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The 2026 Golden Globes may be over, but it’s still got folks talking about all the best, worst and most shocking moments of the evening — and trust, there were quite a few.
On Sunday night, Hollywood’s annual celebration of television, film and now, apparently, podcasting, hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser, handed out top honors to winners like “One Battle After Another,” “Hamnet,” “The Pitt,” “Adolescence,” “The Studio” and more to highlight another solid year in entertainment. However, the big upset of the night — arguably the first major shock of awards season — seems to still be on a lot of people’s minds (and timelines).
I’m talking about “Sinners,” the most buzzed-about movie of 2025 and one of the least-awarded at the Golden Globes this year — a sentence I hoped I wouldn’t have to write post-show, but here we are.
Expectations were high going into the 83rd annual ceremony. Ryan Coogler’s celebrated horror smash entered the night with seven nominations, including a career-first Best Male Actor nod for Michael B. Jordan. It seemed many people were hoping to see just as many wins for the acclaimed film, or at least something close to that. Instead, “Sinners” walked away with just two wins, Cinematic and Box Office Achievement and Best Original Score (the latter of which wasn’t even televised, which viewers were quick to call out), while missing out in marquee categories like Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture – Drama.
The response online was swift and unforgiving, with folks expressing confusion, frustration and outright anger over what they viewed as glaring mistakes by the Globes.
Up until Sunday night, “Sinners” appeared to be a clear awards front-runner, poised to dominate with its ever-growing pile of nominations. On Monday, it received a whopping 18 nods from the NAACP Image Awards. Now, however, folks are tempering their optimism, bracing for what the rest of this awards race may hold.
While the Golden Globes’ results were a bit surprising — especially given the cultural impact of “Sinners” and its aggressive awards push — the film’s treatment ultimately reflects a familiar pattern in how Black art is acknowledged in Hollywood, yet still overlooked on these prestigious industry stages. This, unfortunately, has become our annual reality check.
Every awards season, we’re reminded that institutions like the Golden Globes — which has its own history of controversies and racist allegations — and their governing bodies were not built to fully celebrate work that centers Black voices and Black stories. Sure, we can get the nominations, even though that’s still an uphill battle in itself, but wins are, sadly, a different story.
What makes these “Sinners” losses particularly galling for some, though, is the fact that the film has seemingly done everything right by Hollywood’s standards — delivered powerhouse performances, defied box-office odds, dominated cultural discourse (well past its release) and earned widespread critical acclaim, even from Hollywood’s elite. And yet, for the Globes’ voting body, that still wasn’t enough to prevail over films like “One Battle After Another” or “Hamnet.”
And sure, those films have undoubtedly resonated with audiences in their own ways, but the question remains: What does it say when a movie so profoundly shifts pop culture and still fails to secure top honors on merit alone? Is that truly a reflection of what the industry considers “the best”?
In hindsight, the Golden Globes aren’t the end-all, be-all for awards season, nor does Sunday’s outcome necessarily decide the fate of “Sinners” moving forward. The film remains a strong contender at SAG’s Actor Awards in March, where it’s up for five awards, and it has good projections heading into the Oscar nominations next week.
Still, regardless of how many trophies “Sinners” ultimately collects, its cultural imprint is already cemented among audiences who continue to champion the film. And that, by all accounts, seems to matter far more to the cast and crew than any statuette ever could.
During an interview at a screening for his film, Coogler told me he wasn’t sure “people were going to connect with ‘Sinners,’” much less show up in droves to see it in theaters again, again and again.
“I just want to thank the audience for showing up. It means the world,” the director said in his Globes acceptance speech.
At the end of the day, this award season will pass, and these conversations about industry accolades will become a thing of the past. The only thing that’ll matter then is whether or not “Sinners” stands the test of time. Because there is no greater reward than longevity.
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