There was one last critics’s group to give their say on the top films and performances of 2023, the National Society of Film Critics, and they didn’t disappoint. In a mild surprise, the NSFC picked Celine Song’s “Past Lives” as Best Picture in a weighted voting system ahead of Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” The A24 release premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival almost a year ago.
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All three films are expected to be Oscar nominees for Best Picture, but the director field is still unclear. The NSFC awarded Glazer Best Director which may be a nice last-minute boost to his candidacy. Coming in right behind the “Zone” filmmaker was “May December’s” Todd Haynes and Nolan. After getting snubbed in a number of categories on the BAFTA longlist, “May December” found some love with the NSFC as Sammy Burch took Best Screenplay. Nolan and “The Holdovers’” David Hemingson followed.
In the acting categories, Andrew Scott took Best Actor for “All of Us Strangers” with “American Fiction’s” Jeffrey Wright and “Oppenheimer’s” Cillian Murphy in second and third, respectively. Sandra Hüller won Best Actress for both her roles in “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest.” “Poor Things” star Emma Stone and “Killers of the Flower Moon” standout Lily Gladstone were second and third. “May December’s” Charles Melton took Supporting Actor while Da’Vine Joy Randolph from “The Holdovers” won yet another Supporting Actress honor.
“Fallen Leaves” took the Film Not In The Engish Language award while “Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros” won the Non Fiction award.
A full list of this year’s NSFC winners and runner ups are as follows:
Best Picture: PAST LIVES (51 points)
Runners-up:
THE ZONE OF INTEREST (49 points)
OPPENHEIMER (44 points)
Best Director: Jonathan Glazer, THE ZONE OF INTEREST (65 points)
Runners-up:
Todd Haynes, MAY DECEMBER (42 points)
Christopher Nolan, OPPENHEIMER (41 points)
Best Actor: Andrew Scott, ALL OF US STRANGERS (52 points)
Runners-up:
Jeffrey Wright, AMERICAN FICTION (39 points)
Cillian Murphy, OPPENHEIMER (29 points)
Best Actress: Sandra Hüller, ANATOMY OF A FALL and THE ZONE OF INTEREST (61 points)
Runners-up:
Emma Stone, POOR THINGS (56 points)
Lily Gladstone, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (44 points)
Best Screenplay: Samy Burch, MAY DECEMBER (53 points)
Runners-up:
Celine Song, PAST LIVES (50 points)
David Hemingson, THE HOLDOVERS (36 points)
Best Supporting Actor: Charles Melton, MAY DECEMBER (51 points)
Runners-up:
Robert Downey, Jr., OPPENHEIMER, and Ryan Gosling, BARBIE (31 points, tie)
Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, THE HOLDOVERS (58 points)
Runners-up:
Penélope Cruz, FERRARI (32 points)
Rachel McAdams, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET. (23 points)
Best Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (55 points)
Runners-up:
Łukasz Żal, THE ZONE OF INTEREST (45 points)
Hoyte van Hoytema, OPPENHEIMER (44 points)
Best Film Not in the English Language: FALLEN LEAVES (65 points)
Runners-up:
THE ZONE OF INTEREST (51 points)
ANATOMY OF A FALL (44 points)
Best Nonfiction Film: MENUS-PLAISIRS — LES TROISGROS (64 points)
Runners-up:
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL (25 points)
KOKOMO CITY (19 points)
Special Citation for a Film Awaiting U.S. Distribution: Víctor Erice’s CLOSE YOUR EYES
Best Experimental Film: Jean Luc-Godard’s TRAILER OF A FILM THAT WILL NEVER EXIST: PHONY WARS