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North Carolina Film Critics Association Announces Nominees for Best of 2023
2023 NCFCA Nominees

The North Carolina Film Critics Association is pleased to announce its nominations for the 12th annual awards for achievements in film. Oppenheimer and Barbie lead with 29 combined nominations. Killers of the Flower Moon and Poor Things garnered 11 nominations each while Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse recorded nine NCFCA nominations.

 The NCFCA consists of 72 film critics living and/or working in North Carolina. The range of nominations reflects the diversity of its membership, with multiple nominations going toward a range of movies, including the blockbuster comedy Barbie, indie drama Past Lives, and Japanese kaiju science fiction Godzilla Minus One.

Winners will be announced on January 3, 2024. Recognition is given to nominees in the following categories:

BEST NARRATIVE FILM

American Fiction

Barbie

Godzilla Minus One

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

Poor Things

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The Zone of Interest

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

American Symphony

May the Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story

The Mission

Silver Dollar Road

Still: A Michael J Fox Movie

BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Boy and the Heron

Elemental

Nimona

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

 

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Anatomy of a Fall

Godzilla Minus One

Past Lives

Perfect Days

The Zone of Interest

 

BEST DIRECTOR

Celine Song – Past Lives

Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer

Greta Gerwig – Barbie

Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon

Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Barbie

John Wick: Chapter 4

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

 

BEST ACTOR

Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers

Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer

Colman Domingo – Rustin

Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction

Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Charles Melton – May December

Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things

Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling – Barbie

BEST ACTRESS

Emma Stone – Poor Things

Greta Lee – Past Lives

Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon

Margot Robbie – Barbie

Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

America Ferrera – Barbie

Da'Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers

Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple

Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer

Julianne Moore – May December

 

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE IN ANIMATION OR MIXED MEDIA

Bradley Cooper – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Chloë Grace Moretz – Nimona

Daniel Kaluuya – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Hailee Steinfeld – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Shameik Moore – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

 

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Asteroid City

Barbie

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Anatomy of a Fall

Barbie

The Holdovers

May December

Past Lives

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

All of Us Strangers

American Fiction

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

 

BEST EDITING

Barbie

John Wick: Chapter 4

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

 

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

The Creator

Godzilla Minus One

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Oppenheimer

 

BEST STUNT COORDINATION

Extraction II

The Iron Claw

John Wick: Chapter 4

Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One

Sisu

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Barbie

The Color Purple

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

 

BEST HAIR & MAKE-UP

Barbie

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

Priscilla

 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Asteroid City

Barbie

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

 

BEST SCORE

The Killer

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

 

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Am I Dreaming – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Can't Catch Me Now – The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

I'm Just Ken – Barbie

Peaches – The Super Mario Brothers Movie

What Was I Made For – Barbie

 

BEST SOUND DESIGN

John Wick: Chapter 4

The Killer

Oppenheimer

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The Zone of Interest

 

BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT

Celine Song – Past Lives

Cord Jefferson – American Fiction

Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou – Talk to Me

Mel Eslyn – Biosphere

Michael B. Jordan – Creed III

 

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Abby Ryder Fortson – Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret

Charles Melton – May December

Dominic Sessa – The Holdovers

Greta Lee – Past Lives

Milo Machado Graner – Anatomy Of A Fall

 

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Make-Up Artist

Greg Cannom

Rick Baker

Stan Winston

Tom Savini

Ve Neill

 

KEN HANKE MEMORIAL TAR HEEL AWARD

Fantasia Barrino – The Color Purple

Hunter Schafer – The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

Julianne Moore – May December

May the Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story

Silver Dollar Road

 

Films with Multiple Nominations:

Oppenheimer - 15

Barbie -14

Killers of the Flower Moon - 11

Poor Things - 11

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse  - 9

Past Lives - 7

The Holdovers - 6

American Fiction - 4

Anatomy of a Fall - 4

John Wick: Chapter 4 - 4

May December - 4

Godzilla Minus One - 3

The Color Purple - 3

The Zone of Interest - 3

All of Us Strangers - 2

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - 2

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - 2

Asteroid City - 2

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - 2

The Killer - 2

May the Lord Watch:The Little Brother Story - 2

Nimona - 2

 

NCFCA Notes (by the numbers)

  •  Noah Baumbach was previously nominated for Marriage Story.

 

  • Greta Gerwig is a four-time NCFCA nominee. Her first win was for adapted screenplay for Little Woman. She was previously nominated for 20th Century Women and Lady Bird.

 

  • Ludwig Göransson is a three-time nominee for music (Black Panther, Tenet, Oppenheimer).

 

  • Ryan Gosling was previously nominated for La La Land.

 

  • Julianne Moore is a four-time NCFCA nominee.

 

  • Christopher Nolan was previously nominated for directing Dunkirk.

 

  • Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have earned three total NCFCA nominations for score (Mank, Soul, The Killer) and gained a win for Soul.

 

  • Margot Robbie is a previous NCFCA nominee for Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.

 

  • Mark Ruffalo has gained his third NCFCA nomination; he has one win for Best Supporting Actor for Spotlight.

 

  • This year marks Emma Stone’s fourth nomination. She was previously recognized for her performances in Birdman, La La Land, and The Favourite.

 

  • Hoyte Van Hoytema won the NCFCA for Best Cinematography for Nope and is a five-time nominee (Dunkirk, Ad Astra, Tenet, Nope, Oppenheimer).

 

  • Jeffrey Wright was previously nominated in 2021 for Best Supporting Actor (The French Dispatch).

 

For a full list of previous award winners, list of members, official links to social media accounts, or general information about the North Carolina Film Critics Association, check out ncfilmcritics.org.

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2023 NCFCA Nominees
Oppenheimer movie poster
Barbie movie poster
Poor Things movie poster

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