The annual Academy Awards ceremony took place March 10, 2024. There was no shortage of surprise upsets, snubs and everything in between. Here are some of the biggest winners of the night.
Only three films were able to take home multiple Academy Awards. Starting with the biggest winner, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” reeled in seven Academy Awards, sweeping many of the night’s biggest categories. “Oppenheimer” won Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Directing, Best Lead Actor, Best Score and the highly coveted Best Picture. This didn’t come as much of a surprise for many viewers, as “Oppenheimer” secured the most Academy Award nominations at 13.
Next up, Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” was able to grab four Academy Awards, including Best Lead Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Some of these awards came as a surprise to many fans, as “Poor Things” was often-times seen as going head to head with “Barbie” for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design.
Lastly, Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” was able to pull in two Academy Awards for Best International Film and Best Sound.
“With sound as its best ally, ‘Zone of Interest’ is a film that shows the deepest horrors… without actually showing them,” wrote critic Alejandro Alemán vía Cine Premiere.
There were a handful of surprises during the ceremony, the first of which being Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” securing Best Animated Feature over “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” Many people saw “The Boy and the Heron” as the dark horse to win the category, but it was still surprising to see it actually unfold.
Another huge surprise for many viewers was seeing Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” win a total of zero Academy Awards despite having ten nominations. It’s exceedingly rare to see a movie as big as “Killers of the Flower Moon,” with as many nominations as it got, go home completely empty-handed.
Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” won zero Academy Awards despite having seven nominations. “Maestro” was seen as the front-runner to win Best Makeup and Hairstyling before “Poor Things” snatched away the category.
The last film to be considered “snubbed” at the ceremony was Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” which was able to win Best Original Song but no other category. Considering “Barbie” had eight nominations and had a real chance of winning a few other categories, the outcome of the night was seen as a bit of a disappointment for many “Barbie” fans.
By far the most enjoyable moments of the night came from watching the categories that were seen as toss-ups as to who would ultimately pull out in front.
The most unpredictable award of the night was Best Lead Actress. Lily Gladstone had a impressive run of award show wins for her performance in “Killers of the Flower Moon;” however, as award season came to a close, Emma Stone started securing many of the top awards for her role in “Poor Things” and had a lot of momentum going into the ceremony. The award came down to the wire, but Emma Stone pulled out in front and won the category.
Another huge win for a movie came from Jonathon Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” which was able to take down the titan “Oppenheimer” to win Best Sound.
Similarly, Cord Jefferson took down “Poor Things,” “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie,” the three massive titans of the category, when his film “American Fiction” secured the award for