Who will take home the biggest awards of the night on Sunday and which film will nab Best Picture? Here are Euronews Culture's full predictions.
The 98th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, and it’s rare when so many big categories could yield as many surprises.
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For the top award of the night, it’s a two-way race between a politically charged stoner comedy and a vampire horror drama - which is now the most Oscar-nominated film of all time with 16 noms.
So, will it be One Oscar After Another or will it be Hate The Sin But Love The Sinners?
Time to dust off the old crystal ball and give you our predictions:
BEST PICTURE
Nominees:
- Bugonia
- F1
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle After Another
- The Secret Agent
- Sentimental Value
- Sinners
- Train Dreams
While it’s a solid shortlist, this year boils down to a two-way race between One Battle After Another and Sinners. Paul Thomas Anderson’s film has swept up almost all the precursor awards, while Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller has gained momentum in the last few weeks, especially after becoming the most Oscar-nominated film in the Academy’s history, with a total of 16 nominations, and winning the Actor Awards (formerly SAG Awards) gong for Best Ensemble. Both would be deserving winners, but it will probably go to the superior of the two: One Battle After Another – our favourite film of 2025.
Who Will Win: One Battle After Another
Who Could Win: Sinners
Who Should Win: One Battle After Another
Who Should Have Been Nominated: How the likes of Sirāt and It Was Just An Accident didn’t make the Top 10 and F1 did, we’ll never know.
BEST DIRECTOR
Nominees:
- Chloé Zhao, Hamnet
- Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
- Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
- Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
- Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Best Picture and Best Director usually go hand-in-hand, so that makes Paul Thomas Anderson the frontrunner. That said, Ryan Coogler could take the prize and become the first Black filmmaker to win Best Director. But unlike PTA, it’s hard to say that Coogler is overdue an Oscar. PTA is one of the greatest directors of his generation and has, somewhat inexplicably, never won a golden baldie before. When you’ve directed There Will Be Blood, The Master and Phantom Thread, you’re owed... Time to right that wrong.
Who Will Win: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Who Could Win: Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Who Should Win: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Óliver Laxe (Sirāt) or Kleber Mendonça Filho (The Secret Agent) would have looked great on that shortlist.
BEST ACTOR
Nominees:
- Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
- Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
- Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
- Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
- Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
This race has turned surprisingly competitive and ends up as another coin flip between two candidates: Michael B. Jordan and Timothée Chalamet. During awards season, everyone was saying that it was Chalamet’s turn, having wowed in Marty Supreme as a narcissist ping pong player. But then Michael B. Jordan won the Actors Award and suddenly, the prize was up for grabs. Plus, public opinion has soured on Timmy, following his smug and insufferably meta Oscar campaign which rubbed many the wrong way, as well as some 'controversial' comments about opera and ballet. If he does win it, he’ll become the second-youngest performer to win Best Actor (Timmy's 30 and Adrien Brody won for The Pianist aged 29). We’re betting that he’ll have to wait a little longer for his first Oscar. It's MBJ's year. Oh, and pour one out for four-time nominee Ethan Hawke. He’s great.
Who Will Win: Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Who Could Win: Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
Who Should Win: Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Jessie Plemons, Bugonia
BEST ACTRESS
Nominees:
- Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
- Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
- Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue
- Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
- Emma Stone, Bugonia
This category is the easiest to call this year. While Rose Byrne was the best thing about the blistering but very one-note If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and Renate Reinsve is deserving of all the awards love, it’s basically a done deal for Jessie Buckley. Say what you will about Hamnet, she carries the film. Plus, she’s swept every Best Actress award going during awards season. It’s one of the rare locks of the night.
Who Will Win: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Who Could Win: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Who Should Win: Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Nominees:
- Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another
- Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
- Delroy Lindo, Sinners
- Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
- Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value
This is a surprisingly tough one to call, as everyone gave superb performances and there’s no entrenched favourite. Frankenstein 's Jacob Elordi took the Critics’ Choice Award; Sentimental Value 's Stellan Skarsgård won the Golden Globe; Sean Penn nabbed the BAFTA and the Actor Award; Delroy Lindo gave the acceptance speech when Sinners won Best Ensemble... Only Benicio Del Toro has gone home empty-handed. While Penn has already got two Oscars on his mantlepiece and it’s terrific to see Lindo finally get nominated, it feels like it still boils down to either Penn or Skarsgård here. The latter could become the first Swedish actor and the first Nordic male actor to win an Oscar for acting; the former may become the fourth male actor to win three acting Oscars (joining Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, and Walter Brennan). We’re calling it for Penn, chiefly because his terrifying yet goofy performance as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw is one of his finest in years.
Who Will Win: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Who Could Win: Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value
Who Should Win: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Miles Caton, Sinners
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Nominees:
- Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
- Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
- Amy Madigan, Weapons
- Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners
- Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
While we’d love to see Wunmi Mosaku become the first Nigerian actress - and the first Nigerian in any category - to win an Academy Award, it’s a toss-up between Teyana Taylor's performance as Perfidia Beverly Hills in One Battle After Another and Amy Madigan's villainous (and instantly iconic) Aunt Gladys in Weapons. It could go either way. Madigan, 75, may set the record for the longest gap between a first nomination and a first win - a stretch of 40 years since her nomination in 1986 for Twice in a Lifetime. Even if she’s not attached to a Best Picture contender, we’re betting on her.
Who Will Win: Amy Madigan, Weapons
Who Could Win: Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
Who Should Win: Amy Madigan, Weapons
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Nominees:
- Blue Moon
- It Was Just an Accident
- Marty Supreme
- Sentimental Value
- Sinners
This feels like an easy win for Sinners. It’s original, layered and deserving. Still, we’re huge fans of It Was Just An Accident, so we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed. It still remains Sinners’ trophy to lose though.
Who Will Win: Sinners (Ryan Coogler)
Who Could Win: Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt)
Who Should Win: It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi, with Mehdi Mahmoudian, Shadmehr Rastin and Nader Saivar)
Who Should Have Been Nominated: No Other Choice
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Nominees:
- Bugonia
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- One Battle After Another
- Train Dreams
While an adaptation in the loosest of senses, as it is based on Thomas Pynchon’s "Vineland", One Battle After Another has this category on lockdown. A win here could set up Paul Thomas Anderson for a screenplay-director-picture sweep. We won’t be upset about that.
Who Will Win: One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Who Could Win: Hamnet (Chloé Zhao & Maggie O'Farrell)
Who Should Win: One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Die My Love
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Nominees:
- The Secret Agent (Brazil)
- It Was Just an Accident (France)
- Sentimental Value (Norway)
- Sirāt (Spain)
- The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia)
Best International Feature Film is one of the most interesting categories at the Oscars, and this year is no exception, as the nominees are some of our very favourite films of 2025. And for the first time in Oscar history, four films are nominated for both International Feature and at least one other category – including Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent in Best Picture. In terms of potential winners, The Secret Agent has been picking up momentum lately and could be another win for Brazil, following last year’s triumph of I’m Still Here. We'd love for the Oscar to go to Sirāt or It Was Just An Accident, but it will probably go to Sentimental Value. If we’re right, it will become Norway’s first win in this category and only the second Norwegian film to win an Oscar, following Thor Heyerdahl’s documentary Kon-Tiki in 1951.
Who Will Win: Sentimental Value
Who Could Win: The Secret Agent
Who Should Win: Sirāt
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Seriously, what's with the lack of Park Chan-wook love?? No Other Choice was robbed.
As for the rest, if you’ve made it this far in the article, we’re opting for straightforward two-liners. For more of our thoughts on each category, join us on Monday morning for our coverage of the ceremony.
Best Casting (New category)
Will Win: Sinners (Francine Maisler)
Should Win: One Battle After Another (Cassandra Kulukundis)
Best Documentary
Will Win: The Perfect Neighbor
Should Win: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Best Animated Feature
Will Win: KPop Demon Hunters
Should Win: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Best Cinematography
Will Win: One Battle After Another (Michael Bauman)
Should Win: Sinners (Austumn Durald Arkapaw)
Best Film Editing
Will Win: One Battle After Another (Andy Jurgensen)
Should Win: One Battle After Another (Andy Jurgensen)
Best Production Design
Will Win: Frankenstein (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau)
Should Win: Frankenstein (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau)
Best Visual Effects
Will Win: Avatar: Fire and Ash (Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Joe Letteri and Eric Saindon)
Should Win: Sinners (Donnie Dean, Espen Nordahl, Michael Ralla and Guido Wolter)
Best Sound
Will Win: F1 (Gareth John, Al Nelson, Juan Peralta, Gary Rizzo and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle)
Should Win: Sirāt (Laia Casanovas, Yasmina Praderas and Amanda Villavieja)
Best Original Score
Will Win: Sinners (Ludwig Goransson)
Should Win: One Battle After Another (Jonny Greenwood)
Best Original Song
Will Win: ‘Golden’ from KPop Demon Hunters (EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick)
Should Win: 'I Lied to You' from Sinners (Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson)
Best Costume Design
Will Win: Frankenstein (Kate Hawley)
Should Win: Frankenstein (Kate Hawley)
Best Make-up & Hairstyling
Will Win: Frankenstein (Cliona Furey, Mike Hill and Jordan Samuel)
Should Win: Frankenstein (Cliona Furey, Mike Hill and Jordan Samuel)
Best Animated Short
Will Win: Retirement Plan
Should Win: The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Best Live Action Short
Will Win: Two People Exchanging Saliva
Should Win: Two People Exchanging Saliva
Best Documentary Short
Will Win: All the Empty Rooms
Should Win: Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
The 98th Oscars take place on Sunday 15 March (very early on Monday morning for European audiences). Check out our Oscar coverage – including the Records That Could Be Broken on Sunday and the Ranking of the Best Picture Winners of the last 15 Years – and stay tuned to Euronews Culture for the full coverage of the results.
