‘Hamnet’ Also Won the Entire Weekend

Last week, the Critics Choice Awards helped ease all of us on the awards circuit into a Golden Globes weekend that still felt like being shot out a cannon. But while the event itself is a locus for all sorts of annual events, the stakes were even higher this year, with the ceremony moving from the first weekend of the year to a weekend conveniently right before Oscars nomination voting opens.

Saturday alone hosted a robust slate that included the Independent Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch, the BAFTA Tea Party, and the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, plus several pre-Golden Globes parties. The stars had been showing up and showing out well before they arrived on the red carpet at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday.

While Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” is still the out and out favorite to win the Best Picture Oscar, especially after it won Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes, its rival “Hamnet” came out of the weekend as the bigger winner.

After being feted at the AFI Awards, the film’s cast and crew were on hand for one of Friday night’s biggest events, Donna Langley and Universal Entertainment’s Celebratory Toast, which often becomes more expansive than just an awards event, inviting stars from their upcoming 2026 releases, like “Disclosure Day” actor Colman Domingo, as well as their TV shows, like “All Her Fault” actors Sarah Snook and Michael Peña.

Having made it onto 13 of the BAFTA longlists, the Tea Party felt like a victory lap for “Hamnet” as well, as the team caught up with peers from across the pond. The film is a British co-production, and so the BAFTAs seem to be the most likely place Chloé Zhao’s film could collect another Best Picture win over “One Battle After Another.” That would be similar to how “Conclave,” another Focus Features release, trumped “Anora” at the same ceremony last year.

Many of those who attended the BAFTA Tea Party, like “Sentimental Value” stars Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Elle Fanning, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, or “Sinners” star Delroy Lindo, went straight from there to the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, which will air on PBS on February 22. But, spoiler alert: ”Hamnet” won Best Picture there, too.

When Sharon Stone presented the award to Zhao, plus her stars Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, it was the most poignant moment of the night, with the Oscar nominee in tears talking about how watching the film not only have you to feel the impact of loss, but “wake you up to the understanding of what you have.”

Jessie Buckley, Chloé Zhao, and Paul Mescal attend the 2026 Annual Movies for Grownups Awards with AARP at Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel on January 10, 2026 in Beverly Hills, CaliforniaMichael Kovac/Getty Images for AARP

Afterwards, as a further celebration of the award it just won and its Golden Globes nominations the next day, there was a Saturday night “Hamnet” reception at the historic Castillo del Lago mansion in the Hollywood Hills. The venue, which has been owned by everyone from Bugsy Siegel to Madonna, is not well-trodden awards season territory like other iconic Los Angeles locales, from Chateau Marmont to Sunset Tower Hotel, so the party ended up netting a good turnout, even just from attendees who were curious to walk inside. (Unfortunately, Mescal did get stuck in the elevator at one point in the night.)

But what was most interesting about the “Hamnet” party on Saturday was how many Golden Globes members were in attendance. It made it very clear going into the Sunday ceremony that “Hamnet” would eventually win Best Motion Picture – Drama, notably the award that closed out the show.

Universal Entertainment’s Golden Globes after party at the Maybourne Hotel in Beverly Hills did not end up being a late night rager, given the exhausting weekend, but it did send off the Focus Features films in particular in good spirits as they into the final stretch of Oscar nominations voting. 

Just a week or two ago, some prognosticators were beginning to write off Zhao and her film, believing some unattributed party chatter among filmmakers that she no longer had chance of a Best Director nomination, but the “Hamnet” helmer spent last week receiving PGA and DGA Awards nominations, with her two stars being recognized by the Actor Awards nominations. This was all preceded by the film winning several audience awards at major fall film festivals, including the prestigious People’s Choice Award at TIFF.

It’s easy to overthink things and risk not predicting a clear frontrunner like “One Battle After Another” for whatever reason, but consider this: the last two films to win Best Screenplay, Best Director, and one of the Best Picture awards at the Golden Globes were “La La Land” and “The Social Network.”

So, yes, there is still precedent for Zhao’s “Hamnet” to pull off a Best Picture Oscar win akin to “Moonlight” or “The King’s Speech.” One major precedent it would break? Its win would be the very first time a Focus Features film won Hollywood’s top honor.