First Major 2026 Awards Season Contenders Confirmed As Gothams Unveil Nominees

The 2026 awards season, which is leading up to the Oscars next year, is officially underway. Although many have already shared 2026 Oscar nominees predictions based on performances at film festivals and theatrically, the Gotham Awards now indicate what movie awarding bodies may be favoring among their nominees.

As many may have guessed, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is a frontrunner with six nominations, allowed to achieve this by the Gotham Awards being in its third year without a budget cap of $35 million to be eligible (One Battle‘s budget is $130 million). Check out the full list of this year’s Gothams’ Best Feature nominees below, being increased to 10 movies this year:

Thought the Gothams’ Best Feature nominees tend to vary from what will be highlighted at the Oscars, they will often choose the same winner as what will ultimately be Best Picture. While Hamnet, One Battle After Anotherand Bugonia were in discussion for Best Picture, the Gothams’ Best Director nominees feature one more film we already expected to be at the Oscars:

Gotham Awards also showcase lesser-known directors unlikely to compete in other awards ceremonies; here are this year’s breakout nominees:

Many acting nods come from what are seen as the best movies of the year, including One Battle After Another, Hamnet, Sinnersand Sentimental Value. The organization is also in its fourth year of implementing gender-neutral acting categories:

And among supporting performances, the Gothams have selected:

Breakout performers are given a chance to compete apart from the established A-listers, although their nominations here may give them a boost when it comes to later awards ceremonies:

Both screenplay categories overlap with Best Feature and Best Director, proving the Gothams’ favorites this year to include One Battle After Another, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, It Was Just an Accidentand Sorry, Baby. See the nominees for Best Original Screenplay below:

And for adapted screenplays:

The Gothams’ Best International Feature nominees include both some given competitors and surprising omissions:

Finally, the Best Documentary nominees are:

The Gotham Awards affirms that it also sees One Battle After Another and Hamnet sweeping this season, with their feature-director-screenplay-acting nominations (although no nod for Chloé Zhao). Movies that are widely expected to do well still fall short here, however, with Sentimental Value only securing acting nominations, and Marty Supreme getting nothing.

On the other hand, sleeper hits that are picking up steam, and maybe could amass enough momentum by the time of the Golden Globes and the Oscars, include No Other Choice, If I Had Legs I’d Kick Youand Sorry, Baby. No Other Choice was already a likely Best International Feature nominee, but it seemed like it would be edged out of other categories by tough competition.

Sorry, Babymeanwhile, was a very quiet release that is almost universally acclaimed — perhaps it will turn out to be a major awards contender after all. And the Gothams clearly really liked If I Had Legs I’d Kick Yougiving it four nominations, an endorsement which could at least help lead Rose Byrne to secure other nominations.

The winners of this year’s Gotham Awards will be announced on Monday, December 1, 2025.