31st Critics’ Choice Awards Winner Predictions

The first televised awards show is upon us: the 31st Critics’ Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan 4. Adam Patla, Danny Jarabek, Jacob Diedenhofer, Owen Wilczek, and I predict each category. Individual members are listed inside parentheses to indicate their predictive No. 1 winner for each category.

Sinners has the most Critics’ Choice nominations at 17, while One Battle After Another has 14. The Paul Thomas Anderson film has maintained a steady slew of Best Film prizes from its run of regional critics groups. In recent years, except for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), films with the most nominations don’t always win the top prizes, such as Best Film and Best Director. Last year’s Anora had six nominations, yet pulled off a single win for Best Film; Oppenheimer beat Barbie with its record-setting 18 nominations. (Oppenheimer had 13.) 

Sinners can still put up a competitive fight for the craft categories, along with Picture, Director, and Actor for Michael B. Jordan, who has won the most from critics’ groups. Meanwhile, Benicio del Toro and Amy Madigan have boasted impressive majority hauls in Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress wins from critics groups. This will be the first and largest public opportunity for contenders to deliver rousing acceptance speeches and make their case as the Academy voting on nominations approaches. 

Best Picture:

1. Bugonia
2. Frankenstein
3. Hamnet
4. Jay Kelly
5. Marty Supreme
6. One Battle After Another (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
7. Sentimental Value
8. Sinners
9. Train Dreams
10. Wicked: For Good
    

Best Director:

1. Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another (Paul, Adam, Owen)
2. Ryan Coogler – Sinners (Danny, Jacob)
3. Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
4. Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
5. Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value
6. Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

Best Actor: 

1. Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme (Paul, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
2. Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
3. Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams
4. Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon 
5. Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
6. Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent (Adam)

Best Actress: 

1. Jessie Buckley – Hamnet (Paul, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
2. Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (Adam)
3. Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
4. Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
5. Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee
6. Emma Stone – Bugonia

Best Supporting Actor:

1. Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
2. Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
3. Paul Mescal – Hamnet
4. Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
5. Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly
6. Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value 

Best Supporting Actress: 

1. Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
2. Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good (Danny)
3. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
4. Amy Madigan – Weapons (Paul, Adam, Jacob)
5. Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
6. Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another (Owen)

Best Original Screenplay:

1. Noah Baumbach and Emily Mortimer – Jay Kelly
2. Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
3. Ryan Coogler – Sinners (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
4. Zach Cregger – Weapons
5. Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby
6. Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Best Adapted Screenplay:

1. Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
2. Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar – Train Dreams
3. Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, and Jahye Lee – No Other Choice
4. Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
5. Will Tracy – Bugonia
6. Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet 

Best Casting and Ensemble: 

1. Hamnet
2. Jay Kelly 
3. Marty Supreme (Jacob)
4. One Battle After Another (Adam)
5. Sinners (Paul, Owen, Danny)
6. Wicked: For Good 

Best Young Actor/Actress:

1. Everett Blunck – The Plague
2. Miles Caton – Sinners (Adam, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
3. Cary Christopher – Weapons
4. Shannon Mahina Gorman – Rental Family
5. Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet (Paul)
6. Nina Ye – Left-Handed Girl

Best Cinematography:

1. F1 – Claudio Miranda
2. Frankenstein – Dan Laustsen
3. Hamnet – Łukasz Żal
4. One Battle After Another – Michael Bauman
5. Sinners – Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
6. Train Dreams – Adolpho Veloso
   

Best Film Editing:

1. F1 – Stephen Mirrione
2. A House of Dynamite – Kirk Baxter
3. Marty Supreme – Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie (Paul, Danny)
4. One Battle After Another – Andy Jurgensen (Adam, Owen)
5. The Perfect Neighbor – Viridiana Lieberman (Jacob)
6. Sinners – Michael P. Shawver

Best Costume Design:

1. Frankenstein – Kate Hawley (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
2. Hamnet – Malgosia Turzanska
3. Hedda – Lindsay Pugh
4. Kiss of the Spider Woman – Colleen Atwood and Christine Cantella
5. Sinners – Ruth E. Carter
6. Wicked: For Good – Paul Tazewell

Best Production Design:
      1. The Fantastic Four: First Steps – Kasra Farahani and Jille Azis

      2. Frankenstein – Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny)

      3. Hamnet – Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton (Jacob)

      4. Marty Supreme – Jack Fisk

      5. Sinners – Hannah Beachler and Monique Champagne

      6. Wicked: For Good – Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales

Best Score:

1. F1 – Hans Zimmer
2. Frankenstein – Alexandre Desplat
3. Hamnet – Max Richter
4. Marty Supreme – Daniel Lopatin
5. One Battle After Another – Jonny Greenwood (Paul, Owen, Jacob)
6. Sinners – Ludwig Göransson (Adam, Danny)

Best Song: 

1. “Clothed by the Sun” from The Testament of Ann Lee
2. “Drive” from F1
3. “The Girl in the Bubble” from Wicked: For Good
4. “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
5. “I Lied to You” from Sinners
6. “Train Dreams” from Train Dreams

Best Hair and Make-Up:

1. 28 Years Later 
2. Frankenstein (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
3. Sinners 
4. The Smashing Machine 
5. Weapons 
6. Wicked: For Good 

Best Sound: 

1. F1 (Adam, Owen, Danny)
2. Frankenstein 
3. One Battle After Another 
4. Sinners (Paul)
5. Sirāt (Jacob)
6. Warfare 

Best Visual Effects: 

1. Avatar: Fire and Ash (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
2. F1 
3. Frankenstein 
4. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning 
5. Sinners 
6. Superman 

Best Stunt Design: 

1. Ballerina (Jacob)
2. F1 
3. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny)
4. One Battle After Another 
5. Sinners
6. Warfare

Best Animated Feature: 

1. Arco
2. Elio
3. In Your Dreams
4. KPop Demon Hunters (Paul, Adam, Owen, Danny, Jacob)
5. Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
6. Zootopia 2

Best Comedy: 

1. The Ballad of Wallis Island
2. Eternity (Danny)
3. Friendship (Jacob)
4. The Naked Gun (Paul, Adam, Owen)
5. The Phoenician Scheme
6. Splitsville

Best International Feature: 

1. Belén – Argentina
2. It Was Just an Accident – Iran (Adam, Owen, Jacob)
3. Left-Handed Girl – Taiwan
4. No Other Choice – South Korea (Paul)
5. The Secret Agent – Brazil (Danny)
6. Sirāt – Spain

Predictions Courtesy of Awards Editor Amritpal Rai and The Rolling Tape Team

Feature Image Credit to ‘Sinners’ via Warner Bros