This past week, the academy announced its nominations for the 2026 Academy Awards, leaving many fans thrilled for what’s to come and others upset to see their favorite pictures getting snubbed.
The biggest uproar of the evening, however, was Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” shattering the record for most Oscar nominations for one picture. The film brought home 16 nominations, including the lucrative “Best Picture” and “Best Director” awards. This historical feat means Sinners has surpassed the previous record holders, “La La Land” and “Titanic,” which were both previously tied for the record with 14 nominations.
“Sinners,” a horror film set in the 1930s Jim Crow South, follows a pair of twin brothers in the Clarksdale, Mississippi Delta region in a rural sharecropper town. Following its release in April, it opened to $63 million globally during its opening weekend, becoming a household name almost instantly. However, with the love and appreciation Ryan Coogler gained from this film came many who criticized and frowned upon the film for its content.
As audience and critic reviews began to flood in, with many sharing high praise and regard for the film, Variety published a film review that sparked controversy for what fans believed to be an unfair bias with racist connotations because of the film’s Black cast and themes of racism that it tackles head-on.
The backlash was so severe that publications like The Wrap began to report on the flood of social media comments from fans upset by the review. Prominent figures in Hollywood, like Ben Stiller and Patrick Schwarzenegger, spoke out against the review via X, formerly known as Twitter.
“In what universe does a $60 million opening for an original studio movie warrant this headline?” Stiller posted. The polarizing reviews of “Sinners” grew stronger amongst audiences.
Unfortunately, this kind of uphill battle is nothing new for Black films and filmmakers. Coogler, who has previously been snubbed for films like “Black Panther” and “Creed,” received high praise amongst audiences and critics, but still went unnoticed and ignored by the Academy. His success story following the record-breaking nominations for “Sinners” has garnered praise and attention for this exact reason.
With only 2% of Oscar winners being Black through its 97 award seasons, according to The BSA Muse, the high praise and recognition of “Sinners” feels like a win for all Black artists.
Not only is this record-breaking award significant for Black art, but this year’s Oscars is also one of the biggest recognitions the horror genre has seen in recent history. With films like Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” and Zach Creggor’s “Weapons” also being nominated for awards, this Oscars season looks to be breaking down previous norms and sentiment of prejudice that it has been accused of in the past.
With these nominations, audiences are finally seeing the embrace of films from all genres and backgrounds, bringing a new form of representation into previously undermined genres of film.
This year’s Oscars reflect the progressive nature Hollywood has been seeing in film, with pictures like “One Battle After Another” going what I believe to be full-on leftist terrorist and gaining such high praise amongst audiences and critics alike. Following the release of this year’s nominations, cinema-goers across the country have been celebrating the change in pace and have already begun looking forward to Oscar night.
