The Brutalist, Brady Corbet’s immigrant saga, won the Film of the Year prize at the 45th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards.
While The Brutalist garnered just one award, it was the marquee honor. Meanwhile Nickel Boys, Conclave and A Real Pain all receivd multiple awards, and Zoe Saldaña was honored twice.
Edward Berger’s Vatican thriller Conclave took two awards for British/Irish Film of the Year and Actor of the Year for Ralph Fiennes, while RaMell Ross’s radical Colson Whitehead adaptation Nickel Boys was recognized with Director of the Year and the Technical Achievement Award for Jomo Fray’s first-person cinematography. Jesse Eisenberg’s dark comedy A Real Pain was the night’s other multiple prizewinner, landing Screenwriter of the Year for the actor-filmmaker, and Supporting Actor of the Year for co-star Kieran Culkin.
Payal Kapadia’s Mumbai-set drama All We Imagine as Light was named Foreign Language Film of the Year, while the Palestinian-Israeli collective behind No Other Land took Documentary of the Year.
Alongside Conclave, British productions awarded by the Circle in the top categories included Mike Leigh’s intimate character study Hard Truths, which took Actress of the Year for Marianne Jean-Baptiste, while Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl was named Animated Feature of the Year. In the British/Irish-specific categories, Saoirse Ronan won British/Irish Performer of the Year for her performances in The Outrun and Blitz, 14-year-old Nykiya Adams won Young British/Irish Performer of the Year for her screen debut in Andrea Arnold’s Bird, and Rich Peppiatt won the Breakthrough British/Irish Filmmaker award for writing and directing the hip-hop biopic Kneecap. Nina Gantz took British/Irish Short Film of the Year for her Oscar- and Bafta-nominated animation Wander to Wonder.
American actor Zoe Saldaña was honored twice by the Circle. The star of such hits as Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy had already been announced as the winner of the Derek Malcolm Award for Innovation — presented at the ceremony by America Ferrera and last year’s winner Colman Domingo — while she further took Supporting Actress of the Year for her Spanish-language turn in Jacques Audiard’s cartel musical Emilia Pérez.
The night’s second honorary award, the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film, went to Daniel Craig, 20 years after he earned the Circle’s British Actor of the Year award for Enduring Love. After a reunion with his Bond co-star Fiennes, Craig was presented with the award by Lesley Manville, his co-star in Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, for which he was also an Actor of the Year nominee this year.
Finally, the Breakthrough Performer award, initiated last year, went to Anora star and Actress of the Year nominee Mikey Madison.
The 45th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards were voted by the 210 members of Film Section of the Critics’ Circle, the U.K.’s longest-standing and most prestigious critics’ organisation. Films are automatically eligible if they are released in UK cinemas or on premiere streaming services between mid-February 2024 and mid-February 2025.
Here’s a full rundown of winners:
FILM OF THE YEAR – sponsored by Seesaw Media
The Brutalist – directed by Brady Corbet
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
All We Imagine as Light – directed by Payal Kapadia
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
No Other Land – directed by Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor
ANIMATED FEATURE OF THE YEAR
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – directed by Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR
Conclave – directed by Edward Berger
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR – sponsored by WS Hair Pro
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
ACTOR OF THE YEAR – sponsored by Reddit
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez
SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER
Mikey Madison – Anora
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER – sponsored by MetFilm
Rich Peppiatt – Kneecap
BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR (for body of work)
Saoirse Ronan – Blitz and The Outrun
YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
Nykiya Adams – Bird
BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR
Wander to Wonder – directed by Nina Gantz
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Nickel Boys – cinematography by Jomo Fray
DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM
Daniel Craig
DEREK MALCOLM AWARD FOR INNOVATION
Zoe Saldaña
