The entertainment industry collapsed upon the Dolby Theater in Hollywood for the 96th Academy Awards. “Barbenheimer,” the phenomena from the releases of the films Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, and Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, dominated headlines for movies this year, and leading into the Oscars, the two films received large amounts of attention. Both films held multiple nominations, including both being nominated for Best Picture. Oppenheimer held thirteen nominations, while Barbie had eight. Other films with five or more nominations included Poor Things with eleven, Killers of the Flower Moon with ten, Maestro with seven, as well as American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, and The Zone of Interest each earning five.
When it comes to the major awards, Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell took home an Oscar for their performance of “What Was I Made For?” in Barbie, winning Best Original Song, although another song from Barbie, “I’m Just Ken,” stole the show, being performed by Ryan Gosling, who was nominated for both Best Original Song and Best Supporting Actor. Anatomy of a Fall took home Best Original Screenplay, while American Fiction beat out both Oppenheimer and Barbie for Best Adapted Screenplay. Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s breakout performance in The Holdovers earned her the Best Supporting Actress nod over stars such as Emily Blunt and Jodie Foster. The Best Supporting Actor category also held similar stars, but no underdog won there. Despite going up against Robert De Niro, Ryan Gosling, Sterling K. Brown, and Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer was unmatched, earning him his first Oscar.
As the night went on, anticipation for the final four awards kept growing. For Best Actor, the nominees were as follows: Bradley Cooper, Colman Domingo, Paul Giamatti, Cillian Murphy, and Jeffrey Wright. Despite masterful performances by each of these actors, especially Giamatti’s in The Holdovers, Murphy ended up bringing home the Oscar, his first, for his performance as the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer. For Best Actress, Annette Bening, Lily Gladstone, Sandra Huller, Carey Mulligan, and Emma Stone received nominations, but Stone’s role as Bella Baxter in Poor Things secured her a second Best Actress win, following her win as Mia Dolan in 2016’s La La Land.
Directing icon Steven Spielberg present the Best Director award to Christopher Nolan, for after eight nominations, he finally secured a Best Director victory, beating out the legendary Martin Scorcese. And for Best Picture, the trend throughout the night stayed constant. Oppenheimer won its seventh Oscar with the Best Picture, just one of three films to receive multiple victories, alongside Poor Things’ four and The Zone of Interest’s two. Hollywood’s biggest night ended in a Oppenheimer victory, as once again, a single film dominated the show.
