2026 Critics Choice Awards opens Hollywood Awards season

Awards season has officially begun! The 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards was held recently at the Barker Hangar in Los Angeles, which had A-listers stepping out in full glam to kick off Hollywood’s most star-studded season.

Playing master of ceremonies for the fourth year in a row was comedian Chelsea Handler. In her opening monologue, she gave a social commentary on the hit film Sinners, and the pending sale of Warner Bros./Discovery. She also proffered a rave review of Heated Rivalry, the hottest series, pun intended, on TV, saying: “Gay men love it, women love it, straight men who say they aren’t gay but work out at Equinox love it!” 

She closed out her speech with a heartfelt tribute to the late director Rob Reiner (and his wife Michelle Singer-Reiner), calling him the “nicest guy in Hollywood,” saying: “Anyone who ever spent time with Rob Reiner knows that the minute you met him, he felt like an old friend.”

Taking home the evening’s top nods was the Leonardo Di Caprio-led drama One Battle After Another, which centers around a burned-out revolutionary in search of his daughter. The film won Best Picture, while writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson picked up trophies for both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. “This is the best time I ever had making a movie, and I feel like it shows,” said the director in his acceptance speech. 

Going into awards night with 17 nominations was Ryan Coogler’s vampire-Western Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan playing twins. They called victory in four categories — Best Original Screenplay for Coogler, Best Young Actor/Actress for Miles Caton, Best Musical Score and the inaugural Best Casting and Ensemble award. Matching them for trophy count was Netflix’s Frankenstein, winning for Best Costume Design, Best Hair & Makeup and Best Production Design, as well as Jacob Elordi’s first acting nod as Best Supporting Actor playing the film’s titular role.

Joining Elordi in the winners’ circle was Irish actress Jessie Buckley, who won Best Actress for Hamnet, and veteran actress Amy Madigan, winning Best Supporting Actress for Weapons. One of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors, Marty Supreme’s Timothée Chalamet took to the podium to receive his Best Actor award, dedicating it to girlfriend Kylie Kardashian by saying: “I love you. I couldn’t do this without you.”

Best Animated Feature went to Netflix’s runaway hit of 2025, K-Pop Demon Hunters, which also won Best Song for Golden. 

The latest installment in the iconic comedy franchise The Naked Gun was selected for Best Comedy, while Best Foreign Language Film went to Brazil’s The Secret Agent. 

On the small screen

Not surprisingly, it was a big night for streaming services, as their original shows picked up a chunk of the trophies during the Critics’ Choice Awards. 

HBO’s critically-acclaimed original series The Pitt, and Hacks picked up a total of four well-deserved awards. Noah Wyle’s winning streak continues, winning Best Actor in a Drama Series for playing Doc Robby Rabinovitch in the critically-acclaimed medical drama, besting the likes of Sterling K. Brown, Mark Ruffalo and Billy Bob Thornton. The Pitt also won Best Drama Series and Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Katherine LaNasa. 

On the other hand, Jane Smart picked up another trophy for her mantel for playing aging comedian Deborah Vance in Hacks — a role she has won four Emmys for previously. Sarah Snook, last seen in Succession, won Best Actress in a Limited Series for Peacock’s All Her Fault, which streams locally on HBO.

Netflix continued its ride on the awards train, picking up four nods out of six nominations, for its groundbreaking series Adolescence, including Best Limited Series. On the acting front, Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper won for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, in the Limited Series category, along with Best Supporting Actress for Erin Doherty. 

“Surreal” seems to be the word of the year for AppleTV, as dystopian series Pluribus and Severance also picked up several trophies, including Best Actress in a Drama Series for Rhea Seehorn for the former; and Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Tramell Tillman for the latter. The streamer’s comedy series, The Studio, also won for Best Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Seth Rogen; and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Ike Barinholtz.

The winners of the 31st Annual Critics’ Choice Awards are selected by the Critics’ Choice Association, the membership of which is composed of Hollywood film and TV critics. This year’s presentation also included four new awards categories — Best Variety Series, Best Stunt Design, Best Casting and Ensemble and Best Sound. Being the first awards ceremony of the year, it could set the trend for who will be picking up the most trophies onward to the Oscars in March.