Oppenheimer and Barbie dominate Critics Choice awards to gain Oscar momentum

The eternally yoked-together blockbusters Barbie and Oppenheimer have cleaned up at the Critics Choice awards, suggesting the momentum is with both films as the Academy awards loom. Together the films won a total of 14 awards – with Oppenheimer edging their personal competition by 8 to 6.

Oppenheimer dominated the headline awards, winning best picture, best director for Christopher Nolan and best acting ensemble, with Robert Downey Jr also picking up best supporting actor for his role as Atomic Energy Commission member Lewis Strauss. The film also won a number of craft awards, including best cinematography, editing and visual effects.

Though losing out to Oppenheimer for the best picture award, Barbie racked up a string of wins, including best comedy, best original screenplay and best song for I’m Just Ken.

The lead acting awards, however, produced something of a surprise, with Paul Giamatti defeating Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy for The Holdovers, and Poor Things’ Emma Stone beating Killers of the Flower Moon’s Lily Gladstone. Unlike the Golden Globes, where all four actors won in separate categories for drama and comedy/musical, the Critics Choice operates as a head-to-head, suggesting Giamatti and Stone may have edged ahead in the race for the Oscars.

In the television section, the awards largely paralleled the Golden Globes, with Beef (four wins), The Bear (four) and Succession (three) picking up most. Succession’s Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook replicated their Globes awards best actor and actress, as did The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri, and Beef’s Steven Yeun and Ali Wong.

The awards are presented by the Critics Choice Association, the largest such group in the US and Canada, and the ceremony was hosted by Chelsea Handler.

Full list of awards

Film

Best picture Oppenheimer
Best director Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
Best actor Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
Best actress Emma Stone – Poor Things
Best acting ensemble Oppenheimer
Best song I’m Just Ken – Barbie
Best supporting actor Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer
Best supporting actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
Best comedy Barbie
Best original screenplay Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach – Barbie
Best adapted screenplay Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
Best animated feature Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Best foreign language film Anatomy of a Fall
Best visual effects Oppenheimer
Best editing Jennifer Lame – Oppenheimer
Best cinematography Hoyte Van Hoytema – Oppenheimer
Best production design Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer – Barbie
Best costume design Jacqueline Durran – Barbie
Best hair and makeup Barbie
Best score Ludwig Göransson – Oppenheimer
Best young actor/actress Dominic Sessa – The Holdovers

Television

Best limited series Beef
Best drama series Succession
Best comedy series The Bear
Best actor in a drama series Kieran Culkin – Succession
Best actress in a drama series Sarah Snook – Succession
Best actor in a comedy series Jeremy Allen White – The Bear
Best actress in a comedy series Ayo Edebiri – The Bear
Best actor in a limited series or movie made for television Steven Yeun – Beef
Best actress in a limited series or movie made for television Ali Wong – Beef
Best supporting actor in a comedy series Ebon Moss-Bachrach – The Bear
Best supporting actress in a comedy series Meryl Streep – Only Murders in the Building
Best supporting actor in a drama series Billy Crudup – The Morning Show
Best supporting actress in a drama series Elizabeth Debicki – The Crown
Best supporting actress in a limited series or movie made for television Maria Bello – Beef
Best supporting actor in a limited series or movie made for television Jonathan Bailey – Fellow Travelers
Best talk show Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Best movie made for television Quiz Lady
Best animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
Best foreign language series Lupin
Best comedy special John Mulaney: Baby J