The 18th SAG Awards was an evening packed with surprises and spontaneity.

Picking up a trio of top trophies, the film-adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, directed by Tate Taylor, won Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role (Viola Davis), Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Octavia Spencer), and Outstanding Ensemble Cast of a Motion Picture.

The historical drama depicts the acutely racist culture prevalent in the United States during the 1960s civil rights movement. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, played by Emma Stone, is an aspiring journalist who decides to write a book exposing the bigotry and intolerance faced by female domestic workers in Jackson, Mississippi.  

The emotionally enveloping cinematic piece bested black-and-white silent picture, The Artist, which, before the SAGs, was expected to dominate at the Oscars. Critics are not so certain anymore. 

However, The Artist’s Jean Dujardin did win the award for Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role, outdoing George Clooney (The Descendants), Brad Pitt (Moneyball) and Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar). For the 39-year-old French comic, the award was “too much” as he uttered “Oh, my God”, sharing that while he “was a very bad student [who] didn't listen in class... I never stopped dreaming. Thank you for this dream.”

Bridesmaids and Midnight In Paris left empty-handed while for the second year running, Sofia Vergara and the cast from Modern Family beat Glee, The Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock and The Office for Best Comedy Series by an Ensemble. 

Other noteworthy winners include Chirstopher Plummer who won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor for his role in Begginers, in which he plays an elderly father who comes out. Given that winning a SAG award often means winning an Oscar – last year Colin Firth (The King’s Speech), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Chirstian Bale (The Fighter) and Melissa Leo (The Fighter) cleaned out at both ceremonies – Plummer is in the race to become the oldest actor ever to win an Academy Award at the ripe age of 82. 

The Oscars are on February 26, and just quietly, the suspense is killing us. 

Can't get enough? Check out a comprehensive red carpet fashion run down here.