Critics Choice Awards 2026 Winners List Led by One Battle After Another

Hollywood’s awards season gathered pace with the 31st Critics Choice Awards, held on Sunday night, delivering early momentum for major film and television contenders. The ceremony spread its top honours across prestige cinema, studio tentpoles, animation, and television, while also debuting new categories that signalled evolving industry priorities around ensemble work, technical craft, and stunts.

One Battle After Another Dominates Film’s Top Prizes

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” emerged as the night’s biggest headline, winning “Best Picture” and “Best Director” for Anderson. The film’s tally positioned it as a clear critical frontrunner early in the season. In acting, “Timothée Chalamet” won “Best Actor” for “Marty Supreme”, while “Jessie Buckley” took “Best Actress” for “Hamnet”. Supporting awards went to “Jacob Elordi” for “Frankenstein” and “Amy Madigan” for “Weapons”, highlighting a competitive field that rewarded both high-profile releases and performance-driven titles.

Sinners Sweeps Key Creative and Music Categories

“Sinners” delivered one of the strongest overall hauls, winning four awards, including the newly introduced “Best Casting and Ensemble” honour for “Francine Maisler”. “Ryan Coogler” won “Best Original Screenplay”, while “Ludwig Göransson” received “Best Score”, underscoring the film’s broad creative strength. “Miles Caton” won “Best Young Actor or Actress”, adding a breakout-performance moment to the film’s night. In other technical wins, “F1” claimed “Best Editing” and “Best Sound”, while “Avatar: Fire and Ash” won “Best Visual Effects”.

Television Winners: Adolescence Leads Limited Series

In television, “Adolescence” won “Best Limited Series”, with acting prizes for “Stephen Graham”, “Erin Doherty”, and “Owen Cooper”. “The Pitt” secured “Best Drama Series”, while “Rhea Seehorn” won “Best Actress in a Drama Series” for “Pluribus” and “Tramell Tillman” won “Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series” for “Severance”. “The Studio” won “Best Comedy Series”, with “Seth Rogen” and “Ike Barinholtz” taking comedy acting honours. “Jean Smart” won “Best Actress in a Comedy Series” for “Hacks”, and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” won “Best Talk Show”.

Imporatnt Facts for Exams

• The Critics Choice Awards are voted by the Critics Choice Association and cover both film and television.
• 2026 introduced new categories including Casting/Ensemble, Variety Series, Stunt Design, and Sound.
• Best Picture went to “One Battle After Another”; Best Drama Series went to “The Pitt”.
• “KPop Demon Hunters” won Best Animated Feature and Best Song for “Golden”.

KPop Demon Hunters, Global Titles and Comedy Take Spotlight

Animation and music saw “KPop Demon Hunters” continue its awards run, winning “Best Animated Feature” and “Best Song” for “Golden”. International recognition also featured prominently, with “The Secret Agent” winning “Best Foreign Language Film” and “Squid Game” winning “Best Foreign Language Series”. In comedy film, “The Naked Gun” took “Best Comedy”, rounding out a winners’ slate that mixed prestige recognition with mainstream crowd-pleasers across formats.