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