By Lottie Merchant, Second Year, English
The 2026 film award season has unfolded as one of the more unpredictable in recent history, with momentum shifting rapidly between contenders and a few clear frontrunners emerging late in the race. The Academy Awards remain the main event, other awards, including the Golden Globes, BAFTA’s, and major guild prizes have played an uncommonly major role in shaping the outcome of the season. Early favourites stumbled under scrutiny, while smaller, auteur driven films gained traction through critical acclaim and strategic campaigning. This season has highlighted a growing divide between industry voters and critics groups, with the latter often championing riskier, more unconventional performances and storytelling.
The trajectory of the 2026 awards season reveals how quickly momentum can shift across major ceremonies. Initially, the Golden Globe Awards implicated a fragmented race, with Hamnet taking Best Drama alongside One Battle After Another with the Musical or Comedy Prize. Timothée Chalamet also secured a high-profile win that briefly positioned him as a leading Oscar contender. However, the BAFTA Awards marked a turning point, consolidating support behind One Battle After Another and its director Paul Thomas Anderson. By the time of the Academy Awards, the narrative had fully crystallised: One Battle After Another emerged as the dominant film, Jessie Buckley completed a near-sweep of Best Actress honours, and Michael B. Jordan surged to Best Actor for his performances in Sinners. In retrospect, the season establishes a clear pattern, early recognition at the Globes can generate buzz, but sustained industry backing, particularly through BAFTA and guild support, ultimately proves decisive in securing Oscar victories.
One of the most popular discourses surrounding awards season this year is Chalamet’s absence from the Academy Awards winner’s circle; a result many have framed as a self-inflicted stumble. Once defined by the introspective, esoteric persona he cultivated in films like Call Me By Your Name (2017) and Little Women (2019), Chalamet’s recent shift toward a flashier, hyper-visible ‘celebrity’ image - complete with high-profile appearances and a more tabloid friendly orbit - has complicated his reception. His 2025 Golden Globe acceptance speech, with its rhetoric about ‘the pursuit of greatness,’ struck some as confident and others as bordering into arrogance, fostering debate surrounding its authenticity. Was this new, over-confident persona publicity for, and an extension of, his character in Marty Supreme, or an unfiltered glimpse into the reality of Chalamet himself? This ambiguity may have worked against him in a season where authenticity and sincerity proved crucial.
Charles Hubbard
In contrast, Michael B. Jordan’s win for Sinners felt anchored in both performances and cultural weight; the film resonated as a more urgent, socially grounded piece of cinema. Particularly in comparison with Marty Supreme, which felt like another film that follows the perhaps overdone plotline centred on a man’s individual mastery and personal conquest - a narrative arc already explored and arguably exhausted in film’s like Whiplash (2014), The Social Network (2010), The Prestige (2006). Still, it would be unfair to dismiss Chalamet’s work. I loved Marty Supreme, it’s a sharply constructed, supremely paced film, with a string of compelling performances. But in a year where image, narrative and cultural significance were as decisive as craft, Chalamet’s evolving public persona may have ultimately distanced him from the very voters that he must win over.
Jenna Baker
Felix Glanville
This year’s awards season will be remembered as a bold return to authenticity and heartfelt storytelling. In a world often overwhelmed by spectacle and speed, it was the earnest, socially grounded performances that resonated most deeply, like Jessie Buckley’s raw vulnerability and Michael B. Jordan’s powerful, poignant portrayals. As the curtain falls on this awards season, one clear takeaway is that unpredictable outcomes and bold choices upended expectations, proving there’s no longer any formula for guaranteed success.
Featured Image: IMDb / Michael B. Jordan and Jessie Buckley at The Oscars
What did you think of the 2026 awards season?
