It entered the 98th Academy Awards as the most nominated film in Oscar history. It left with four trophies.
Sinners won four Oscars tonight - Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan, Best Original Screenplay for Ryan Coogler, Best Cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw, and Best Original Score for Ludwig Göransson. Evrim Ağı Out of 16 nominations - a record that shattered the previous mark shared by All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land - it converted exactly one in four.
Here is how every category went:
Best Picture - Nominated - Did Not Win
Best Director - Ryan Coogler - Nominated - Did Not Win
Best Actor - Michael B. Jordan - Nominated - WON
Best Supporting Actor - Delroy Lindo - Nominated - Did Not Win
Best Supporting Actress - Wunmi Mosaku - Nominated - Did Not Win
Best Original Screenplay - Ryan Coogler - Nominated - WON
Best Original Score - Ludwig Göransson - Nominated - WON
Best Original Song - "I Lied to You" - Nominated - Did Not Win
Best Cinematography - Autumn Durald Arkapaw - Nominated - WON
Best Costume Design - Ruth E. Carter - Nominated - Did Not Win
Best Production Design - Hannah Beachler - Nominated - Did Not Win
Best Makeup & Hairstyling - Nominated - Did Not Win
Best Sound - Nominated - Did Not Win
Best Visual Effects - Nominated - Did Not Win
Best Film Editing - Michael P. Shawver - Nominated - Did Not Win
Best Casting - Francine Maisler - Nominated - Did Not Win
FINAL SCORE: 4 WINS OUT OF 16 NOMINATIONS
So What Actually Happened?
The night belonged to One Battle After Another. Paul Thomas Anderson's political thriller swept the evening's biggest prizes - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Casting - six wins in total, making it the dominant film of the night.
Both films were released by Warner Bros., capping a remarkable year for the studio that also saw the release of Superman, A Minecraft Movie, and Weapons. The Oscar haul from its two prestige films made it the biggest studio winner of the night.
But make no mistake - Sinners' four wins were among the most historic of the entire ceremony. Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman in Oscar history to win Best Cinematography - calling every woman in the room to stand up during her acceptance speech. "I feel like I don't get here without you guys," she said, to a roar of applause that shook the Dolby Theatre.
Michael B. Jordan's Best Actor win on his very first Oscar nomination - playing twin brothers Smoke and Stack - made him the first performer in Oscar history to win Best Actor for a dual role in the same film. Ryan Coogler's Best Original Screenplay win was his first Oscar in a career spanning five films together with Jordan. And Ludwig Göransson's Best Original Score trophy was his third Oscar - each one for a different Ryan Coogler film.
The cast of Sinners also delivered one of the most talked-about moments of the entire night - a live performance of "I Lied to You" on the Oscar stage that took the whole Dolby Theatre to the juke joint, with surprise guest Shaboozey joining Miles Caton and the cast. It did not win Best Original Song - that went to "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters - but it may have been the moment of the night regardless.
Four wins out of 16 nominations is a conversion rate that, in any other year, would feel disappointing. But Sinners did not come to the 98th Academy Awards to win every category. It came to change the conversation - about Black Southern history, about the blues, about sin and redemption and what it costs to be free. Those four trophies confirm it changed cinema too.
The record for most nominations ever still belongs to Ryan Coogler's film. Nobody can take that. Not even the Best Picture winner.
See the complete list of tonight's Oscar winners here.
