The Los Angeles Film Critics Association voted on the best films of 2023 on Sunday, announcing the winners of the annual LA Film Critics Awards on the organization’s official social media channels. In keeping with tradition, the winners were selected by members of the LAFCA via an online voting process with winners and runners up being announced one at a time.
This year’s wide open Oscar race means that an eclectic group of films competed for the top prizes. Major blockbusters like “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” established themselves as early frontrunners by delighting critics on their way to becoming cultural phenomena, but they quickly faced stiff competition from the traditional slate of buzzy arthouse premieres that emerged from the festival circuit. Films like Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” and Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” could just as easily follow their Golden Lion and Palme d’Or wins with a strong American award season showing.
The LAFCA’s selections split the difference between the two categories. Jonathan Glazer’s acclaimed Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest” swept many of the top categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Leading Performance for Sandra Hüller (who was jointly honored for her roles in “The Zone of Interest” and “Anatomy of a Fall”). But blockbusters were well represented as well, with “Oppenheimer” being named runner-up for Best Picture and “Barbie” star Ryan Gosling earning a runner-up nod in the Supporting Performer category.
Keep reading for a complete list of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association‘s picks for the best films of 2023.
Best Picture: “The Zone of Interest”
Runner-Up: “Oppenheimer”
Best Director: Jonathan Glazer, “The Zone of Interest”
Runner-Up: Yorgos Lanthimos, “Poor Things”
Leading Performances: Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest,” Emma Stone, “Poor Things”
Runners-Up: Andrew Scott, “All of Us Strangers,” Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”
Supporting Performances: Rachel McAdams, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
Runners-Up: Ryan Gosling, “Barbie,” Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Best Screenplay: Andrew Haigh, “All of Us Strangers”
Runner-Up: Samy Burch, “May December”
Best Cinematography: Robbie Ryan, “Poor Things”
Runner-Up: Rodrigo Prieto, “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Barbie”
Best Editing: Laurent Sénéchal, “Anatomy of a Fall”
Runner-Up: Jonathan Alberts, “All of Us Strangers”
Best Production Design: Winner: Sarah Greenwood, “Barbie”
Runner-Up: Shona Heath and James Price, “Poor Things”
Best Music/Score: Mica Levi, “The Zone of Interest”
Runner-Up: Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, “Barbie”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Anatomy of a Fall”
Runner-Up: “Totem”
Best Documentary/Nonfiction Film: “Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros”
Runner-Up: “The Eternal Memory”
Best Animation: “The Boy and the Heron”
Runner-Up: “Robot Dreams”
New Generation: Celine Song, “Past Lives”
