Because the Golden Globes shouldn’t have all the fun the first weekend of the new year, the National Society of Film Critics presented its annual film awards this Saturday, with critics gathering in New York and Los Angeles to vote on 2024’s best movies and performances.
This year’s 59th annual award for Best Picture was presented to RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys,” with Sean Baker’s “Anora” and Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine As Light” serving as runners-up. Kapadia also managed to score Best Director, with Ross and Baker serving as runners-up in that category, as well as Best Foreign-Language Film.
Another highlight from this year’s crop of awards recipients is Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s win for Best Actress, making her one of five actresses to earn the critics association trifecta (NYFCC, LAFCA, and NSFC), the others being Imelda Staunton (“Vera Drake”), Sally Hawkins (“Happy-Go-Lucky”), Cate Blanchett (“Tar” and “Blue Jasmine”), and Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”). Jean-Baptiste also wins for a performance in a Mike Leigh film — “Hard Truths” — as was the case with Staunton and Hawkins. Her co-star, Michele Austin, who plays her sister in the film and also played opposite her in Leigh’s 1996 family drama “Secrets & Lies,” also managed to secure Best Supporting Actress — her first major win of this awards season.
Kieran Culkin continues to secure his lock on not only an Oscar nomination, but a likely win, with recognition from NSFC as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain.” This being said, last year’s winner in this category was Charles Melton for Todd Haynes’ “May December” and he did not end up receiving a nomination from the Academy. However, on a positive note, Eisenberg did receive the award for Best Screenplay, just as Sammy Burch did for “May December” and she at least went on to a nomination at the Academy Awards.
To find out all the winners and runners-up, keep reading below.
Best Picture: “Nickel Boys”
Runners-up:
“Anora”
“All We Imagine As Light”
Best Actor: Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”
Runners-up:
Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”
Best Actress: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, “Hard Truths”
Runners-up:
Mikey Madison, “Anora”
Ilinca Manolache, “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World”
Best Supporting Actress: Michele Austin, “Hard Truths”
Runners-up:
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, “Nickel Boys”
Natasha Lyonne, “His Three Daughters”
Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”
Runners-up:
Guy Pearce, “The Brutalist”
Edward Norton, “A Complete Unknown”
Adam Pearson, “A Different Man”
Best Director: Payal Kapadia, “All We Imagine As Light”
Runners-up:
RaMell Ross, “Nickel Boys”
Sean Baker, “Anora”
Best Screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg, “A Real Pain”
Runners-up:
Radu Jude, “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World”
Sean Baker, “Anora”
Best Cinematography: Jomo Fray, “Nickel Boys”
Runners-up:
Lol Crawley, “The Brutalist”
Jarin Blaschke, “Nosferatu”
Best Nonfiction Film: “No Other Land”
Runners-up:
“Dahomey”
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”
Best Foreign-Language Film: “All We Imagine As Light”
Runners-up:
“Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
Best Experimental Film: “The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire”
Film Heritage Award: Scott Eyman
Film Heritage Award: IndieCollect
Film Heritage Award: To Save and Project: The MoMa International Festival of Film Preservation
Special Citation for a Film Awaiting U.S. Distribution: “No Other Land”
