2026 Critics Choice Awards Nominations Predictions

For the first time in awards history, the first major televised group to announce nominations won’t be the Golden Globes but rather the Critics Choice Awards. They will be the first group to lay all its cards on the table, and even if they’re not always the most surprising voters, they are loud, and studios pay attention. On December 5th, we’ll get that all-important snapshot, and this year feels unusually volatile.

Part of that comes from the Critics Choice Association itself. For the first time, the group is introducing three new film categories: Best Stunt Design, Best Casting and Ensemble, and Best Sound. It’s a surprisingly modern move from an organization that doesn’t always reinvent itself, and the additions matter. Stunt teams finally get visibility. Casting, arguably the backbone of any film, gets overdue recognition. And Sound, often folded into larger craft chatter, now has its own lane.

But the other reason this year feels tense is the slate of films barreling toward nomination morning. A handful of titles (Sinners, One Battle After Another, Hamnet, and Frankenstein) have been hovering at the top of nearly every precursor conversation. They’re the expected heavy hitters, films with strong showings across the crafts and directors who are already part of awards-season vocabulary.

Then there are the films that are walking into this morning needing a bit of a miracle.

International contenders, in particular, are entering with history stacked against them. Critics voters love global cinema in theory, but in practice? They have a long, consistent pattern of confining international films to exactly one place: the Foreign Language category. Unless you’re a genuine big contender like Parasite or Emilia Pérez, you’re usually sealed off from the above-the-line races.

Look at recent years. Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, All Quiet on the Western Front, I’m Still Here. All major players everywhere else but barely a blip with CCA outside the international slot. It doesn’t mean they’re hostile to world cinema; it just means their voting body tends to follow certain grooves.

So when people assume No Other Choice or It Was Just an Accident will suddenly pop up in Picture, Director, or Screenplay, history says: probably not. That doesn’t make a breakout impossible but just unlikely enough that, if it happens, it will be one of the morning’s biggest stories. Sentimental Value is the one international title that actually has a path to crossing genre lines.

And while the shortlist made No Other Choice look like a powerhouse, it’s worth remembering that list was assembled by fewer than ten members and not exactly representative of the full voting body. It helps, sure, but it doesn’t guarantee the broader group will follow through. Meanwhile, The Testament of Ann Lee could really use an above-the-line moment to re-enter the conversation. Amanda Seyfried getting into Best Actress would be the kind of nomination that keeps the film from slipping out of the race entirely.

Another big question mark this year is Avatar: Fire and Ash. It blanked on the shortlist simply because no one had seen it yet, and now it’ll depend entirely on how strong that write-in option turns out to be. 

With all that in mind, here’s how the predictions shake out across all the categories:

(List is in alphabetical order)

Best Picture

1. Avatar: Fire and Ash

2. Bugonia

3. F1

4. Frankenstein

5. Hamnet

6. Marty Supreme

7. One Battle After Another

8. Sentimental Value 

9. Sinners

10. Wicked: For Good

Best Actor

1. Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme 

2. Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another 

3. Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

4. Dwayne Johnson – The Smashing Machine

5. Jesse Plemons – Bugonia 

6. Jeremy Allen White – Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere 

Best Actress

1. Jessie Buckley – Hamnet

2. Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

3. Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good

4. Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

5. Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee

6. Emma Stone – Bugonia 

Best Supporting Actor

1. Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein 

2. Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another 

3. Paul Mescal – Hamnet

4. Sean Penn – One Battle After Another 

5. Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly

6. Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Actress

1. Odessa A’zion – Marty Supreme 

2. Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value

3. Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good

4. Amy Madigan – Weapons

5. Gwyneth Paltrow – Marty Supreme 

6. Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another 

Best Young Actor/Actress

1. Miles Caton – Sinners

2. Cary Christopher – Weapons

3. Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another

4. Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet

5. Benjamin Pajak – The Life of Chuck

6. Alfie Williams – 28 Years Later

Best Casting and Ensemble

1. Hamnet

2. The Long Walk 

3. Marty Supreme 

4. One Battle After Another 

5. Sinners

6. Wicked: For Good

Best Director

1. Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein 

2. Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

3. Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme 

4. Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another

5. Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

6. Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Best Original Screenplay

1. Jay Kelly

2. Marty Supreme 

3. Sinners

4. Sentimental Value 

5. Sorry, Baby

6. Weapons 

Best Adapted Screenplay

1. Bugonia

2. Frankenstein

3. Hamnet

4. One Battle After Another 

5. Train Dreams

6. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery 

Best Cinematography

1. Frankenstein

2. Hamnet

3. Marty Supreme

4. One Battle After Another 

5. Sinners

6. Train Dreams

Best Production Design

1. Frankenstein

2. Hamnet

3. Hedda

4. Marty Supreme 

5. Sinners

6. Wicked: For Good

Best Editing

1. F1

2. Frankenstein

3. Hamnet

4. Marty Supreme

5. One Battle After Another 

6. Sinners

Best Sound

1. Avatar: Fire and Ash

2. F1 

3. Frankenstein 

4. One Battle After Another 

5. Sinners

6. Wicked: For Good

Best Costume Design

1. Frankenstein 

2. Hamnet

3. Marty Supreme

4. Sinners

5. The Testament of Ann Lee

6. Wicked: For Good

Best Hair And Makeup

1. 28 Years Later

2. Frankenstein

3. Sinners

4. The Smashing Machine 

5. Weapons

6. Wicked: For Good

Best Visual Effects

1. Avatar: Fire and Ash

2. The Fantastic Four: First Steps

3. F1 

4. Frankenstein

5. Superman

6. Wicked: For Good

Best Stunt Design

1. Ballerina

2. F1

3. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

4. Sinners

5. Superman

6. Wicked: For Good

Best Animated Feature

1. Arco

2. Elio

3. KPop Demon Hunters

4. A Magnificent Life 

5. Ne Zha 2

6. Zootopia 2

Best Foreign Language Film

1. It Was Just An Accident 

2. No Other Choice

3. The Secret Agent

4. Sentimental Value

5. Sirāt

6. Sound of Falling

Best Song

1. Drive – F1

2. Girl in the Bubble – Wicked: For Good

3. Golden – KPop Demon Hunters

4. I Lied To You – Sinners

5. Last Time (I Seen the Sun) – Sinners

6. No Place Like Home – Wicked: For Good

Best Score

1. Bugonia

2. F1

3. Hamnet 

4. Marty Supreme

5. One Battle After Another 

6. Sinners

The 31st annual Critics Choice Awards will be presented live on E! and USA on Sunday, January 4, 2026.