Everything You Need To Know About The 2024 Oscars

Last year’s ‘Barbenheimer’ was a cultural phenomenon and while Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer may have lost out at the box office, it cleaned up at the Oscars. It took home seven awards, while Greta Gerwig’s Barbie won just one gong for Best Original Song. 

It was a year of firsts for Christopher Nolan, who won Best Picture and Best Director for his work chronicling the development of the atomic bomb. His journey has been a long one, starting with The Dark Knight which was snubbed in 2008, causing the Best Picture category to be expanded from five to ten nominations the following year. Nolan has made many further grasps for glory with Interstellar, Dunkirk, The Prestige and The Batman Trilogy but, with the heavy subject matter, rousing musical score, exceptional casting and cinematography of Oppenheimer, it was undoubtedly the director’s turn to take home the top prize. After beating out Jonathan Glazer and Scorsese in his speech he said: “We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here but to know that you think I’m a meaningful part of it means the world to me.”

Marking another win for Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy nabbed Best Actor for his performance –his first Oscar win off the back of his first nomination and the first ever Irish-born winner in his category. It was also a first for Robert Downey Jr. who won his inaugural Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, again in Oppenheimer. 

Seeing off Emily Blunt, Jodie Foster and Danielle Brooks, Da’Vine Joy Randolph won her first Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her role as a bereaved mother in 70s dram-edy, The Holdovers. A strong favourite, she’d already won nearly every best supporting prize in the run-up to the big night, including the Critics’ Choice award, a Golden Globe, BAFTA award and the Screen Actors Guild award. In her speech she said: “I always wanted to be different. Now I realise I just need to be myself.” Elsewhere, in the Best International Feature category, Jonathan Glazer’s German and Polish-language Holocaust drama, The Zone Of Interest, was the first British film to win in this category.

The Best Actress category was a nail biter between Lily Gladstone for Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon and Emma Stone for the absurdist Poor Things. Ultimately, in a surprise win, it went to Stone, making it a second Oscar for the actress, who also won for her role in 2016’s La La Land.

Actors and directors often use their time in the spotlight to address issues within the industry or those on a global scale – who can forget Michelle Yeoh’s empowering speech last year? In his winning speech, Cillian Murphy dedicated his award ‘to the peacemakers everywhere’ – particularly poignant considering Oppenheimer’s subject matter. Several attendees also wore red pins in support of a ceasefire in Gaza.

In Jonathan Glazer’s speech he addressed the Israel-Palestine conflict, highlighting the parallels of ‘dehumanisation’ shown in his Holocaust-centred film and in Gaza. Elsewhere, in the Best Documentary Feature category, 20 Days in Mariupol, which tells the story of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was named the winner. War reporter turned director Mstyslav Chernov addressed the crowd saying: “I would like to be able to exchange this Oscar for Russia never attacking Ukraine. We are among the most talented people in the world. We can make sure that history is corrected and truth prevails[…] so that the people of Mariupol who died and those who gave their lives will never be forgotten.”

While Barbie didn’t score many Oscars – just one for Billie Eilish’s theme song What Was I Made For? – it’s still to thank for one of the most memorable moments of the ceremony: Ryan Gosling's rendition of I’m Just Ken. In a diamond-encrusted Barbie-pink suit, and with a guitar cameo from Slash, he had the audience in stitches.

The 96th Academy Awards ceremony was hosted for a fourth time in a row by US chat show host Jimmy Kimmel. Never one to shy away from controversy, he kicked off the show by calling out Academy members for not nominating Greta Gerwig for Best Director. And, with threats of another possible strike looming, he paid tribute to the writers and actors who went on strike last year, saying: “In your upcoming negotiations, we will stand with you.”