30th Critics’ Choice Awards (2025): When Critics Speak — and We Finally Listen
There’s a special moment early in every awards season when the Critics’ Choice Awards arrive — not as Hollywood’s internal consensus, but as the collective breath of the conversation we’ve actually been having all year. Hosted for the third time by Chelsea Handler at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar, the 30th Critics’ Choice Awards on February 7, 2025, was that moment in full: reflective, generous, and surprising in all the right places.
Delays due to wildfires in Southern California meant the ceremony took place later than usual, but that gave critics even more time to let the work sink in — and the results show it. Let’s walk through the full list of nominees and winners, and what these picks tell us about storytelling in 2024.
Film awards — full nominees & winners
Best Picture
Nominees:
- A Complete Unknown
- Anora — WINNER
- The Brutalist
- Conclave
- Dune: Part Two
- Emilia Pérez
- Nickel Boys
- Sing Sing
- The Substance
- Wicked
Anora’s victory here was quietly electric — the film’s emotional precision triumphed over even the most anticipated contenders, signaling critics’ hunger for nuance over spectacle.
Best Actor
Nominees:
- Adrien Brody — The Brutalist — WINNER
- Timothée Chalamet — A Complete Unknown
- Daniel Craig — Queer
- Colman Domingo — Sing Sing
- Ralph Fiennes — Conclave
- Hugh Grant — Heretic
Brody’s win was not only a testament to his commanding performance — it was a moment of career resonance critics seemed eager to honor.
Best Actress
Nominees:
- Cynthia Erivo — Wicked
- Karla Sofía Gascón — Emilia Pérez
- Marianne Jean-Baptiste — Hard Truths
- Angelina Jolie — Maria
- Mikey Madison — Anora
- Demi Moore — The Substance — WINNER
Moore’s performance was raw and fearless, and critics rewarded her for embodying complexity without artifice.
Best Supporting Actor
Nominees:
- Yura Borisov — Anora
- Kieran Culkin — A Real Pain — WINNER
- Clarence Maclin — Sing Sing
- Edward Norton — A Complete Unknown
- Guy Pearce — The Brutalist
- Denzel Washington — Gladiator II
Culkin’s chaotic brilliance in A Real Pain delivered one of the night’s liveliest wins.
Best Supporting Actress
Nominees:
- Danielle Deadwyler — The Piano Lesson
- Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor — Nickel Boys
- Ariana Grande — Wicked
- Margaret Qualley — The Substance
- Isabella Rossellini — Conclave
- Zoe Saldaña — Emilia Pérez — WINNER
Saldaña’s layered performance stood out in a stacked field, spotlighting emotional clarity and nuance.
Best Young Actor/Actress
Nominees:
- Alyla Browne — Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
- Elliott Heffernan — Blitz
- Maisy Stella — My Old Ass — WINNER
- Izaac Wang — Didi
- Alisha Weir — Abigail
- Zoe Ziegler — Janet Planet
This category reminded us that bold, confident performances are happening right now at every age.
Best Acting Ensemble
Nominees:
- Anora
- Conclave — WINNER
- Emilia Pérez
- Saturday Night
- Sing Sing
- Wicked
Ensemble strength isn’t just about casting — it’s about collective electricity, and Conclave embodied that.
Craft Categories — What the Critics Loved Behind the Camera
Best Director:
- Jacques Audiard — Emilia Pérez
- Sean Baker — Anora
- Edward Berger — Conclave
- Brady Corbet — The Brutalist
- Jon M. Chu — Wicked — WINNER
- Coralie Fargeat — The Substance
- RaMell Ross — Nickel Boys
- Denis Villeneuve — Dune: Part Two
Best Original Screenplay:
- Sean Baker — Anora
- Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David — September 5
- Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold — The Brutalist
- Jesse Eisenberg — A Real Pain
- Coralie Fargeat — The Substance — WINNER
- Justin Kuritzkes — Challengers
Best Adapted Screenplay:
- Jacques Audiard — Emilia Pérez
- Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox — Wicked
- Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley — Sing Sing
- RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes — Nickel Boys
- Peter Straughan — Conclave — WINNER
- Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts — Dune: Part Two
Best Cinematography:
- Jarin Blaschke — Nosferatu — WINNER
- Alice Brooks — Wicked
- Lol Crawley — The Brutalist
- Stéphane Fontaine — Conclave
- Greig Fraser — Dune: Part Two
- Jomo Fray — Nickel Boys
Best Production Design:
- Judy Becker, Patricia Cuccia — The Brutalist
- Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales — Wicked — WINNER
- Suzie Davies, Cynthia Sleiter — Conclave
- Craig Lathrop, Beatrice Brentnerova — Nosferatu
- Arthur Max, Jille Azis, Elli Griff — Gladiator II
- Patrice Vermette, Shane Vieau — Dune: Part Two
Best Editing:
- Sean Baker — Anora
- Marco Costa — Challengers — WINNER
- Nick Emerson — Conclave
- David Jancso — The Brutalist
- Joe Walker — Dune: Part Two
- Hansjörg Weißbrich — September 5
Best Costume Design:
- Lisy Christl — Conclave
- Linda Muir — Nosferatu
- Massimo Cantini Parrini — Maria
- Paul Tazewell — Wicked — WINNER
- Jacqueline West — Dune: Part Two
- Janty Yates, Dave Crossman — Gladiator II
Best Hair & Makeup:
- Stéphanie Guillon, Frédérique Arguello, Pierre-Olivier Persin — The Substance — WINNER
- Others: Beetlejuice, Dune: Part Two, Wicked, Nosferatu, A Different Man
Best Visual Effects:
- Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, Gerd Nefzer — Dune: Part Two — WINNER
- Others: Wicked, Better Man, The Substance, Kingdom…
Best Animated Feature:
- Flow
- Inside Out 2
- Memoir of a Snail
- Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
- The Wild Robot — WINNER
Best Comedy:
- A Real Pain — TIE WINNER
- Deadpool & Wolverine — TIE WINNER
- Hit Man
- My Old Ass
- Saturday Night
- Thelma
Best Foreign Language Film:
- All We Imagine as Light
- Emilia Pérez — WINNER
- Flow
- I’m Still Here
- Kneecap
- The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Best Song:
- “Beautiful That Way” — The Last Showgirl
- “Compress / Repress” — Challengers
- “El Mal” — Emilia Pérez — WINNER
- “Harper and Will Go West” — Will & Harper
- “Kiss the Sky” — The Wild Robot
- “Mi Camino” — Emilia Pérez
Best Score:
- Volker Bertelmann — Conclave
- Daniel Blumberg — The Brutalist
- Kris Bowers — The Wild Robot
- Clément Ducol & Camille — Emilia Pérez
- Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross — Challengers — WINNER
- Hans Zimmer — Dune: Part Two
Television Awards — Full Nominees & winners
Best Drama Series
Nominees:
- The Day of the Jackal (Peacock)
- The Diplomat (Netflix)
- Evil (Paramount+)
- Industry (HBO/Max)
- Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire (AMC)
- The Old Man (FX)
- Shōgun (FX/Hulu) — WINNER
- Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Shōgun’s historical sweep felt like critics embracing epic television as a true parallel to cinematic scale.
Drama Series Acting
Best Actor:
- Jeff Bridges — The Old Man
- Ncuti Gatwa — Doctor Who
- Eddie Redmayne — The Day of the Jackal
- Hiroyuki Sanada — Shōgun — WINNER
- Rufus Sewell — The Diplomat
- Antony Starr — The Boys
Best Actress:
- Caitriona Balfe — Outlander
- Kathy Bates — Matlock — WINNER
- Shanola Hampton — Found
- Keira Knightley — Black Doves
- Keri Russell — The Diplomat
- Anna Sawai — Shōgun
Best Supporting Actor:
- Tadanobu Asano — Shōgun — WINNER
- Michael Emerson — Evil
- Mark-Paul Gosselaar — Found
- Takehiro Hira — Shōgun
- John Lithgow — The Old Man
- Sam Reid — Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire
Best Supporting Actress:
- Moeka Hoshi — Shōgun — WINNER
- Allison Janney — The Diplomat
- Nicole Kidman — Lioness
- Skye P. Marshall — Matlock
- Anna Sawai — Pachinko
- Fiona Shaw — Bad Sisters
Best Comedy Series
Nominees:
- Abbott Elementary (ABC)
- English Teacher (FX)
- Hacks (HBO/Max) — WINNER
- Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
- Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
- Somebody Somewhere (HBO/Max)
- St. Denis Medical (NBC)
- What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Comedy Acting:
- Best Actor: Adam Brody — Nobody Wants This — WINNER
- Best Actress: Jean Smart — Hacks — WINNER
Limited Series & TV Movies
Best Limited Series:
- Baby Reindeer — WINNER
Best Movie Made for Television:
- Rebel Ridge — WINNER
Acting categories in this arena included standouts like Liev Schreiber (The Perfect Couple) and Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer).
Other TV Categories
Best Foreign Language Series:
- Squid Game — WINNER
Best Animated Series:
- X-Men ’97 — WINNER
Best Talk Show:
- John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A. — WINNER
Best Comedy Special:
- Ali Wong: Single Lady — WINNER
Final impressions on the 30th Critics’ Choice Awards
The 2025 Critics’ Choice Awards weren’t just a warm-up for later ceremonies — it was a statement. Critics rewarded nuance (in Anora and The Substance), scope (in Shōgun), and surprise casting triumphs, crafting a conversation that honors both craft and heart.
This was the kind of year where the critic’s voice felt not just loud, but necessary — reminding us that awards aren’t just about trophies, but about why we remember these stories at all.
To learn more about the 30th Critics’ Choice Awards, check out their site! Did your favorite series and films win? Let us know on social media!
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