The 2026 Oscar Season Kicks Off With the Critics Choice Awards!

2026 is here and we have our first awards show of the season. The Critics Choice Awards made the very savvy move of shifting their ceremony’s date to the first weekend of January, putting it ahead of the Golden Globes, and so it can claim the honour of being the first girl at the party. Are they a major predictor of who will win the Oscars? They’re certainly helpful, more so than the Globes, whose importance has long been overstated. So, that means a lot of focus will be put on their picks. Narratives are being formed, kids. It’s going to be a long Winter!

To the surprise of nobody, One Battle After Another won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson. It’s been seen as the one to beat for months now, with many viewing it as PTA’s time after being denied for so long. Leonardo DiCaprio was tipped to Best Actor by Timothee Chalamet for Marty Supreme. Could they finally give Best Actor to someone under the age of 40? Chalamet gave a good speech and thanked Kylie Jenner at the end (they’ve been together for three years already?!)

Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for Hamnet in a tough category that included Rose Byrne and Renate Reinsve. Jacob Elordi won Supporting Actor for playing Frankenstein’s monster in Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation while the legendary Amy Madigan got Supporting Actress for her already-iconic turn as Aunt Gladys in the horror movie Weapons. Miles Caton was awarded the Best Young Actor/Actress in Film trophy for Sinners. How cool that three horror titles are big players in the acting categories this year.

Speaking of Sinners, it won four awards overall, including Best Original Screenplay. Frankenstein did well in tech categories and The Secret Agent was the Best Foreign Language Film choice. Shout out to The Naked Gun for winning in the comedy category.

The Critics Choice Awards also celebrate TV, and The Pitt and The Studio were big winners last night. Rhea Seehorn picked up what will surely be the first of many trophies for her leading turn in Pluribus, and Adolescence swept the limited series categories.

Can we expect those movie choices to lead the way in the coming weeks as we wait for the Oscars? They do feel like very safe choices, which isn’t a bad thing. Who could be mad at Paul Thomas Anderson finally being a frontrunner after two decades of being one of the best in the business? One ceremony does not equal a lock for the final award, of course. Timmy has a lot of momentum behind him but people love Leo, and Jessie Buckley has major competition in a very busy category. I wouldn’t write off Stellan Skarsgard or Benicio del Toro in Supporting Actor, especially if it comes down to voters just picking the movies and people they liked the most. I’d say pretty much everything except for Best Director is up for grabs. PTA’s making space among Maya Rudolph’s Emmys for that one.

Here are the winners:

FILM AWARDS

BEST PICTURE
One Battle After Another

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson — One Battle After Another

BEST ACTOR
Timothee Chalamet — Marty Supreme

BEST ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley — Hamnet

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jacob Elordi — Frankenstein

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Madigan — Weapons

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Miles Caton — Sinners

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Sinners

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
One Battle After Another

BEST CASTING AND ENSEMBLE
Sinners

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Train Dreams

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Frankenstein

BEST EDITING
F1

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Frankenstein

BEST HAIR AND MAKE-UP
Frankenstein

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar: Fire & Ash

BEST STUNT DESIGN
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
KPop Demon Hunters

BEST COMEDY
The Naked Gun

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Secret Agent

BEST SONG
“Golden” — KPop Demon Hunters

BEST SCORE
Sinners

BEST SOUND
F1

TV AWARDS

BEST DRAMA SERIES
The Pitt

BEST COMEDY SERIES
The Studio

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Noah Wyle — The Pitt

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Rhea Seehorn — Pluribus

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Seth Rogen — The Studio

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jean Smart — Hacks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Tramell Tillman — Severance

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Katherine LaNasa — The Pitt

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ike Barinholtz — The Studio

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Janelle James — Abbott Elementary

BEST LIMITED SERIES
Adolescence

BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Stephen Graham — Adolescence

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Sarah Snook — All Her Fault

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Owen Cooper — Adolescence

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Erin Doherty — Adolescence

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE SERIES
Squid Game

BEST ANIMATED SERIES
South Park

BEST TALK SHOW
Jimmy Kimmel Live!

BEST VARIETY SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

BEST COMEDY SPECIAL
SNL50: The Anniversary Special

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