Critics Choice Awards Nominations 2025: Danielle Deadwyler, Clarence Maclin, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Get Acting Nods

Critics Choice Awards Film Nominations 2025 include Danielle Deadwyler, Clarence Maclin, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Credit: Netflix, A24 and Orion Pictures).

Danielle Deadwyler, Clarence Maclin, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor all made the list Thursday when the nominations were announced for the 30th Critics Choice Awards.

Critics Choice voters recognized Deadwyler in the best supporting actress category for her performance as Berniece in The Piano Lesson, about a family’s fight over an heirloom piano.

Ellis-Taylor is nominated in the same category for her role as concerned grandmother Hattie in the historical drama, Nickel Boys.

Formerly incarcerated performer Maclin is nominated in the best supporting actor category for portraying a character based on himself in the prison drama, Sing Sing.

Related: Tyler Perry Reflects on ‘Tremendous Loss’ at the Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Black Cinema

The nominations for the three actors were notable after they were overlooked days earlier by Golden Globes voters, when those nominations were announced earlier this week.

Overall, Conclave and Wicked led this year’s Critics Choice film contenders, with 11 nominations each.

“This year brought us an incredible wealth of storytelling and performances, leading to indescribably close races for nominations,” said Joey Berlin, CEO of the Critics Choice Association. “We are honored to be able to celebrate our landmark 30th year of the Critics Choice Awards with this talented group of nominees and are thrilled to bring viewers our best show yet.”

The group is the largest critics organization in the U.S. and Canada, representing almost 600 media critics and entertainment journalists.

The Critics Choice Awards winners will be announced at a gala hosted by Chelsea Handler on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. The awards will air live on E! from 7:00 – 10:00pm ET/PT from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica and will be available to stream the next day on Peacock.

Below is the full list of nominations for the 30th Annual Critics Choice Awards:

BEST PICTURE
A Complete Unknown
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
The Substance
Wicked

BEST ACTOR
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
Daniel Craig – Queer
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Hugh Grant – Heretic

BEST ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
Angelina Jolie – Maria
Mikey Madison – Anora
Demi Moore – The Substance

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Yura Borisov – Anora
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
Denzel Washington – Gladiator II

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Danielle Deadwyler – The Piano Lesson
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor – Nickel Boys
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Margaret Qualley – The Substance
Isabella Rossellini – Conclave
Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez

BEST YOUNG ACTOR / ACTRESS
Alyla Browne – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Elliott Heffernan – Blitz
Maisy Stella – My Old Ass
Izaac Wang – Didi
Alisha Weir – Abigail
Zoe Ziegler – Janet Planet

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Anora
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Saturday Night
Sing Sing
Wicked

BEST DIRECTOR
Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker – Anora
Edward Berger – Conclave
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
Jon M. Chu – Wicked
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys
Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Sean Baker – Anora
Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David – September 5
Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold – The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Justin Kuritzkes – Challengers

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox – Wicked
Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley – Sing Sing
RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes – Nickel Boys
Peter Straughan – Conclave
Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts – Dune: Part Two

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jarin Blaschke – Nosferatu
Alice Brooks – Wicked
Lol Crawley – The Brutalist
Stéphane Fontaine – Conclave
Greig Fraser – Dune: Part Two
Jomo Fray – Nickel Boys

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Judy Becker, Patricia Cuccia – The Brutalist
Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales – Wicked
Suzie Davies – Conclave
Craig Lathrop – Nosferatu
Arthur Max, Jille Azis, Elli Griff – Gladiator II
Patrice Vermette, Shane Vieau – Dune: Part Two

BEST EDITING
Sean Baker – Anora
Marco Costa – Challengers
Nick Emerson – Conclave
David Jancso – The Brutalist
Joe Walker – Dune: Part Two
Hansjörg Weißbrich – September 5

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Lisy Christl – Conclave
Linda Muir – Nosferatu
Massimo Cantini Parrini – Maria
Paul Tazewell – Wicked
Jacqueline West – Dune: Part Two
Janty Yates, Dave Crossman – Gladiator II

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener, Neal Scanlan – Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Hair and Makeup Team – Dune: Part Two
Hair and Makeup Team – The Substance
Frances Hannon, Sarah Nuth, Laura Blount – Wicked
Traci Loader, Suzanne Stokes-Munton, David White – Nosferatu
Mike Marino, Sarah Graalman, Aaron Saucier – A Different Man

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Mark Bakowski, Pietro Ponti, Nikki Penny, Neil Corbould – Gladiator II
Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, Paul Corbould, David Shirk – Wicked
Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, Gerd Nefzer – Dune: Part Two
Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft, Peter Stubbs – Better Man
Visual Effects Team – The Substance
Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story, Rodney Burke – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot

BEST COMEDY
A Real Pain
Deadpool & Wolverine
Hit Man
My Old Ass
Saturday Night
Thelma

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
All We Imagine as Light
Emilia Pérez
Flow
I’m Still Here
Kneecap
The Seed of the Sacred Fig

BEST SONG
“Beautiful That Way” – The Last Showgirl – Miley Cyrus
“Compress / Repress” – Challengers – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
“El Mal” – Emilia Pérez – Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Camille
“Harper and Will Go West” – Will & Harper – Kristen Wiig
“Kiss the Sky” – The Wild Robot – Maren Morris
“Mi Camino” – Emilia Pérez – Selena Gomez

BEST SCORE
Volker Bertelmann – Conclave
Daniel Blumberg – The Brutalist
Kris Bowers – The Wild Robot
Clément Ducol & Camille – Emilia Pérez
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Challengers
Hans Zimmer – Dune: Part Two