Paul Thomas Anderson has been making extraordinary films for nearly three decades. On Sunday night, the Academy finally agreed — loudly and formally — by awarding him both Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director at the 98th Academy Awards for One Battle After Another. The same film also gave Sean Penn his third career Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, tying the all-time male acting record. It was a landmark evening for both men, though only one of them was in the room.
Penn was absent from the Dolby Theatre when his name was announced, leaving presenter Kieran Culkin to accept the award and deliver a deadpan note about the winner’s non-attendance. Penn’s three Oscars now match those of Jack Nicholson, Walter Brennan, and Daniel Day-Lewis — the only male actors to have previously won three acting awards from the Academy. His previous wins were for Mystic River in 2004 and Milk in 2009.
Penn’s character in One Battle After Another — a militaristic officer driven by dogma — was called one of the most fully realized performances of his career. Anderson’s direction gave the film its dark, wry, and deeply human quality, and his wins were greeted with genuine celebration from a crowd that has long admired his work. Together, Penn and Anderson produced something that the Oscars finally recognized as unmissable.
Host Conan O’Brien was at his best when mixing humor with substance, as he did throughout the evening. He opened with a topical joke about artificial intelligence replacing human hosts and went on to celebrate the breadth of the nominees, who came from 31 countries. His hosting was a welcome reminder that the Oscars can still be both funny and meaningful.
Michael B. Jordan’s Best Actor win for Sinners over Leonardo DiCaprio added another landmark result to an already historic night. The 2026 ceremony may well be remembered as one of the most significant in the Academy’s long history.
