Golden Globes 2026: Stars, Political Satire and Contemporary Unease
Warm lights, statement gowns, perfectly calibrated smiles, and that unmistakable sense of a grand Hollywood ritual that the Golden Globes still manage to preserve. In Los Angeles, between the red carpet and the ballroom, the very best of Hollywood paraded by. Captured by Say Who’s photographers, who were on site to document actors, directors, and guests at one of the most politically charged editions in recent years. Among the most anticipated faces: Leonardo DiCaprio, Snoop Dogg, Glen Powell, Jenna Ortega, Jacob Elordi, Julia Roberts, Paul Mescal, Ariana Grande, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Lopez, Jeremy Allen White, Jennifer Lawrence, Seth Rogen, Emma Stone and Ana De Armas.
But let’s get to the verdicts. Undisputed winner of the Golden Globes 2026 was One Battle After Another. Paul Thomas Anderson’s political satire took home four major awards: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress for Teyana Taylor. A success that acknowledges the film’s ability to portray, with subtlety yet sharpness, the climate of paranoia, radicalization, and conspiracy that permeates today’s United States.
Alongside this triumph, very different films stood out, all connected by a shared sense of unease. Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao, won Best Motion Picture – Drama and earned Jesse Buckley the award for Best Actress, for an intimate, Shakespearean period tale about grief. The Brazilian film The Secret Agent, a political thriller set during the military dictatorship of the 1970s, won Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor in a Drama for Wagner Moura, marking a small but significant milestone for Brazilian cinema.
More “lighthearted” awards were also handed out: Timothée Chalamet won Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for Marty Supreme, KPop Demon Hunters was named Best Animated Feature, while in television The Pitt and The Studio took top honors. Yet what truly stood out was the success of the miniseries Adolescence, which won four awards and brought the issue of youth radicalization to the forefront with an unfiltered, direct approach.
In short, the Golden Globes 2026 rewarded complex and often uncomfortable stories, but did so while keeping a certain distance. Even host Nikki Glaser stayed on the edge of irony, delivering quick jabs and the inevitable jokes about Leonardo DiCaprio. Hollywood looks at the present, recognizes it, and rewards it — but never quite goes all the way.
Text: Germano D’Acquisto
Photos: Alessandro Galatoli
