The New York Film Critics Circle announced its winners on Tuesday, with “The Brutalist” winning Best Film and acting awards going to Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”), Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”), and Carol Kane (“Between the Temples”).
Other winners included RaMell Ross (Best Director for “Nickel Boys”), Sean Baker (Best Screenplay for “Anora”), Jomo Fray (Best Cinematography for “Nickel Boys), “Flow” (Best Animated Film), and “All We Imagine as Light” (Best International Film).
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Brody won Best Actor for his performance in Brady Corbet‘s epic drama, which A24 will release later this month. A former Oscar winner for “The Pianist,” Brody is widely predicted to earn his second Oscar nomination next year and is considered a front-runner to win as well.
Jean-Baptiste won Best Actress from the New York group, an outcome that many observers predicted in the days before Tuesday’s voting. The actress has received rave reviews for her performance in Mike Leigh’s contemporary drama, and she could land among the Best Actress nominees at the Oscars next year thanks to the strong passion around her work from those who have seen the film. Bleecker Street will release “Hard Truths” in December for its qualifying run before expanding it further in early January.
Culkin was another expected winner. The “Succession” Emmy Award winner is the front-runner to win Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars next year and has the potential to become one of the year’s acting sweepers due to the near-universal acclaim for his performance in Jesse Eisenberg’s film.
Kane was an upset choice by the group, though also not fully unexpected. The legendary actress scored strong reviews for her performance in “Between the Temples,” and she emerged victorious in a category that had many potential options for the New York critics – including Natasha Lyonne for “His Three Daughters,” a popular choice among those who tried to predict the whims of the New York Film Critics Circle members.
In terms of studios, the group spread the wealth this year: A24, Neon, Searchlight Pictures, Bleecker Street, Amazon/MGM, and Sony Pictures Classics all won significant awards.
This is the 90th anniversary of the group, which counts several top critical minds – including Indiewire’s David Ehlrich (this year’s vice chair) and Kate Erbland, New York Magazine’s duo of Alison Wilmore and Bilge Ebiri, The Atlantic’s David Sims (this year’s chair), and Time’s Stephanie Zacharek – among its members. Typically, the New York critics lean a bit more highbrow than members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, as evidenced by past Best Picture winners “Tar,” “Drive My Car,” “First Cow,” and “Roma.” But the group has made room for some mainstream winner picks in recent years, usually in the acting categories. Surprising winners since 2018 have included Regina Hall (“Support the Girls,” 2018), Lupita Nyong’o (“Us,” 2019), and Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci,” 2021) in the Best Actress category, and Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” 2020) and Keke Palmer (“Nope,” 2022) in the Best Supporting Actress field.
Last year, the New York Film Critics Circle selected “Killers of the Flower Moon” as Best Picture, Christopher Nolan as Best Director for “Oppenheimer,” Franz Rogowski as Best Actor for “Passages,” Lily Gladstone as Best Actress for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Charles Melton as Best Supporting Actor for “May December,” and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Best Supporting Actress for “The Holdovers.” Nolan and Randolph later became Oscar winners, while “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Gladstone landed Oscar nominations.
Since 2003, only three New York Film Critics Circle winners for Best Film failed to garner an Oscar nomination for Best Picture: “United 93,” “Carol,” and “First Cow.” In that same stretch, four New York Film Critics Circle winners for Best Film also won Best Picture: “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” “No Country for Old Men,” “The Hurt Locker,” and “The Artist.” The group hasn’t matched the Best Picture winner in 12 years but arguably picked the runner-up film a couple of times (“La La Land,” “Roma”).
Check out the winners list below. The New York Film Critics Circle will celebrate its winners at a dinner on January 8, 2025.
BEST PICTURE
“The Brutalist”
BEST DIRECTOR
RaMell Ross, “Nickel Boys”
BEST ACTRESS
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, “Hard Truths”
BEST ACTOR
Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Carol Kane, “Between the Temples”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”
BEST SCREENPLAY
Sean Baker, “Anora”
BEST ANIMATED FILM
“Flow”
BEST NONFICTION FILM
“No Other Land”
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
“All We Imagine as Light”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jomo Fray, “Nickel Boys”
BEST FIRST FILM
“Janet Planet” (dir. Annie Baker)
Below is the full list of New York Film Critics Circle members as of December.
David Sims (CHAIR)
The Atlantic
David Ehrlich (VICE CHAIR)
IndieWire
Stephen Garrett (GENERAL MANAGER)
Freelance
MEMBERS:
Sam Adams
Slate
Siddhant Adlakha
Freelance
Melissa Anderson
4Columns
Michael Atkinson
Freelance
Jason Bailey
The Playlist
Richard Brody
The New Yorker
Dwight Brown
NNPA Syndication
Monica Castillo
Freelance
Kameron Austin Collins
Rolling Stone
Bilge Ebiri
New York Magazine
Kate Erbland
IndieWire
David Fear
Rolling Stone
Graham Fuller
Freelance
Owen Gleiberman
Variety
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
Leah Greenblatt
Freelance
Steven D. Greydanus
The National Catholic Register
Rafer Guzman
Newsday
Lovia Gyarkye
The Hollywood Reporter
Jordan Hoffman
Freelance
Caryn James
BBC
Tomris Laffly
Freelance
Richard Lawson
Vanity Fair
Violet Lucca
Freelance
Soraya Nadia McDonald
Andscape
Farran Nehme
Freelance
Sheila O’Malley
Rogerebert.com
Rex Reed
New York Observer
David Rooney
The Hollywood Reporter
Nick Schager
The Daily Beast
Matt Singer
ScreenCrush
Kyle Smith
The Wall Street Journal
Dana Stevens
Slate
Amy Taubin
Artforum
Peter Travers
ABC
Keith Uhlich
Freelance
Elizabeth Weitzman
The Wrap
Kelli Weston
Freelance
Stephen Whitty
Freelance
Alison Willmore
New York Magazine
Stephanie Zacharek
Time Magazine
Esther Zuckerman
Freelance
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