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The drama, telling the story of the “father of the atomic
bomb”, lost the box office battle to Barbie during last summer’s Barbenheimer
showdown but has now won the awards war with Greta Gerwig’s Mattel comedy
winning just one Oscar for best original song.
Cillian Murphy was named best actor for his performance,
beating out Paul Giamatti and Jeffrey Wright, and Robert Downey Jr was named
best supporting actor, up against Robert De Niro and Ryan Gosling.
Murphy, winning his first Oscar from his first nomination,
is also the first ever Irish-born winner in his category. “I’m a little
overwhelmed,” he said before dedicating his award “to the peacemakers
everywhere”.
Downey Jr won his first Oscar after being nominated twice
before for Chaplin and Tropic Thunder. “I’d like to thank my terrible childhood
and the Academy in that order,” he said before later adding: “I needed this job
more than it needed me.”
Nolan picked up his first best director Oscar, after being
nominated previously for Dunkirk, beating out Martin Scorsese and Jonathan
Glazer. When speaking about cinema in his speech he said: “We don’t know where
this incredible journey is going from here but to know that you think I’m a
meaningful part of it means the world to me.”
The film also won for editing, cinematography and score.
Emma Stone pulled a surprise, beating out favourite Lily
Gladstone to be named best actress for her role in Yorgos Lanthimos’s offbeat
period comedy Poor Things. It’s the actor’s second best actress Oscar after
previously winning for La La Land. “It’s not about me, it’s about a team that
came together to make something greater than the sum of its parts,” she said
during an emotional speech.
The film also picked up awards for production design,
hairstyling and makeup and costume design.
Jonathan Glazer’s German and Polish-language Holocaust drama
The Zone of Interest was named best international feature, the first ever
British film to win in this category. The film also won for sound.
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| Jennifer Lame, with the Oscar for Best Film Editing for Oppenheimer, Ludwig Goransson with the Oscar for Best Original Score for Oppenheimer and Cillian Murphy with the Best Actor Oscar for Oppenheimer, pose at the Governors Ball following the Oscars show at the 96th Academy Awards [Mario Anzuoni/Reuters] |
The writer-director’s speech addressed the Israel-Palestine conflict, calling out the “dehumanisation” shown both in his film and in reality. “Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has lead to conflict for so many innocent people,” he said, “whether the victims of October 7 in Israel or the ongoing attack in Gaza.”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph won the best supporting actress Oscar
for her role in 70s-set drama The Holdovers after winning every major precursor
award on her way to the stage. “For so long, I’ve always wanted to be different
and now I realise I just need to be myself,” a tearful Randolph said in her
speech.
Barbie won just one award from its eight nominations, taking
home the best original song Oscar for Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For?.
Eilish, winning with brother and collaborator Finneas, received a standing
ovation earlier in the evening after performing the song on stage. The pair
previously won for No Time to Die.
Ryan Gosling also performed his nominated song I’m Just Ken
in a diamond-studded pink suit surrounded by dancing Kens, including stars from
the film, as well as a guitar cameo from Slash.
Justine Triet and partner Arthur Harari also won best
original screenplay for marital drama Anatomy of a Fall. Triet is the first
French woman to win in this category. “It will help me in my midlife crisis, I
think,” she joked in her speech.
Best adapted screenplay went to Cord Jefferson for American
Fiction, his first big screen script. The literary comedy is an adaptation of
Percival Everett’s novel Erasure.
20 Days in Mauripol, which tells of the Russian invasion of
Ukraine, was named best documentary feature, the country’s first ever Oscar. “I
wish to be able to exchange this for Russia never attacking Ukraine, never
occupying our cities,” war reporter turned director Mstyslav Chernov said. He
added: “Cinema forms memories and memories form history.”
It was also a strong night for Japanese cinema with The Boy
and the Heron named best animated feature and Godzilla Minus One beating out
big-budget blockbusters to win best visual effects.
Wes Anderson also won his first ever Oscar for his Roald
Dahl adaptation The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, which was named best
live-action short. He wasn’t in attendance to accept the award.
The ceremony was briefly delayed with reports of security
issues for attendees as a result of a pro-Palestine protest disrupting traffic
with hundreds of protesters marching with signs reading “No Awards for
Genocide”.
Various celebrities, including Billie Eilish and Ramy
Youssef, also wore red pins in support of a ceasefire in Gaza. “We really want
lasting justice and peace for the Palestinian people,” the Poor Things star
said on the red carpet.
Host Jimmy Kimmel kicked off the show by welcoming “these
beautiful human actors” in attendance after a hard year of strikes. He called
out Academy members for not nominating Greta Gerwig for best director, made a
joke about Downey Jr’s troubled history, calling the night “one of his highest
points”, the length of Killers of the Flower Moon and Bradley Cooper’s habit of
taking his mother to awards shows.
After paying tribute to the writers and actors on strike in
the last year, he then brought out teamsters and below-the-line members on
stage. “In your upcoming negotiations, we will stand with you,” he said.
Discussions are currently underway between union IATSE and AMPTP, the alliance
representing studios, with threats of a possible strike looming.
Later in the night, Kimmel read a Truth Social post from
Donald Trump attacking his role as host and asking ABC to replace him. “Isn’t
it past your jail time,” he joked.
The ceremony brought back an old practice where a group of
previous winners present acting Oscars which allowed for actors such as Lupita
Nyong’o, Sam Rockwell, Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Lawrence to pay tribute to
friends and co-workers.
Before the annual in memoriam segment, featuring stars such
as Tom Wilkinson, Tina Turner, Matthew Perry and Glenda Jackson, a clip was
played of the late Alexei Navalny from Oscar-winning documentary Navalny. “The
only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing,”
he said in the clip.
Oppenheimer has become the highest-grossing best picture
winner since Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in 2004. It is also the
first film to win best picture, actor and supporting actor since Ben Hur in
1960.
Nominated films that ended up empty-handed included Killers
of the Flower Moon, Past Lives, Maestro, Nyad and Society of the Snow.
Last year saw Everything Everywhere All at Once win seven
major awards, including best picture.
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Barbie
- The Holdovers
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Maestro
- Oppenheimer – WINNER
- Past Lives
- Poor Things
- The Zone of Interest
- Colman Domingo – Rustin
- Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
- Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer – WINNER
- Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction
- Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon
- Robert Downey Jr – Oppenheimer – WINNER
- Ryan Gosling – Barbie
- Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things
- Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
- Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall
- Carey Mulligan – Maestro
- Emma Stone – Poor Things – WINNER
- Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
- America Ferrera – Barbie
- Jodie Foster – Nyad
- Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers – WINNER
- Killers of the Flower Moon – Martin Scorsese
- Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan – WINNER
- Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos
- The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer
- The Boy and the Heron – WINNER
- Elemental
- Nimona
- Robot Dreams
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
- American Fiction – WINNER
- Barbie
- Oppenheimer
- Poor Things
- The Zone of Interest
- Anatomy of a Fall – WINNER
- The Holdovers
- Maestro
- May December
- Past Lives
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Maestro
- Oppenheimer- WINNER
- Poor Things
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Napoleon
- Oppenheimer
- Poor Things – WINNER
- The Eternal Memory
- Four Daughters
- To Kill a Tiger
- 20 Days in Mariupol – WINNER
- The Barber of Little Rock
- Island in Between
- The Last Repair Shop – WINNER
- Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó
- The Holdovers
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Oppenheimer – WINNER
- Poor Things
- Perfect Days
- Society of the Snow
- The Teachers’ Lounge
- The Zone of Interest – WINNER
- Maestro
- Oppenheimer
- Poor Things – WINNER
- Society of the Snow
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Oppenheimer – WINNER
- Poor Things
- I’m Just Ken – Barbie
- It Never Went Away – American Symphony
- Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People) – Killers of the Flower Moon
- What Was I Made For? – Barbie – WINNER
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Napoleon
- Oppenheimer
- Poor Things – WINNER
- Ninety-Five Senses
- Our Uniform
- Pachyderme
- WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko – WINNER
- Invincible
- Knight of Fortune
- Red, White and Blue
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar – WINNER
- Maestro
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
- Oppenheimer
- The Zone of Interest – WINNER
- Godzilla Minus One – WINNER
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
- Napoleon