Ella Harry | Head Editor
January 16, 2026
Leading up to award season, the chatter and predictions of movie-goers as to which of their favorite actors and films would take home some of the most coveted titles in Hollywood has been incessant. Following the Critics Choice Awards on January 4, audiences continued to wonder whether or not any clear win-patterns would establish over the course of the next few award shows leading up to the Oscars. Senior Daisy Hill commented that, “watching the awards shows is always super fun, but it was definitely a toss-up on who would win at the Golden Globes this year.” This past Sunday, January 11, came the Golden Globes and, with them, potential insight into the rest of the award season.
From the night, some clear front runners emerged, with Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another dominating after taking home four awards of its nine nominations. In terms of individual performances, Jessie Buckley cemented her road to the Oscars through her win as Best Actress in a Drama Motion Picture for Hamnet, as did Marty Supreme’s Timothée Chalamet as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Film. Rose Byrne’s win as Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Film for her performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You has positioned her as a strong contender alongside Buckley, who is the current favorite for the Best Actress Academy Award.
Outside of the Globes’ role in generating buzz for the films competing with one another throughout the rest of the award season, notably the Oscars, the show puts an immense spotlight on television series each year. This year, Netflix’s limited series Adolescence has swept the major awards shows, the Golden Globes being no exception. With acting wins for Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper, and Erin Doherty, as well as an overall win for Best Limited Series, the show proved that its impact has continued to exist far outside of its four episodes. Cooper’s win, as a 16 year old, has made him the youngest person to win the award for Best Supporting Actor.
Beyond the Limited Series category, HBO Max’s The Pitt and Apple TV’s The Studio were met with much success in the Television awards of the night. Perhaps the most immense television “win” of the Globes this year was the honorary Carol Burnett award presented to TV-legend Sarah Jessica Parker for her exceptional career. Senior Avalon Davis, who is one of the millions that have followed the chaotic, fictional life of Carrie Bradshaw through a television screen, shared that she finds it “so amazing that SJP is finally being rewarded for all of her work in the TV field.”
This year, the Globes made a point of acknowledging a newly popularized entertainment style, similar to their acknowledgement of the innovative television strategies utilized by Sarah Jessica Parker. The new Best Podcast category was taken home by Amy Poehler for her podcast Good Hang, reflecting the shift towards podcasting, a medium that has made entertainment more accessible for audiences on-the-go.
Overall, the 2026 Golden Globes provided a strong lead into the Oscars for many of the films and performances beloved by audiences, namely Hamnet and One Battle After Another. Despite the fact that various movies did not receive as much success as they had at prior award shows, particularly Ryan Coogler’s sensational Sinners, which still took home two awards, these pictures are by no means disqualified in the race to the Academy Awards. At this point in time, while the Globes offered some major television wins and predictions into how films will be awarded in the near future, any of the powerful features of the past year could very well be victorious at the upcoming awards shows.
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