Here's Why These 6 Movies Won Big At The 2019 Oscars

The 91st Academy Awards – our unscripted, controversial, wild ride – is finally over.

And while this year’s trip to the red carpet was fraught with more behind-the-scenes ups and down than previous Oscar shows – to the point where we worried the Oscars themselves would be played off the stage by their own band – it was a win-win for movie fans. Why? Because in addition to getting to watch a scary-impressive crop of movies along the way, we also got a chance to see some of our favorite films make room for an Oscar or two on their shelves.

As Hollywood shakes off all the after party confetti, and pundits sift through the fallout of a very competitive awards season, here’s a breakdown of why the following movies and actors took home the night’s biggest Oscars prizes this year.

Best Supporting Actress – Regina King

(Credit: Annapurna)

This category kept most pundits close to the edge of their seats right up until King was announced as the winner for her career-best work in the underrated If Beale Street Could Talk. Given how SAG and other guilds went with their picks for this category, King went from front-runner to possible runner-up – especially with the tide turning in favor of veteran nominee Amy Adams. But most that went with their guts on King were, like the actress, rewarded tonight.

Best Supporting Actor – Mahershala Ali

(Credit: DreamWorks)

After winning in this same category two years ago for his scary-good work in Moonlight, Ali took home his second Oscar for Green Book – playing the real-life genius concert pianist Don Shirley – and helped make many people keeping ballots get closer to winning their office pool. He was the frontrunner from the start of awards season, making this category one of the easiest to lock down – despite many of the Oscars’ more unpredictable ones. Despite some arguing that Green Book is problematic with its take on racial sensitivities, all would agree that Ali’s performance is the best thing in the movie.

Best Actor – Rami Malek

Nevermind that the Academy chose to play a clip from Bohemian Rhapsody that featured Remi Malek lip-synching to a song he sang very little of, Malek glad-handed all the right awards functions on his way to the stage. Last fall, Christian Bale seemed like the one to beat for Vice, yet another example of the Oscar-winning method actor’s transformative approach to his roles – this time as VP Dick Cheney.

But Vice seemed to have peaked early in the final weeks of the awards campaign while Bohemian Rhapsody started to pull ahead, and Malek pulled ahead and scored his first Oscar for a movie that was mostly a hit with global audiences. We’ll see how well this win ages in the years to the come.

Best Actress – Olivia Colman

(Credit: Fox Searchlight)

This was a legit gasp-worthy shocker.

Glenn Close’s sixth career nomination for the little-seen The Wife was the frontrunner ever since she surprised with a win at the Golden Globes. Many believed that since Close has been nominated for the most Oscars without ever winning, the trophy was hers to take, a fitting way to honor her impressive career. But surprise! Colman, who seemed to be evenly matched with Close in terms of momentum in the lead-up to Oscars night, pulled off the win and took home the Oscar for her witty and haunted performance as the troubled Queen Anne in The Favourite.

Best Director – Alfonso Cuarón

(Credit: Netflix)

One of the greatest and most talented directors in Hollywood, Alfonso Cuarón previously won for 2013’s groundbreaking sci-fi thriller Gravity. His follow-up to that complicated and expensive endeavor was a much more grounded and personal film. Roma is a slow-burn, black-and-white drama inspired by the filmmaker’s life growing up in Mexico. The director emerged as the frontrunner arguably before the movie started screening and he rode that momentum all the way to his second win for the same category. Some had speculated that BlacKkKlansman‘s Spike Lee had the potential to make an upset here; it was his first nomination as Best Director in his long career. Thankfully, Lee took home an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman.

Best Picture – ‘Green Book’

(Credit: DreamWorks)

Green Book came out of the Toronto International Film Festival with many critics cheerleading it as the movie to beat for Best Picture. Turns out, they were right.

Going into tonight’s awards, it was a dead heat between Roma and Green Book. Netflix was highly confident they would take home their first Best Picture honor; they’ll have to settle for their other notable wins – including Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film. Despite Green Book clouded with backlash on its way to the Oscars, Academy voters overlooked all of it to give the problematic feel-good movie Best Picture.