Initially delayed by the fires that swept Los Angeles last month, the Critics Choice Awards held its 2025 ceremony at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar on
Initially delayed by the fires that swept Los Angeles last month, the Critics Choice Awards held its 2025 ceremony at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar on Friday night. It was a postponement noted by host Chelsea Handler. “We’ve been through a lot lately, not just here in Los Angeles, but our entire country,” she said in the event’s opening monologue, “waking up every day not knowing what news we’re going to hear that will disappoint or horrify us. So it is important in times like these to have a distraction, and that’s why I want to personally extend my gratitude to Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively.”
That reference to the legal battle between the This Ends With Us stars set the tone for the 30th annual Critics Choice Awards, an evening marked by moments of irreverence and maybe even a bit of self-awareness. One example: When accepting the best actor award for his role in The Brutalist, Adrien Brody’s speech was interrupted by someone in the audience, who shouted, “Lately, you’ve been doing great!”
“Lately?” Brody responded from the stage with a grin. “I appreciate it.”
Winners included Anora, Sean Baker’s critical darling that had been shut out by the Golden Globes. While accepting the best picture award, Baker spoke at length about the importance of the theatrical experience. “We lost a thousand theaters during Covid, we lose them almost daily,” Baker said from the stage. “That’s where we love to see films. Let’s see films in our local theaters, OK?”
Read on for the full list of Critics Choice Awards 2025 winners below, and don’t miss Vanity Fair’s complete coverage of the 2025 awards season.
Film
Best Picture
WINNER: Anora
A Complete Unknown
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
The Substance
Wicked
Best Actor
WINNER: Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
Daniel Craig – Queer
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Hugh Grant – Heretic
Best Actress
WINNER: Demi Moore – The Substance
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
Angelina Jolie – Maria
Mikey Madison – Anora
Best Supporting Actor
WINNER: Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Yura Borisov – Anora
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
Denzel Washington – Gladiator II
Best Supporting Actress
WINNER: Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez
Danielle Deadwyler – The Piano Lesson
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor – Nickel Boys
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Margaret Qualley – The Substance
Isabella Rossellini – Conclave
Best Young Actor/Actress
WINNER: Maisy Stella – My Old Ass
Alyla Browne – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Elliott Heffernan – Blitz
Izaac Wang – Didi
Alisha Weir – Abigail
Zoe Ziegler – Janet Planet
Best Acting Ensemble
WINNER: Conclave
Anora
Emilia Pérez
Saturday Night
Sing Sing
Wicked
Best Director
WINNER: Jon M. Chu – Wicked
Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker – Anora
Edward Berger – Conclave
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys
Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two
Best Original Screenplay
WINNER: Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Sean Baker – Anora
Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David – September 5
Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold – The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain
Justin Kuritzkes – Challengers
Best Adapted Screenplay
WINNER: Peter Straughan – Conclave
Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox – Wicked
Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley – Sing Sing
RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes – Nickel Boys
Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts – Dune: Part Two
Best Cinematography
WINNER: Jarin Blaschke – Nosferatu
Alice Brooks – Wicked
Lol Crawley – The Brutalist
Stéphane Fontaine – Conclave
Greig Fraser – Dune: Part Two
Jomo Fray – Nickel Boys
Best Production Design
WINNER: Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales – Wicked
Judy Becker, Patricia Cuccia – The Brutalist
Suzie Davies – Conclave
Craig Lathrop – Nosferatu
Arthur Max, Jille Azis, Elli Griff – Gladiator II
Patrice Vermette, Shane Vieau – Dune: Part Two
Best Editing
WINNER: Marco Costa – Challengers
Sean Baker – Anora
Nick Emerson – Conclave
David Jancso – The Brutalist
Joe Walker – Dune: Part Two
Hansjörg Weißbrich – September 5
Best Costume Design
WINNER: Paul Tazewell – Wicked
Lisy Christl – Conclave
Linda Muir – Nosferatu
Massimo Cantini Parrini – Maria
Jacqueline West – Dune: Part Two
Janty Yates, Dave Crossman – Gladiator II
Best Hair and Makeup
WINNER: Hair and Makeup Team – The Substance
Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener, Neal Scanlan – Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Hair and Makeup Team – Dune: Part Two
Frances Hannon, Sarah Nuth, Laura Blount – Wicked
Traci Loader, Suzanne Stokes-Munton, David White – Nosferatu
Mike Marino, Sarah Graalman, Aaron Saucier – A Different Man
Best Visual Effects
WINNER: Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, Gerd Nefzer – Dune: Part Two
Mark Bakowski, Pietro Ponti, Nikki Penny, Neil Corbould – Gladiator II
Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, Paul Corbould, David Shirk – Wicked
Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft, Peter Stubbs – Better Man
Visual Effects Team – The Substance
Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story, Rodney Burke – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Best Animated Feature
WINNER: The Wild Robot
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Best Comedy
WINNER: A Real Pain and Deadpool & Wolverine
Hit Man
My Old Ass
Saturday Night
Thelma
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