Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins Oscar, Spotlight grabs best film

Leonardo DiCaprio won his long-awaited first Oscar for revenge epic The Revenant on Sunday but journalism drama Spotlight took best picture in a surprising end to Hollywood’s glittering awards season.

As well as DiCaprio’s best actor award, The Revenant picked up the statuettes for best director for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu — his second in a row — as well as for best cinematography. But Spotlight, a searing study of The Boston Globe’s investigation into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church, grabbed best picture honours in one of the shocks of the 88th Academy Awards.

The film had only taken one other award, best original screenplay, and Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre gasped as a stunned cast and crew headed onstage to accept the trophy.

“This film gave a voice to survivors. And this Oscar amplifies that voice, which we hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican,” co-producer Michael Sugar told the audience.

A defeat for Creed star and Tinseltown darling Sylvester Stallone was the other big surprise of the night, as he was snubbed for best supporting actor, with the trophy going against the odds to Britain’s Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies. George Miller’s stark action epic Mad Max: Fury Road was the big winner in the technical categories, taking home Oscars for best costumes, production design, make-up, film editing, sound editing and sound mixing. Highest-grossing movie of 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens lost the key technical categories to Mad Max. Carol and The Martian also failed to bag a trophy despite nominations.

DiCaprio’s success for his gruelling star turn as 19th century fur trapper Hugh Glass came 22 years after his first of four unsuccessful acting nominations. For the 41-year-old actor, the fifth time was a charm. He thanked a long list of figures who have helped him in his career, including filmmaker Martin Scorsese, before speaking on his passion — climate change.

“Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work together and stop procrastinating,” DiCaprio said to applause. First-time nominee Brie Larson picked up a widely-predicted best actress statuette, having dominated the awards season with her performance as a kidnapped mother in Room.

The first acting award of the night went to Sweden’s Alicia Vikander, who dazzled on the red carpet in a strapless pale yellow Louis Vuitton gown, for her supporting role in transgender love story The Danish Girl. It was a huge night for Spotlight director Tom McCarthy, who also picked up the Oscar for best original screenplay. Adam McKay and Charles Randolph took the adapted screenplay Oscar for financial crisis satire The Big Short.