Best Original Screenplay Nominees at the 2026 Oscars, Ranked

The Original Screenplay category has long been a place for films that are too daring or singular for Best Picture: early nods for Christopher Nolan and Wes Anderson, or Charlie Kaufman’s win for Eternal Sunshine illustrate that history. This year’s field ranges from Iranian and Norwegian films to a Southern vampire story, a biographical dramedy, and the tale of an up-and-coming table tennis player.

Below is a ranking of the five nominees. At the bottom sits Blue Moon, Robert Kaplow’s first screenplay for Richard Linklater. The script must balance a verbose, pretentious, tragic central figure—Lorenz Hart—without letting him overwhelm the story. Ethan Hawke’s performance supplies much of the interiority that the page only gestures toward, making Kaplow’s debut impressive even if it ranks weakest among these nominees.

Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident follows, his first narrative feature in some time and written with collaborators.

2026 oscars, original screenplay, blue moon, robert kaplow, richard linklater, lorenz hart, ethan hawke, jafar panahi, iranian film, norwegian film