Awards season 2024 is in full swing with the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards already having been given out. There were many overlapping winners, which comes as no surprise to most. Barbenheimer hype had many guessing that both Barbie and Oppenheimer were likely going to take home most of the trophies, and that has proven to be true.
Oppenheimer took home the most wins at the Critics Choice Awards, coming out on top of eight categories: Best Picture, Best Ensemble, Best Director for Christopher Nolan, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr., Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Editing, and Best Visual Effects. Cillian Murphy did not win in the Best Actor category, losing to Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers. The Holdovers also took home Best Supporting Actress for Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Best Young Actor/Actress for Dominic Sessa.
Barbie took home the second highest amount of trophies, winning Best Comedy, Best Original Screenplay, Best Song for “I’m Just Ken,” Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Hair and Makeup. The film had three songs in the Best Song category, and many were shocked to see that “I’m Just Ken” won – including Ken himself, Ryan Gosling.
Best Actress went to Emma Stone for her performance in Poor Things. Best Animated Film went to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Anatomy of a Fall took home Best Foreign Language Film. Cord Jefferson for American Fiction won the Best Adapted Screenplay category.
So what does this mean for the Oscars?
While the winners do not usually line up exactly, there is often a lot of overlap.
Oppenheimer is the favorite to take home Best Picture, and likely will do so. However, The Holdovers and Barbie are both in the conversation as well. Greta Gerwig came up short against Nolan at the Critics Choice Awards and it would be no surprise if this happens again during the 2024 Oscars.
Even though Cillian Murphy did a wonderful job in Oppenheimer, Paul Giamatti taking home the gold at the Critics Choice Awards is a good sign that he will do so at the Oscars as well, giving The Holdovers some of the love that it deserves. Even with Emma Stone winning the Best Actress award, it is expected that Lily Gladstone will take home the Oscar in March for Killers of the Flower Moon. For supporting, it is highly likely that Robert Downey Jr. and Da’Vine Joy Randolph will continue their winning streaks.
Because Barbie is in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for the Oscars, rather than the Best Original Screenplay one (rightfully so), it is all but guaranteed to push American Fiction out of the top spot and take home the gold, leaving The Holdovers available to pick up Best Original Screenplay.
It would be a complete shock if Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse doesn’t win the Oscar for Animated Feature, although The Boy and the Heron could sneak in and snag it. “I’m Just Ken” is not nominated for an Oscar, leaving the door wide open for “What Was I Made For” to take its rightful place at the top of the Best Song category.
Even with the Critics Choice Association only awarding Poor Things one award, the film has a good chance of grabbing a few more trophies at the Oscars; likely not for any acting performances, but rather Costume Design and Production Design.
While all we can do is predict the winners at this point, all will be revealed when the Oscars will air on March 10, 2024, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
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Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She owns Mama’s Geeky, but also is a freelance writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for more than ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association. Her passion for film, television, video games, and comic books started when she was a little girl and has only continued to grow.