Everything You Need to Know for the Oscars Tonight

Hollywood’s biggest night has arrived. The Academy Awards are back with a wide-open race that mixes blockbuster spectacle, art-house ambition, and the occasional out-of-left-field surprise. From gothic literary adaptations to audacious genre films, this year’s nominees capture the strange, sprawling state of modern filmmaking.

If you want to go into the ceremony fully briefed, Book and Film Globe has you covered. Below is a guide to some of the major contenders we’ve written about this season, along with links to our reviews and awards coverage.

Sinners

Ryan Coogler’s genre-smashing epic Sinners is one of the year’s most audacious studio films — a wild blend of Jim Crow drama, vampire horror, blues musical, and gangster thriller. As our review noted, it’s the kind of movie that gleefully shreds genre expectations while delivering pure cinematic spectacle.

➡️ Read our review: ‘Sinners’ Is Supernaturally Good

Hamnet

Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed novel turns Shakespearean grief into cinematic poetry. Anchored by powerhouse performances from Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, Hamnet transforms a literary meditation on loss into a deeply emotional film.

➡️ Read our review: Shakespeare Weeps, Zhao Howls

Bugonia

Yorgos Lanthimos returns with Bugonia, a hallucinatory satire about conspiracy culture and modern paranoia. Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons electrify in a film that mixes absurdist humor with unsettling social commentary.

➡️ Read our review: ‘Bugonia’ Stings with Paranoid Precision

One Battle After Another

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another arrives at the Oscars as one of the season’s most unpredictable contenders. Loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, the film mixes Anderson’s trademark character-driven storytelling with a sweeping political backdrop and a cast packed with heavy hitters.

The result is a movie that feels both intimate and epic — a reminder that Anderson remains one of the few directors capable of turning literary sprawl into gripping cinema.

➡️ Is One Battle After Another overrated?

Marty Supreme

Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme is one of the wildcards of this year’s Oscars race. The film — starring Timothée Chalamet as a larger-than-life table tennis prodigy navigating fame, money, and ego — carries the frenetic energy that made the Safdie brothers’ earlier films cult classics.

Blending sports drama with the jittery intensity of New York street cinema, Marty Supreme feels like the rare prestige contender that also plays like a midnight movie.

➡️ Timothee Chalamet is the last movie star

The Awards Season Context

The Oscars don’t happen in a vacuum. Months of festival premieres, critics’ prizes, and Golden Globe nominations help shape the narrative of the race.

For a broader look at the contenders and the awards-season landscape, check out these Book and Film Globe pieces:

• ➡️ The Golden Globes Rundown 2026
• ➡️ Who Will Win the Oscars? A Special BFG Podcast
• ➡️ Horror Has Oscar Judges on the Edge of Their Seats

Before the Envelope Opens…

Whether tonight ends in a predictable sweep or a shocking upset, this year’s nominees highlight the extraordinary range of contemporary filmmaking — from literary adaptations to daring genre experiments.

So settle in, pour yourself a drink, and catch up on Book and Film Globe’s coverage before the ceremony begins.

And when someone walks away with an Oscar tonight, there’s a good chance Book and Film Globe already told you why the movie mattered.