Last Sunday, the 88th Annual Academy Awards filled the TV screens of 34 million people, (the lowest viewer turnout since 2009). The highly anticipated award show debuted to mostly average rating. Lots of controversy surrounded the night, because of the lack of diverse nominees. Chris Rock used his opening monologue talk to address the issue.

“Hollywood is sorority racist,” he joked to the crowd.  “I thought about quitting,” host Chris Rock says. “But they’re going to have the Oscars anyway. And the last thing I need is to lose another job to Kevin Hart.” Rock even took jabs about the stars who decided to boycott the awards, like Will and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Spotlight, a movie about a team of journalists working for the Boston Globe uncovering a sex scandal within the Catholic church, took home the biggest award of the night, Best Picture.

Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his awaited Oscar for his outstanding work in the Revenant. This was his fifth acting nomination. He received a standing ovation, and took time in his speech to discuss a matter that means a lot to him, climate change.

Brie Larson took home Best Actress. Her performance in Room was praised by critics everywhere. She also won the SAG award and the Golden Globe. Brie beat out many major actresses like Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence.

Alejandro G. Inarritu took home Best Director for the Revenant. JJ Abrams presented him his award. Inarritu also won Best Director last year for Birdman, and is the first back to back director winner since the 1950’s.

Lady Gaga’s performance was the most emotional event of the night. She sang her nominated song (she eventually lost the award to Sam Smith) Till it Happens to You. The song, which is about rape culture, is apart of the CNN documentary, The Hunting Ground. Sexual assault survivors took the stage with Gaga. The entire audience was left in tears.

All in all it made for an entertaining show. Considering it was such a tight race this year, all the awards were well deserved. 2015 proved to be a powerful year in film.