsgård, who treats his character Gustav Borg, a deeply nuanced “tortured artist” figure, with vulnerability and kindness. Borg carries multiple lifetimes of emotional weight, but Skarsgård occasionally masterfully lifts it, allowing humorous moments to peek through. It’s high time that Skarsgård earns his acting laurels, and hopefully it’s for this film.
– Sophia Benito, Staff Writer
Skarsgård received the Montecito Award at the 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan
For her haunting portrayal of Aunt Gladys in “Weapons,” Amy Madigan has won the Critics Choice and SAG awards for Best Supporting Actress, making her very likely to also take the golden statuette on Academy Awards night. Despite being “Weapons’” sole Academy Awards nomination, Madigan is the only nominee in this chaotic category that has maintained enough momentum to win multiple important awards and gain undeniable industry support. As a veteran actress with one of the showiest performances of 2025 and two precursor prizes, all signs point to Madigan’s instantly iconic performance culminating with a well-deserved and legendary Academy Awards victory.
– Tanner Perez, Reporter
Madigan received one of eight Virtuoso Awards at the 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Best Screenplay (original): “Sinners”
With a record-breaking 16 nominations, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” has the opportunity to make history at the 98th Academy Awards. If there is one category where “Sinners” is a lock, it’s Best Original Screenplay. “Sinners” steps outside the boundaries of genre by blending horror, music, history and African American culture into one creative story. Its originality and non-conformity is one of the reasons that “Sinners” was such a hit, and it has already had success at previous award shows, such as winning Best Original Screenplay at the BAFTA awards, both of which are indicators of success at the Academy Awards.
– Isabel Laezman, Reporter
Best Screenplay (adapted): “One Battle After Another”
“One Battle After Another” is the film of the moment, exploring themes of political violence, conflict and ideological divide. Loosely based on the 1990 novel “Vineland” by Thomas Pynchon, director and writer Paul Thomas Anderson’s screenplay reimagines the original text through modern lenses. It’s snappy, stressful and incredibly smart, challenging the audience’s way of thinking and showing them the chaos and division that runs modern society.
– Lauren Chiou, Artsweek Editor
Best Animated Feature: “KPop Demon Hunters”
Love it or hate it (the latter being the correct attitude), “KPop Demon Hunters” was a cultural phenomenon, one that completely overshadows every single one of its competitors in the Animated Feature category. “Zootopia 2” may have seen the return of everyone’s favorite hot fox and “Elio” may have been Disney’s second gayest movie behind 2021’s “Luca,” but your cousin wasn’t singing Shakira all summer long and no other movie has won nearly as much. So, begrudgingly, an early congrats to HUNTR/X and the inevitable sequel.
– Zack Kramer, Staff Writer
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Over the course of his nearly 30-year career, writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies have garnered more than 40 Academy Award nominations, 14 of which were for the visionary auteur himself. Anderson lost his first 11 nominations, but the last three — all for the brilliant “One Battle After Another” — will be determined this Sunday. It’s incredibly rare for an artist’s best work to perfectly coincide with the moment they receive their overdue “career Academy Award,” yet this is one of those opportunities. It’s difficult to imagine the Academy passing it up.
– Jake Turner, Staff Writer
Best Picture: a toss-up between “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners”
After close analysis of critical response, audience attitudes and the 2026 awards seasons as a whole, I come to you with a conclusion of indecision. I have no idea who is going to win the coveted Best Picture statue. I only know it’s a battle between two: “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another.”
A solid case can be made for either film to win. “One Battle After Another” is timely, powerful and jam-packed full of incredible performances, depicting the imperfect portrait of a chaotic world strife with conflict and corruption. It’s one of the boldest films of 2025. “Sinners” has a similar — arguably more powerful — effect on audiences, and is an even bolder concept than “One Battle.” Its multi-theme approach centers on racism, music, family and African American history, all within a genuinely terrifying horror storyline. The Academy is notorious for its lack of horror movie acknowledgement, but if any movie has what it takes to break the curse, it’s “Sinners.”
– Lauren Chiou, Artsweek Editor
The 98th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 15.
