Oppenheimer takes Best Picture

The International Catholic Film Critics Association has announced the winners for its Catholic Film Critics Awards 2023.

Oppenheimer cashed in on its eight nominations with six wins. Two of the acting nods went its way, both for actors: Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey, Jr.

Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon earned the other high-profile trophy of the program, the Human and Gospel Values Award. It finished with four overall, including Best Actress for Lily Gladstone.

Perhaps owing to the unprecedentedly large pool of nominees for Best Director, three winners were honored in a tie. Justine Triet becomes the first woman to receive the award, for Anatomy of a Fall, while Christopher Nolan and Scorsese also won.

Anatomy of a Fall wound up the third most-honored film of the year, winning for Best Original Screenplay for two awards total, and was closest of the other nominees to winning Best Picture.

The only other film to break into the acting categories was The Holdovers, noted for its performance from Best Supporting Actress winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

The Boys in the Boat surprised with nominations but ended up without winning a prize. It had bids for Best Picture, Director, and the coveted Human and Gospel Values Award.

Inordinately tight races produced two departures from the norm this year. The first was in the Best Director category, where seven filmmakers were named for the award. And with an unusually high number of votes for films in the screenplay category, both original and adapted writing will be honored in order to award more screenwriters.

Both critic awards went to multiple-year winners, as the Los Angeles Times’s Justin Chang—now with The New Yorker—and Peter Malone were honored again.

Voting opened on January 9 and closed a week later. The membership reconvened from February 27 to March 5 for the final ballot, with the winners announced on Thursday, March 7.

The Catholic Film Critics Awards 2023 official winners are:

Best Picture

Oppenheimer

  • Anatomy of a Fall

  • The Boys in the Boat

  • The Holdovers

  • Maestro

  • Past Lives

Human and Gospel Values Award

Killers of the Flower Moon

Awarded to the film that best reflects human and Gospel values as determined by Catholic critics.

  • The Boys in the Boat

  • Elemental

  • The Holdovers

  • The Miracle Club

Best Director

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall

  • George Clooney, The Boys in the Boat

  • Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

  • Alexander Payne, The Holdovers

  • Celine Song, Past Lives

Best Actor

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

  • Mahershala Ali, Leave the World Behind

  • Bradley Cooper, Maestro

  • Adam Driver, Ferrari

  • Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Best Actress

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

  • Greta Lee, Past Lives

  • Carey Mulligan, Maestro

  • Natalie Portman, May December

  • Emma Stone, Poor Things

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Downey, Jr., Oppenheimer

  • Ryan Gosling, Barbie

  • Charles Melton, May December

  • Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

  • Teo Yoo, Past Lives

Best Supporting Actress

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

  • Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer

  • Jodie Foster, Nyad

  • Julianne Moore, May December

  • Tilda Swinton, The Killer

Best Original Screenplay

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall

  • Alex Convery, Air

  • Celine Song, Past Lives

Best Adapted Screenplay

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

  • Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie

  • Cord Jefferson, American Fiction

  • Troy Kennedy Martin, Ferrari

  • Tony McNamara, Poor Things

  • Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Cinematography

Hoyte van Hoytema, Oppenheimer

  • Simon Beaufils, Anatomy of a Fall

  • Erik Messerschmidt, The Killer

  • Rodrigo Prieto, Barbie

  • Rodrigo Prieto, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Documentary

A Still Small Voice

  • Going Varsity in Mariachi

  • It Ain’t Over

  • The Pigeon Tunnel

  • Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Best Original Score

Robbie Robertson, Killers of the Flower Moon

  • Ludwig Göransson, Oppenheimer

  • Laura Karpman, American Fiction

  • Thomas Newman, Elemental

  • Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Honor for Outstanding Criticism (Non-Member)

Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

  • Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

  • Sonny Bunch, The Bulwark

  • Peter Debruge, Variety

  • David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

Honor for Outstanding Criticism (ICFCA Member)

Peter Malone

  • John Mulderig

  • Kate O’Hare

  • Peter Sheehan

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Nominees out: Oppenheimer with eight bids