2026 Critics Choice Predictions
Following the 2026 Critics Choice race with ranked predictions in every category.
31st Critics Choice Awards
Picture | Director | Lead Actor | Lead Actress | Supporting Actor | Supporting Actress | Casting | Stunt Design | Adapted Screenplay | Original Screenplay | Cinematography | Costume Design | Film Editing | Makeup & Hairstyling | Production Design | Sound | Visual Effects | Score | Song | Animated Feature | Foreign Language | Best Comedy | Young Actor Actress
* Updated on 01.02.2026
Best Picture
|
1 |
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) |
— |
|
2 |
Sinners (Warner Bros.) |
— |
|
3 |
Marty Supreme (A24) |
▲ 4 |
|
4 |
Frankenstein (Netflix) |
▼ 1 |
|
5 |
Sentimental Value (NEON) |
— |
|
6 |
Hamnet (Focus Features) |
— |
|
7 |
Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures) |
▼ 3 |
|
8 |
Train Dreams (Netflix) |
— |
|
9 |
Jay Kelly (Netflix) |
▼ 2 |
|
10 |
Bugonia (Focus Features) |
— |
Director
|
1 |
Paul Thomas Anderson |
— |
|
2 |
Ryan Coogle |
— |
|
3 |
Josh Safdie |
▲ 2 |
|
4 |
Joachim Trier |
▼ 1 |
|
5 |
Chloé Zhao |
▼ 1 |
|
6 |
Guillermo del Toro |
— |
Lead Actor
|
1 |
Michael B. Jordan |
🔒 |
|
2 |
Timothée Chalamet |
▲ 1 |
|
3 |
Ethan Hawke |
▲ 2 |
|
4 |
Leonardo DiCaprio |
▼ 2 |
|
5 |
Joel Edgerton |
▼ 2 |
|
6 |
Wagner Moura |
— |
Lead Actress
|
1 |
Jessie Buckley |
🔒 |
|
2 |
Rose Bryne |
▲ 1 |
|
3 |
Chase Infiniti |
▼ 1 |
|
4 |
Amanda Seyfried |
— |
|
5 |
Emma Stone |
— |
|
6 |
Renate Reinsve |
— |
Supporting Actor
|
1 |
Benicio del Toro |
▲ 2 |
|
2 |
Stellan Skarsgård |
— |
|
3 |
Sean Penn |
▼ 2 |
|
4 |
Adam Sandler |
▲ 1 |
|
5 |
Jacob Elordi |
▼ 1 |
|
6 |
Paul Mescal |
— |
Supporting Actress
|
1 |
Amy Madigan |
▲ 2 |
|
2 |
Ariana Grande |
▼ 1 |
|
3 |
Teyana Taylor |
▼ 1 |
|
4 |
Wunmi Mosaku |
▲ 1 |
|
5 |
Elle Fanning |
— |
|
6 |
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas |
— |
Casting and Ensemble
|
1 |
Cassandra Kulukundis |
▲ 2 |
|
2 |
Francine Maisler |
— |
|
3 |
Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey |
▼ 2 |
|
4 |
Jennifer Venditti |
▲ 1 |
|
5 |
Douglas Aibel, Nina Gold |
▼ 1 |
|
6 |
Nina Gold |
— |
Stunt Design
|
1 |
Wade Eastwood |
🔒 |
|
2 |
Gary Powell, Luciano Bacheta, Craig Dolby |
— |
|
3 |
Stephen Dunlevy, Kyle Gardiner, Jackson Spidell, Jeremy Marinas, Jan Petřina, Domonkos Párdányi, Kinga Kósa-Gavalda |
— |
|
4 |
Brian Machleit |
— |
|
5 |
Andy Gill |
— |
|
6 |
Giedrius Nagys |
— |
Adapted Screenplay
|
1 |
One Battle After Another |
🔒 |
|
2 |
No Other Choice |
▲ 2 |
|
3 |
Frankenstein |
▼ 1 |
|
4 |
Hamnet |
▼ 1 |
|
5 |
Train Dreams |
— |
|
6 |
Bugonia |
— |
Original Screenplay
|
1 |
Sinners |
🔒 |
|
2 |
Sorry, Baby |
▲ 1 |
|
3 |
Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie |
▼ 1 |
|
4 |
Weapons |
▲ 2 |
|
5 |
Sentimental Value |
▼ 1 |
|
6 |
Jay Kelly |
▼ 1 |
Cinematography
|
1 |
Autumn Durald Arkapaw |
🔒 |
|
2 |
Adolpho Veloso |
— |
|
3 |
Michael Baumann |
— |
|
4 |
Dan Lausten |
— |
|
5 |
Łukasz Żal |
— |
|
6 |
Claudio Miranda |
— |
Costume Design
|
1 |
Kate Hawley |
— |
|
2 |
Paul Tazwell |
— |
|
3 |
Ruth E. Carter |
— |
|
4 |
Malgosia Turzanska |
— |
|
5 |
Lindsay Pugh |
— |
|
6 |
Colleen Atwood, Christine Cantella |
— |
Film Editing
|
1 |
Andy Jurgensen |
— |
|
2 |
Michael P. Shawver |
— |
|
3 |
Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie |
— |
|
4 |
Stephen Mirrione |
— |
|
5 |
Viridiana Lieberman |
— |
|
6 |
Kirk Baxter |
— |
Makeup and Hairstyling
|
1 |
Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey |
🔒 |
|
2 |
Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, Laura Blount |
— |
|
3 |
Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox, Mia Neal |
— |
|
4 |
Flora Moody, John Nolan |
▲ 2 |
|
5 |
Leo Satkovich, Melizah Wheat, Jason Collins |
— |
|
6 |
Siân Richards, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, Shunika Terry |
▼ 2 |
Production Design
|
1 |
Shane Vieau, Tamara Deverell |
— |
|
2 |
Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales |
— |
|
3 |
Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne |
— |
|
4 |
Marty Supreme |
— |
|
5 |
Hamnet |
— |
|
6 |
Kasra Farahani, Jille Azis |
— |
Sound
|
1 |
Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta, Gareth John |
🔒 |
|
2 |
Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco, David V. Butler |
— |
|
3 |
Laia Casanovas |
— |
|
4 |
Jose Antonio Garcia, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflor |
— |
|
5 |
Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, Greg Chapman |
— |
|
6 |
Mitch Low, Glenn Freemantle, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, Richard Spooner |
— |
Visual Effects
|
1 |
Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett |
🔒 |
|
2 |
Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell |
— |
|
3 |
Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stéphane Nazé, Guy Williams |
— |
|
4 |
Alex Wuttke, Ian Lowe, Jeff Sutherland, Kirstin Hall |
— |
|
5 |
Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, Eric Leven, Edward Price, Keith Dawson |
— |
|
6 |
Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean |
— |
Original Score
|
1 |
Ludwig Göransson |
🔒 |
|
2 |
Jonny Greenwood |
— |
|
3 |
Alexandre Desplat |
— |
|
4 |
Max Richter |
— |
|
5 |
Hans Zimmer |
— |
|
6 |
Daniel Lopatin |
— |
Original Song
|
1 |
Last Time (I Seen the Sun) from Sinners |
— |
|
2 |
Golden from KPop Demon Hunters |
— |
|
3 |
The Girl in the Bubble from Wicked: For Good |
— |
|
4 |
Clothed by the Sun from The Testament of Ann Lee |
— |
|
5 |
Drive from 1: The Movie |
— |
|
6 |
Train Dreams from Train Dreams |
— |
Animated Feature
|
1 |
KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix) |
— |
|
2 |
Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Pictures) |
— |
|
3 |
Elio (Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar) |
— |
|
4 |
Arco (NEON) |
— |
|
5 |
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS) |
— |
|
6 |
In Your Dreams (Netflix) |
— |
Foreign Language Feature
|
1 |
No Other Choice – South Korea (NEON) |
— |
|
2 |
It Was Just an Accident – France (NEON) |
— |
|
3 |
The Secret Agent – Brazil (NEON) |
— |
|
4 |
Sirāt – Spain (NEON) |
— |
|
5 |
Left-Handed Girl – Taiwan (Netflix) |
— |
|
6 |
Belén – Argentina (Amazon MGM Studios) |
— |
Best Comedy
|
1 |
The Naked Gun (Paramount Home Media Distribution) |
🔒 |
|
2 |
The Phoenician Scheme (Focus Features) |
— |
|
3 |
Friendship (A24) |
— |
|
4 |
The Ballad of Wallis Island (Focus Features) |
— |
|
5 |
Splitsville (NEON) |
— |
|
6 |
Eternity (A24) |
— |
Young Actor / Actress
|
1 |
Miles Caton |
🔒 |
|
2 |
Jacobi Jupe |
— |
|
3 |
Cary Christopher |
— |
|
4 |
Nina Ye |
— |
|
5 |
Shannon Mahina Gorman |
— |
|
6 |
Everett Blunck |
— |
