If you watched it, you can’t deny that some of the winners from the 92nd Academy Awards were quite unexpected. People look to other award shows to predict the winner of the Oscars. The winners this year, however, differed for the most part from other 2020 award shows.

The biggest winners from 2020 were “Parasite,” “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” and “1917,” along with other best picture nominees such as “Joker,” “Ford V Ferrari,” and “Little Women.” 

The Oscars went unhosted for the second year in a row. Instead, it was opened with a musical performance by Janelle Monáe. It involved tributes to “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Joker,” “Little Women,” and unnominated horror films “Midsommar” and “Us.”

“Parasite” deserved every award that it won, considering that it brought home to most awards last night. However, it also deserved to get at least a nomination for its score, as well as nominations for actors Choi Woo-shik, Kang-Ho Song, and Jang Hye-jin for their roles as Ki-woo, Kim Ki-taek, Choong Sook, respectively. Its win for best picture was record-breaking, as it was the first time a foreign film won the award.

On the contrary, the biggest letdown of the night was “The Irishman,” which won zero awards despite its ten nominations. Similarly, “Joker” was nominated for eleven awards, and only won two. However, both awards were deserved, as Joaquin Phoenix delivered a chillingly realistic performance as mentally-disturbed Arthur Fleck, accompanied by an equally-chilling soundtrack by Hildur Guðnadóttir.

Some other wins that were deserved were a best actress in a leading role award for Renée Zellwegger for her role as Judy Garland in the biopic “Judy,” achievement in sound and film editing for “Ford V Ferrari,” achievement in cinematography for “1917,” and achievement in production design for “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.”

The show had its fair share of unexpected winners as well. “Missing Link” lost to “Toy Story 4” for best animated feature, despite winning at the 2020 Golden Globes. “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” did not win Best Picture, although it won Best Picture – Comedy or Musical at the 2020 Golden Globes. Brad Pitt won for his role in the movie, beating out a well-performed role as Fred Rogers from Tom Hanks in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” Laura Dern won best supporting actress for “Marriage Story,” although Florence Pugh in “Little Women” was a fan favorite and somewhat expected to win.

When award shows vary in their winners and nominees, they tend to become more enjoyable to watch. Not only will the winners from this year inspire the filmmakers of tomorrow, it demonstrates the potential of non-blockbuster films.