Last year, Hollywood served up some dramatic, strange and nail-biting films for moviegoers, but only the best of the best could take top honours at the 96th annual Academy Awards.
For many, the 2024 Oscars shaped up to be mostly predicable — and perhaps even dull — with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer scoring a number of the biggest trophies. The film won seven awards in total.
Actor Cillian Murphy of Oppenheimer won the coveted Best Actor trophy for his titular portrayal of the “father of the atomic bomb.”
Murphy said he was “a little overwhelmed” as he took the stage.
He thanked the film’s cast and crew, as well as Nolan, who he said he is indebted to.
“I’m a very proud Irishman standing here tonight,” Murphy laughed, holding up his trophy.
He dedicated the award to “the peacemakers everywhere.”
It is Murphy’s first time being nominated for an Oscar.
Nolan, who has been nominated eight times, also won his first Oscar on Sunday for his direction of Oppenheimer.
Sunday marked the first time in a decade where both the Best Actor and Best Picture awards have gone to the same film.
Earlier in the night, fan favourite Robert Downey Jr. won Oppenheimer’s first Oscar for playing J. Robert Oppenheimer’s main antagonist, politician Lewis Strauss.
Downey, in his usual melodramatic demeanor, cracked jokes as he accepted the award.
He thanked his “terrible childhood, and the Academy, in that order,” as well as his wife.
“I needed this job more than it needed me,” Downey said, adding props for his A-list co-stars. “What we do is meaningful and the stuff we decide to make is important.”
The Oscar win is a first for Downey, who has been nominated twice before, for Tropic Thunder (2008) and Chaplin (1992).
Among the women, Emma Stone won Best Actress in a Leading Role for Poor Things, the crowd-pleasing, absurdist comedy about a Frankenstein-esque woman in pursuit of personal liberation.
Stone, whose dress was broken in the back, struggled to speak through tears.
She said the award is not about her, but about “a team that came together to make something greater than the sum of its parts.”
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Stone beat out Lily Gladstone, who was widely expected to win the award for her deeply rooted, devastating portrayal of Osage woman Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
Stone said she was “in awe” of Gladstone.
Gladstone, a member of the Indigenous Blackfeet Nation, would have been the first Native American to win an acting Oscar.
For avid movie watchers, much of this year’s Oscars have been marred over claims that Barbie was snubbed. The public backlash started when the film’s leading actor Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig did not receive any nominations.
Canadian Ryan Gosling’s nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role only further upset Barbie fans, who pointed to Gosling’s nod as an interesting parallel to the film’s feminist messaging.
Among Barbie‘s eight nominations, Billie Eilish, 22, became the youngest two-time Oscar winner for the song What Was I Made For? Eilish already has an Oscar for her song No Time to Die, which was made for the 2021 James Bond film.
Ukraine also won its first Oscar on Sunday, thanks to the documentary 20 Days in Mariupol. The film follows a group of journalists trapped in the besieged city as they document the Russia-Ukraine war.
“I wish I would never have made this film,” Mstyslav Chernov said. “I wish I could exchange this to Russia for never occupying Ukraine, never occupying our cities.”
“But I cannot change history. I cannot change the past,” he continued. “But we all together … We can make sure that the history record is set straight and that the truth will prevail, and that the people of Mariupol, and the people who have given their lives, will never be forgotten.”
“Cinema forms memory, and memory forms history,” he said. “Slava Ukraini!”
Throughout the night, host Jimmy Kimmel cracked lighthearted jokes about the stars of this year’s films, though he earlier alluded that he would be mostly avoiding talk of politics at the awards show. He did, however, make one mention of former President Donald Trump’s current legal troubles.
The ceremony itself started five minutes late, following a protest in support of Palestinians, that clogged several roads near the Dolby Theatre.
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Find the complete list of the 2024 Oscar winners in all the major categories, below.
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Best Picture
American FictionAnatomy of a FallBarbieThe HoldoversKillers of the Flower MoonMaestro** WINNER: OppenheimerPast LivesPoor ThingsThe Zone of Interest
Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper, MaestroColman Domingo, RustinPaul Giamatti, The Holdovers** WINNER: Cillian Murphy, OppenheimerJeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Actress in a Leading Role
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Annette Bening, NyadLily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower MoonSandra Huller, Anatomy of a FallCarey Mulligan, Maestro** WINNER: Emma Stone, Poor Things
Actor in a Supporting Role
Sterling K. Brown, American FictionRobert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon** WINNER: Robert Downey Jr., OppenheimerRyan Gosling, BarbieMark Ruffalo, Poor Things
Actress in a Supporting Role
Emily Blunt, OppenheimerDanielle Brooks, The Color PurpleAmerica Ferrera, BarbieJodie Foster, Nyad** WINNER: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Directing
Justine Triet, Anatomy of a FallMartin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon** WINNER: Christopher Nolan, OppenheimerYorgos Lanthimos, Poor ThingsJonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Cinematography
El CondeKillers of the Flower MoonMaestro** WINNER: OppenheimerPoor Things
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
** WINNER: American FictionBarbieOppenheimerPoor ThingsThe Zone of Interest
Writing (Original Screenplay)
** WINNER: Anatomy of a FallThe HoldoversMay DecemberPast LivesMaestro
Film Editing
Anatomy of a FallThe HoldoversKillers of the Flower Moon** WINNER: OppenheimerPoor Things
International Feature Film
The Teachers’ Lounge, GermanyIo Capitano, ItalyPerfect Days, JapanSociety of the Snow, Spain** WINNER: The Zone of Interest, United Kingdom
Animated Feature Film
** WINNER: The Boy and the HeronElementalNimonaRobot DreamsSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Animated Short Film
Letter to a PigNinety-Five SensesOur UniformPachyderme** WINNER: War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
Live-Action Short Film
The AfterInvincibleKnight of FortuneRed, White and Blue** WINNER: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Music (Original Song)
The Fire Inside from Flamin’ HotI’m Just Ken from BarbieIt Never Went Away from American SymphonyWahzhazhe (A Song for My People) from Killers of the Flower Moon** WINNER: What Was I Made For? from Barbie
Music (Original Score)
American FictionIndiana Jones and the Dial of DestinyKillers of the Flower Moon** WINNER: OppenheimerPoor Things
Sound
The CreatorMaestroMission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part OneOppenheimer** WINNER: The Zone of Interest
Documentary Feature
Bobi Wine: The People’s PresidentThe Eternal MemoryFour DaughtersTo Kill a Tiger** WINNER: 20 Days in Mariupol
Documentary Short Film
The ABCs of Book BanningThe Barber of Little RockIsland In Between** WINNER: The Last Repair ShopNǎi Nai & Wài Pó
Makeup and Hairstyling
GoldaMaestroOppenheimer** WINNER: Poor ThingsSociety of the Snow
Costume Design
BarbieKillers of the Flower MoonNapoleonOppenheimer** WINNER: Poor Things
Production Design
BarbieKillers of the Flower MoonNapoleonOppenheimer** WINNER: Poor Things
Visual Effects
The Creator** WINNER: Godzilla Minus OneGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part OneNapoleon
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