Who won at the Oscars 2016?
From frontrunner The Revenant to indie gem Anomalisa, we review the biggest awards show in the world
WINNER: Spotlight
Tom McCarthy's Spotlight tells the true story of the Catholic sex scandals uncovered by the Boston Globe in 2002. Its clever script slowly builds out to its dramatic conclusion without ever lapsing into melodrama. Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams all put in masterful performances as the Pulitzer Prize-winning team of journalists.
SHOULD HAVE WON: The Revenant
If it couldn't be Carol, then we think that Iñárritu's offering was a worthy contender: it certainly picked up a healthy heap of 2016 Oscar nominations.
Best Director
WINNER: Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant
Alejandro González Iñárritu's saga of vengeance at an 1820s frontier is lethal, bloody and stunningly shot. The Mexican director won the Oscar last year for Birdman, too.
SHOULD HAVE WON: Lenny Abrahamson, Room
Best Actress
WINNER: Brie Larson, Room
The 26 year old American actress snatched up the statuette for her incredible, harrowing performance as a kidnapped woman in Room.
SHOULD HAVE WON: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Dark and stoically British, Haigh's film is a beautifully drawn picture of latent melancholia. She may be an outside shot, but we think Charlotte Rampling proves she has the charisma to command the whole screen for practically the film's full two-hour runtime – and that deserves recognition.
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Best Actor
WINNER: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
The Academy have been known to give awards to those who they think are 'owed' them, and Leonardo DiCaprio is long, long overdue a win for Best Actor.
SHOULD HAVE WON: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Not many people have feasted on raw bison liver for their role: he's a deserving recipient who has shown clear commitment to the cause. Isn't that what the Oscars are all about?
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Best Supporting Actress
WINNER: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Vikander was outstanding as Gerda, the wife to Eddie Redmayme's Einar - who becomes Lile Elbe. A feisty, brisk and louche performance: we can see what Michael Fassbender sees in her...
SHOULD HAVE WON: Rooney Mara, Carol
Todd Haynes' gorgeous 1950s romance is deeply moving and wonderfully acted. Mara is captivating, and turns out an utterly nuanced performance as a young woman "flung out of space" and unable to identify her feelings: we think she really deserved a Best Actress nomination for the role. If that's not enough to secure the supporting win, then what is?
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Best Supporting Actor
WINNER: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
An unshowy performance in an understated film, Mark Rylance barely speaks in Bridge of Spies, but when he does, you'll find yourself leaning in close. An absorbing performance from a commanding theatre actor and one of his few appearances on the big screen.
SHOULD HAVE WON: Christian Bale, The Big Short
He's a definite favourite in the academy and rightly put in a beautiful turn as Michael Burry, the first man to predict the financial apocalypse. Amusing and awkward, and eminently watchable.
Best Animated Feature
WINNER: Inside Out
Pixar's latest offering coupled with their endlessly inventive visualisation of a person's mind, and a story wise beyond adult years, the Pixar team have produced a necessary pleasure to be re-visited at every stage of life.
SHOULD HAVE WON: Anomalisa
Anomalisa really does deserve recognition: another existential masterpiece from Charlie Kaufman that feels uncannily human, typically strange and utterly memorable.
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Best Documentary Feature
WINNER: AMY
Asif Kapadia's documentary about Amy Winehouse paints an honest, uncompromising picture of the girl beneath the media frenzy, amassing a hoard of footage in order to cast a truthful depiction of the remarkable jazz and soul singer, and the events leading up to her death at the age of 27.
SHOULD HAVE WON: The Look of Silence
Joshua Oppenheimer undeservedly missed out on the Oscar for his terrifying 2013 film The Act of Killing, which took such an intimate look at the perpetrators of the mass ‘communist’ killings in Indonesia it left audiences stunned. His follow-up, The Look of Silence, sees him continue the story of this horrific genocide, this time from the victims’ perspective. A bold, disturbing work of brilliance.
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Best Foreign Language Film
WINNER: Son of Saul
SHOULD HAVE WON: Mustang
A portrait of five free-spirited girls imprisoned at their home in Antolia by their strict grandfather, there's something House of Bernarda Alba meets Virgin Suicides in Deniz Gamze Ergüven's shimmering direction.
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Best Costume Design
WINNER: Mad Max: Fury Road
George Miller's post-Apocalyptic action film took home six statuettes, far surpassing any other film in the running. Jenny Beavan was the costume designer, and used her acceptance speech to warn the world about the dangers of war.
SHOULD WIN: Crimson Peak
We were hoping Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak might make the cut for its sumptuous and lavish gothic designs. But if not the glittering feats of fabric adorning Lily James' Cinderella are a worthy win.
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Best Original Score
WINNER: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
Ennio Morricone returns to form with a bang in Tarantino's latest wintry Western. The mounting overture to which the film opens sets it on its glorious pace. The first original score Tarantino has ever commissioned, it's certainly paid dividends.
SHOULD HAVE WON: John Williams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The latest film in the Star Wars franchise is being hailed as a return to the thrilling originals. John Williams score plays gently on the themes we're all so familiar with, while bringing diehard fans some new material to sink their teeth into.
