Sarah Snook and Jacob Elordi win Critics Choice Awards, One Battle After Another takes biggest prize

In a night of few major upsets, Hollywood’s awards season officially kicked off with the 31st Critics Choice Awards on Monday, and it has proven a boon for Australia’s homegrown talent.

Sarah Snook continued her Succession winning streak by snapping up the trophy for best actress in a limited series for her searing role in mystery thriller All Her Fault. During a somewhat flustered acceptance speech, the Adelaide-born star admitted she hadn’t prepared for the win, but said she was grateful to everyone who helped her get there.

“Thank you to everyone who looked after us. We had an awesome time with the crew while shooting really difficult stuff. I think that’s the main thing – it’s just having a great time while we’re shooting because we’re just playing pretend,” she said.

Jacob Elordi, Hollywood’s new “it boy”, also made his homeland proud by beating heavy-hitters such as Benicio del Toro for best supporting actor thanks to his haunting role in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. The gothic remake did wonders in the creative categories overall, beating Wicked: For Good in production design, costume design and hair and makeup.

Meanwhile, Paul Thomas Anderson’s dark political comedy One Battle After Another pipped the biggest prize, best picture, from Ryan Coogler’s sleeper hit Sinners. The surreal film also won best director and best adapted screenplay, thereby presumably securing itself on every Academy Award voter’s radar.

Arguably the most dramatic moment came when comedian Jimmy Kimmel accepted the award for best talk show, a significant moment given his show’s temporary suspension by the ABC in September. Kimmel took a jab at US President Donald Trump (or as he referred to him, “Donald Jennifer Trump”), who has previously tried to get Kimmel off the air.

“FIFA Peace Prize would have been better, but this is nice too,” he joked, referencing the award created for Trump by the football organisation in December. “Thank you, Mr President, for all the many ridiculous things you do each and every day. It’s been a banner couple of weeks, and we can’t wait to get back on the air tomorrow night to talk about them.”

South Park, another show known for poking fun at Trump and the MAGA movement, won best animated series. Now in its 28th year, the satirical comedy has shown Trump in bed with Satan, among many other risqué fictional scenarios, which ultimately caused POTUS himself to push back at its creators.

Australian hopefuls Rose Byrne and Joel Edgerton both missed out on their respective categories, the former losing best actress to Hamnet‘s Jessie Buckley and the latter losing best actor to Marty Supreme‘s Timothée Chalamet. Neither of these victories were that surprising, however, given the critical applause Buckley received for her performance and the all-encompassing, mind-boggling promotional campaign Chalamet launched ahead of Marty Supreme’s release.

Back over in television, the Netflix smash hit Adolescence won every category it was nominated in, including best limited series. Of its six nods, it won four, though the only reason it wasn’t a clean sweep was because the show was nominated several times in certain categories.

Just months after becoming the youngest actor to win an Emmy, 16-year-old Owen Cooper broke the same record at the CCAs, claiming the trophy for best supporting actor in a limited series.

“This past year has been a complete whirlwind for me and my family,” he said. “Honestly, it’s changed our lives forever, and we’re forever grateful, and we’ve cherished every single moment of it. To the directors, to the producers, to the cast, the crew – you took me on an emotional journey I never imagined I could go on. You believed in me. You pushed me when things were hard and showed incredible patience … I couldn’t have done it without you. Receiving this award means more to me than I can put into words.”

Elsewhere, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Hollywood satire The Studio clearly struck the right note with the very people it pokes fun at since it won all three of the categories it was nominated in. Medical drama The Pitt similarly dominated in the television drama categories, winning three of its four nominated awards.

Though the vampire musical Sinners didn’t perform as well as originally expected (it earned the most nominations of any film this year), it still scooped four categories, including best original screenplay and best score. Its 20-year-old breakout star Miles Caton was also honoured with the award for best young performer.

Instead of kicking off as usual with the Golden Globes, this year’s awards season was ushered in by the CCAs. Now in their 31st year, they took place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and were hosted by four-time emcee Chelsea Handler.

Celebrating the finest in film and television throughout 2025, the CCAs are widely considered one of the most accurate predictors of the coming Academy Award nominations. They’re selected by about 570 critics and entertainment reporters, meaning they usually reflect broader industry opinion and could therefore signal what Oscars voters (exclusively film professionals) will favour.

Following this logic, all eyes will be on tonight’s biggest winners in film – One Battle After Another, Sinners and Frankenstein – as we trudge towards the big kahuna in March.

Full list of winners

Film

Best Picture
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Jay Kelly
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams
Wicked: For Good

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

Best Actress
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee
Emma Stone – Bugonia

Best Original Screenplay
Noah Baumbach, Emily Mortimer – Jay Kelly
Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Zach Cregger – Weapons
Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby
Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Best Adapted Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar – Train Dreams
Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don Mckellar, Jahye Lee – No Other Choice
Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
Will Tracy – Bugonia
Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet

Best Foreign Language Film
It Was Just an Accident
Left-Handed Girl
No Other Choice
The Secret Agent
Sirāt
Belén

Best Animated Feature
Arco
Elio
In Your Dreams
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

Best Supporting Actress
Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan – Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

Best Supporting Actor
Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Paul Mescal – Hamnet
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Best Comedy
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Eternity
Friendship
The Naked Gun
The Phoenician Scheme
Splitsville

Best Young Actor/Actress
Everett Blunck – The Plague
Miles Caton – Sinners
Cary Christopher – Weapons
Shannon Mahina Gorman – Rental Family
Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet
Nina Ye – Left-Handed Girl

Best Score
Hans Zimmer – F1
Alexandre Desplat – Frankenstein
Max Richter – Hamnet
Daniel Lopatin – Marty Supreme
Jonny Greenwood – One Battle After Another
Ludwig Göransson – Sinners

Best Sound
Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta, Gareth John – F1
Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, Greg Chapman – Frankenstein
Jose Antonio Garcia, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflor – One Battle After Another
Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco, David V. Butler – Sinners
Laia Casanovas, Amanda Villavieja, Yasmina Praderas – Sirāt
Mitch Low, Glenn Freemantle, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, Richard Spooner – Warfare

Best Song
Drive – Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Blake Slatkin – F1
Golden – Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, Teddy – KPop Demon Hunters
I Lied to You – Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson – Sinners
Clothed by the Sun – Daniel Blumberg – The Testament of Ann Lee
Train Dreams – Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner – Train Dreams
The Girl in the Bubble – Stephen Schwartz – Wicked: For Good

Best Visual Effects
Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett – Avatar: Fire and Ash
Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, Eric Leven, Edward Price, Keith Dawson – F1
Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell – Frankenstein
Alex Wuttke, Ian Lowe, Jeff Sutherland, Kirstin Hall – Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean – Sinners
Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stéphane Nazé, Guy Williams – Superman

Best Cinematography
Claudio Miranda – F1
Dan Laustsen – Frankenstein
Łukasz Żal – Hamnet
Michael Bauman – One Battle After Another
Autumn Durald Arkapaw – Sinners
Adolpho Veloso – Train Dreams

Best Editing
Kirk Baxter – A House of Dynamite
Stephen Mirrione – F1
Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
Andy Jurgensen – One Battle After Another
Viridiana Lieberman – The Perfect Neighbor
Michael P. Shawver – Sinners

Best Casing and Ensemble
Nina Gold – Hamnet
Douglas Aibel, Nina Gold – Jay Kelly
Jennifer Venditti – Marty Supreme
Cassandra Kulukundis – One Battle After Another
Francine Maisler – Sinners
Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey – Wicked: For Good

Best Stunt Design
Stephen Dunlevy, Kyle Gardiner, Jackson Spidell, Jeremy Marinas, Jan Petřina, Domonkos Párdányi, Kinga Kósa-Gavalda – Ballerina
Gary Powell, Luciano Bacheta, Craig Dolby – F1
Wade Eastwood – Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Brian Machleit – One Battle After Another
Andy Gill – Sinners
Giedrius Nagys – Warfare

Best Production Design
Kasra Farahani, Jille Azis – The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau – Frankenstein
Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton – Hamnet
Jack Fisk, Adam Willis – Marty Supreme
Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne – Sinners
Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales – Wicked: For Good

Best Costume Design
Kate Hawley – Frankenstein
Malgosia Turzanska – Hamnet
Lindsay Pugh – Hedda
Colleen Atwood, Christine Cantella – Kiss of the Spider Woman
Ruth E. Carter – Sinners
Paul Tazewell – Wicked: For Good

Best Hair and Makeup
Flora Moody, John Nolan – 28 Years Later
Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey – Frankenstein
Siân Richards, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, Shunika Terry – Sinners
Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox, Mia Neal – The Smashing Machine
Leo Satkovich, Melizah Wheat, Jason Collins – Weapons
Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, Laura Blount – Wicked: For Good

Television

Best Drama Series
Alien: Earth
Andor
The Diplomat
Paradise
The Pitt
Pluribus
Severance
Task

Best Actress in a Drama Series
Kathy Bates – Matlock
Carrie Coon – The Gilded Age
Britt Lower – Severance
Bella Ramsey – The Last of Us
Keri Russell – The Diplomat
Rhea Seehorn – Pluribus

Best Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown – Paradise
Diego Luna – Andor
Mark Ruffalo – Task
Adam Scott – Severance
Billy Bob Thornton – Landman
Noah Wyle – The Pitt

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Patrick Ball – The Pitt
Billy Crudup – The Morning Show
Ato Essandoh – The Diplomat
Wood Harris – Forever
Tom Pelphrey – Task
Tramell Tillman – Severance

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Nicole Beharie – The Morning Show
Denée Benton – The Gilded Age
Allison Janney – The Diplomat
Katherine LaNasa – The Pitt
Greta Lee – The Morning Show
Skye P. Marshall – Matlock

Best Limited Series
Adolescence
All Her Fault
Chief of War
Death by Lightning
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy
Dope Thief
Dying for Sex
The Girlfriend

Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie made for Television
Erin Doherty – Adolescence
Betty Gilpin – Death by Lightning
Marin Ireland – Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy
Sophia Lillis – All Her Fault
Julianne Moore – Sirens
Christine Tremarco – Adolescence

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Owen Cooper – Adolescence
Wagner Moura – Dope Thief
Nick Offerman – Death by Lightning
Michael Peña – All Her Fault
Ashley Walters – Adolescence
Ramy Youssef – Mountainhead

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Michael Chernus – Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy
Stephen Graham – Adolescence
Brian Tyree Henry – Dope Thief
Charlie Hunnam – Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Matthew Rhys – The Beast in Me
Michael Shannon – Death by Lightning

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie made for Television
Jessica Biel – The Better Sister
Meghann Fahy – Sirens
Sarah Snook – All Her Fault
Michelle Williams – Dying for Sex
Robin Wright – The Girlfriend
Renée Zellweger – Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Best Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary
Elsbeth
Ghosts
Hacks
Nobody Wants This
Only Murders in the Building
The Righteous Gemstones
The Studio

Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Adam Brody – Nobody Wants This
Ted Danson – A Man on the Inside
David Alan Grier – St. Denis Medical
Danny McBride – The Righteous Gemstones
Seth Rogen – The Studio
Alexander Skarsgård – Murderbot

Best Actress in a Comedy Series
Kristen Bell – Nobody Wants This
Natasha Lyonne – Poker Face
Rose McIver – Ghosts
Edi Patterson – The Righteous Gemstones
Carrie Preston – Elsbeth
Jean Smart – Hacks

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Danielle Brooks – Peacemaker
Hannah Einbinder – Hacks
Janelle James – Abbott Elementary
Justine Lupe – Nobody Wants This
Ego Nwodim – Saturday Night Live
Rebecca Wisocky – Ghosts

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Ike Barinholtz – The Studio
Paul W. Downs – Hacks
Asher Grodman – Ghosts
Oscar Nuñez – The Paper
Chris Perfetti – Abbott Elementary
Timothy Simons – Nobody Wants This

Best Foreign Language Series
Acapulco
Last Samurai Standing
Mussolini: Son of the Century
Red Alert
Squid Game
When No One Sees Us

Best Animated Series
Bob’s Burgers
Harley Quinn
Long Story Short
Marvel Zombies
South Park
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Best Comedy Special
Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life
Caleb Hearon: Model Comedian
Leanne Morgan: Unspeakable Things
Marc Maron: Panicked
Sarah Silverman: PostMortem
SNL50: The Anniversary Special

Best Movie Made for Television
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Deep Cover
The Gorge
Mountainhead
Nonnas
Summer of ’69

Best Talk Show
The Daily Show
Hot Ones
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

Best Variety Series
Conan O’Brien Must Go
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Saturday Night Live

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