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The Critics Choice Awards 2026 recognised the biggest films and TV series of the past year, with Netflix’s Adolescence dominating the TV categories

The Critics Choice Awards served as a grand stage for the year’s most celebrated films and TV series to receive their well-deserved accolades. With big-screen blockbusters and Netflix sensations vying for esteemed awards, the competition was fierce.

Among the nominated films were Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s ‘Wicked: For Good’, and Netflix’s fresh take on ‘Frankenstein’ by renowned director Guillermo del Toro. A-listers such as Timothée Chalamet and Emma Stone were also in the running for individual honours.

The star-studded ceremony acknowledged excellence in music, stunts, animation, and production design. Two titles reigned supreme, with Netflix’s ‘Adolescence’ emerging as the top TV victor of the night.

In the film categories, ‘Frankenstein’ scooped up four awards, alongside Ryan Coogler’s redemption tale ‘Sinners’. The event drew a host of celebrities, including Kylie Jenner who attended in support of her beau, Chalamet.

Here’s a rundown of the winners and nominees from the Critics Choice Awards 2026.

Best Picture

Winner: One Battle After Another

Nominees:

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Jay Kelly

Marty Supreme

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Wicked: For Good

Best Actor

Winner: Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme

Nominees:

Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another

Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams

Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon

Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Best Actress

Winner: Jessie Buckley for Hamnet

Nominees:

Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another

Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value

Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee

Emma Stone, Bugonia

Best Director

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another

Nominees:

Ryan Coogler, Sinners

Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein

Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Best Original Screenplay

Winner: Ryan Coogler for Sinners

Nominees:

Noah Baumbach, Emily Mortimer, Jay Kelly

Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Zach Cregger, Weapons

Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby

Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value

Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another

Nominees:

Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Train Dreams

Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don Mckellar, Jahye Lee, No Other Choice

Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein

Will Tracy, Bugonia

Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet

Best Stunt Design

Winner: Wade Eastwood for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Nominees:

Stephen Dunlevy, Kyle Gardiner, Jackson Spidell, Jeremy Marinas, Jan Petina, Domonkos Párdányi, Kinga Kósa-Gavalda, Ballerina

Gary Powell, Luciano Bacheta, Craig Dolby, F1

Brian Machleit, One Battle After Another

Andy Gill, Sinners

Giedrius Nagys, Warfare

Best Score

Winner: Ludwig Göransson for Sinners

Nominees:

Hans Zimmer, F1

Alexandre Desplat, Frankenstein

Max Richter, Hamnet

Daniel Lopatin, Marty Supreme

Jonny Greenwood, One Battle After Another

Best Film Made for Television

Winner: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Nominees:

Deep Cover

The Gorge

Mountainhead

Nonnas

Summer of ’69

Best Variety Series

Winner: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Nominees:

Conan O’Brien Must Go

Saturday Night Live

Best Animated Feature

Winner: KPop Demon Hunters

Nominees:

Arco

Elio

In Your Dreams

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Zootopia 2

Best Song

Winner: “Golden” – Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, Teddy from KPop Demon Hunters

Nominees:

“Drive” – Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Blake Slatkin – F1

“I Lied to You” – Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson – Sinners

“Clothed by the Sun” – Daniel Blumberg – The Testament of Ann Lee

“Train Dreams” – Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner – Train Dreams

“The Girl in the Bubble” – Stephen Schwartz – Wicked: For Good

Best Drama Series

Winner: The Pitt

Nominees:

Alien: Earth

Andor

The Diplomat

Paradise

Pluribus

Severance

Task

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Winner: Rhea Seehorn for Pluribus

Nominees:

Kathy Bates, Matlock

Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age

Britt Lower, Severance

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us

Keri Russell, The Diplomat

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Winner: Noah Wyle for The Pitt

Nominees:

Sterling K. Brown, Paradise

Diego Luna, Andor

Mark Ruffalo, Task

Adam Scott, Severance

Billy Bob Thornton, Landman

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Winner: Tramell Tillman for Severance

Nominees:

Patrick Ball, The Pitt

Billy Crudup, The Morning Show

Ato Essandoh, The Diplomat

Wood Harris, Forever

Tom Pelphrey, Task

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Winner: Katherine LaNasa for The Pitt

Nominees:

Nicole Beharie, The Morning Show

Denée Benton, The Gilded Age

Allison Janney, The Diplomat

Greta Lee, The Morning Show

Skye P. Marshall, Matlock

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Amy Madigan for Weapons

Nominees:

Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value

Ariana Grande, Wicked: For Good

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value

Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners

Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Jacob Elordi for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another

Paul Mescal, Hamnet

Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly

Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Best Comedy Series

Winner: The Studio

Nominees:

Abbott Elementary

Elsbeth

Ghosts

Hacks

Nobody Wants This

Only Murders in the Building

The Righteous Gemstones

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Winner: Jean Smart for Hacks

Nominees:

Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This

Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face

Rose McIver, Ghosts

Edi Patterson, The Righteous Gemstones

Carrie Preston, Elsbeth

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Winner: Seth Rogen for The Studio

Nominees:

Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This

Ted Danson, A Man on the Inside

David Alan Grier, St. Denis Medical

Danny McBride, The Righteous Gemstones

Alexander Skarsgård, Murderbot

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Winner: Ike Barinholtz for The Studio

Nominees:

Paul W. Downs, Hacks

Asher Grodman, Ghosts

Oscar Nuñez, The Paper

Chris Perfetti, Abbott Elementary

Timothy Simons, Nobody Wants This

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Winner: Janelle James for Abbott Elementary

Nominees:

Danielle Brooks, Peacemaker

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks

Justine Lupe, Nobody Wants This

Ego Nwodim, Saturday Night Live

Rebecca Wisocky, Ghosts

Best Talk Show

Winner: Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Nominees:

The Daily Show

Hot Ones

Late Night with Seth Meyers

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

Best Casting and Ensemble

Winner: Francine Maisler for Sinners

Nominees:

Nina Gold, Hamnet

Douglas Aibel, Nina Gold, Jay Kelly

Jennifer Venditti, Marty Supreme

Cassandra Kulukundis, One Battle After Another

Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey, Wicked: For Good

Best Limited Series

Winner: Adolescence

Nominees:

All Her Fault

Chief of War

Death by Lightning

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Dope Thief

Dying for Sex

The Girlfriend

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Sarah Snook for All Her Fault

Nominees:

Jessica Biel, The Better Sister

Meghann Fahy, Sirens

Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex

Robin Wright, The Girlfriend

Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Stephen Graham for Adolescence

Nominees:

Michael Chernus, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Brian Tyree Henry, Dope Thief

Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me

Michael Shannon, Death by Lightning

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Owen Cooper, Adolescence

Nominees:

Wagner Moura, Dope Thief

Nick Offerman, Death by Lightning

Michael Peña, All Her Fault

Ashley Walters, Adolescence

Ramy Youssef, Mountainhead

Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Winner: Erin Doherty, Adolescence

Nominees:

Betty Gilpin, Death by Lightning

Marin Ireland, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Sophia Lillis, All Her Fault

Julianne Moore, Sirens

Christine Tremarco, Adolescence

Best Young Actor / Actress

Winner: Miles Caton in Sinners

Nominees:

Everett Blunck, The Plague

Cary Christopher, Weapons

Shannon Mahina Gorman, Rental Family

Jacobi Jupe, Hamnet

Nina Ye, Left-Handed Girl

Best Foreign Language Film

Winner: The Secret Agent

Nominees:

It Was Just an Accident

Left-Handed Girl

No Other Choice

Sirt

Belé

Best Comedy

Winner: The Naked Gun

Nominees:

The Ballad of Wallis Island

Eternity

Friendship

The Phoenician Scheme

Splitsville

Best Foreign Language Series

Winner: Squid Game

Nominees:

Acapulco

Last Samurai Standing

Mussolini: Son of the Century

Red Alert

When No One Sees Us

Best Animated Series

Winner: South Park

Nominees:

Bob’s Burgers

Harley Quinn

Long Story Short

Marvel Zombies

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man

Best Cinematography

Winner: Adolpho Veloso for Train Dreams

Nominees:

Claudio Miranda, F1

Dan Laustsen, Frankenstein

Łukasz Żal, Hamnet

Michael Bauman, One Battle After Another

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners

Best Comedy Special

Winner: SNL50: The Anniversary Special

Nominees:

Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life

Caleb Hearon: Model Comedian

Leanne Morgan: Unspeakable Things

Marc Maron: Panicked

Sarah Silverman: PostMortem

Best Production Design

Winner: Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Kasra Farahani, Jille Azis, The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton, Hamnet

Jack Fisk, Adam Willis, Marty Supreme

Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne, Sinners

Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales, Wicked: For Good

Best Editing

Winner: Stephen Mirrione for F1

Nominees:

Kirk Baxter, A House of Dynamite

Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Andy Jurgensen, One Battle After Another

Viridiana Lieberman, The Perfect Neighbour

Michael P. Shawver, Sinners

Best Costume Design

Winner: Kate Hawley for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Malgosia Turzanska, Hamnet

Lindsay Pugh, Hedda

Colleen Atwood, Christine Cantella, Kiss of the Spider Woman

Ruth E. Carter, Sinners

Paul Tazewell, Wicked: For Good

Best Hair and Makeup

Winner: Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey for Frankenstein

Nominees:

Flora Moody, John Nolan, 28 Years Later

Siân Richards, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, Shunika Terry, Sinners

Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox, Mia Neal, The Smashing Machine

Leo Satkovich, Melizah Wheat, Jason Collins, Weapons

Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, Laura Blount, Wicked: For Good

Best Visual Effects

Winner: Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett for Avatar: Fire and Ash

Nominees:

Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, Eric Leven, Edward Price, Keith Dawson, F1

Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell, Frankenstein

Alex Wuttke, Ian Lowe, Jeff Sutherland, Kirstin Hall, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean, Sinners

Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stéphane Nazé, Guy Williams, Superman

Best Sound

Winner: Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta, Gareth John for F1

Nominees:

Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, Greg Chapman – Frankenstein

Jose Antonio Garcia, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflor – One Battle After Another

Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco, David V. Butler – Sinners

Laia Casanovas – Sirt

Mitch Low, Glenn Freemantle, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, Richard Spooner – Warfare

*For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new Everything Gossip website*

A “masterpiece” that comes from the creator of The Night Manager can be streamed for free.

The Night Manager has made its comeback to our screens, but there’s another “utterly amazing” drama that fans can binge-watch.

It’s been a decade since BBC viewers last saw Loki star Tom Hiddleston as former soldier Jonathan Pine, and now he’s returned for a second series which was initially revealed, much to everyone’s astonishment, in 2024.

The Night Manager, which draws from the bestselling 1990s novel of the same title, isn’t the sole John le Carré tale brought to television.

Eight years ago, another of le Carré’s narratives was transformed into a mini-series focusing on Charlie, an English actress recruited by Israeli intelligence to penetrate a Palestinian terrorist organisation by masquerading as the girlfriend of a bomber’s sibling.

Branded as both the “ultimate spy novel” and “one of the most beautiful heartwrenching love stories”, this alternative to The Night Manager shouldn’t be overlooked.

The Little Drummer Girl, which is available to stream without charge on BBC iPlayer, has garnered tremendous acclaim since its original broadcast.

Writing on IMDb, one viewer remarked: “This was such a breathtaking screen adaptation.”

Another agreed: “This is a beautifully made, written, directed and acted period thriller that has it all.

“This is not your typical Hollywood action fodder but an elegant and stylish piece of theatre,” a third contributor noted.

One devoted fan branded it “utterly amazing” whilst another viewer hailed it as a “masterpiece of acting, pacing and writing”. One viewer gushed: “I am speechless and overwhelmed…This has left me wanting for more, unlike The Night Manager.”

With a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 95%, on par with The Night Manager, The Little Drummer Girl boasts an impressive cast.

At the centre of the drama is Florence Pugh, known for her roles in Marvel’s Thunderbolts, Little Women and Oppenheimer, who plays Charlie.

She stars alongside Alexander Skarsgard, famed for his roles as Eric Northman in True Blood, Perry Wright in Big Little Lies and Tarzan in the 2016 film The Legend of Tarzan.

Other notable names include Michael Shannon from Death By Lightning, Simona Brown of Behind Her Eyes fame and Clare Holman, known for Inspector Morse.

The Little Drummer Girl is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

To rebel is to defy. It is to understand that the world as it is can and should be better.

So it’s no surprise rebels were everywhere on our movie screens in 2025. Filmmakers in the U.S. and abroad depicted the lengths to which people will go to stand up against the bland (and at times violent) vision of conformity they see around them. It’s a theme that comes through most organically in these films’ costume designs.

In “Wicked: For Good,” for instance, Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba Thropp stands apart from the glossy superficiality of the Emerald City. Paul Tazewell, an Oscar winner earlier this year for the first “Wicked,” once again wrapped Elphaba’s defiant spirit in the very fabric of her costumes. As she fights for animal rights and defies the authority of that fraud of a Wizard, the titular witch dons dresses and capes (and, yes, even a knitted cardigan that had the internet abuzz) that ground her in that land “made of dirt and rock and loam” she sings about.

Not that all rebels choose to stand out. In Paul Thomas Anderson’s politically urgent thriller “One Battle After Another” — costumed by four-time Oscar winner Colleen Atwood — members of the French 75 revolutionary group know better than to draw attention to themselves.

“Take Deandra [played by Regina Hall], for instance, who’s always lived off the grid,” Atwood tells The Envelope. “They have lives, but they are still somewhere on the wanted list, and some weirdo can suddenly know who they are. So they really have to blend in. They have to be not noticeable. That was a big goal with everybody’s costume in the movie, all the French 75 costumes — and Leo as well.”

That’s why DiCaprio spends much of the film in a red bathrobe, making him both incredibly hard to miss and also decidedly ordinary-looking. “Would you wear it the whole time?” Atwood remembers asking herself: “Would he get rid of it? And Paul goes, ‘Why would you take off your clothes if you’re running?’”

Atwood’s choice to put Benicio Del Toro in a gi and a turtleneck was similarly driven by this approach: These are all people who move through the world wanting to disrupt the system without making such disruption all that conspicuous. Here we may also add the off-the-rack suits Teddy and Don (Jesse Plemons and Aiden Delbis) wear in “Bugonia” to face their kidnapped CEO; the beret-and-turtleneck-wearing revolutionary (Richard Ayoade) in “The Phoenician Scheme”; and the stylish, delightfully unbuttoned shirts Wagner Moura wears throughout “The Secret Agent.”

Not all instances of rebellion are so obviously political. Take Harry Lighton’s deliciously kinky dom-com “Pillion,” which finds shy young Colin (Harry Melling) entering into a BDSM relationship with an enigmatic biker called Ray (Alexander Skarsgård).

“Ray’s an anomaly; he’s the rebel, you can’t place him,” costume designer Grace Snell says. When we first meet him, he is wearing a striking white leather biking outfit: “I wanted him to be like a light at night on this bike and a shiny toy for Colin.”

The leather and kink gear that Skarsgård, Melling and the rest of the “Pillion” cast wear allowed Snell to give audiences the Tom of Finland fantasy Lighton’s film clearly demands. Yet the film is about a quieter rebellion.

“Colin’s kind of testing his boundaries and understanding who he is as a gay man, and exploring what that means for him,” Snell says. It’s why he spends much of the film in uniform, as a traffic warden, as a member of a barbershop quartet, and later as the new member of Ray’s biker gang.

“Pillion” is about self-fashioning at its most elemental: how gear and uniforms, roles and positions, can help you bloom into yourself; how in losing yourself in another you can find who you want to be.

Blending such a lesson in ways political and personal is Bill Condon’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” also costumed by Atwood. The musical is framed by the tension between Valentin (Diego Luna), a righteous revolutionary, and Molina (Tonatiuh), a gay hairdresser, who share a prison cell under Argentina’s military regime.

Along with designer Christine L. Cantella, Atwood aimed to honor the history the film was depicting and the message it embodies. “Not only is it set in a revolutionary time, but it’s also about two people opening each other’s eyes to the world,” Atwood says, “in a way that is such a great message for today.”

Atwood and Cantella had to balance the dingy reality of the prison — where Molina finds modest beauty in his silk robes — and the movie musical he loses himself in — where Jennifer Lopez’s Aurora is dressed like a silver-screen siren throughout. Lopez’s big number, where she dons an ode to the all-white ensemble Chita Rivera wore in the original Broadway show, including a fedora to match, is all about the lure of escapist Hollywood fantasy: “Turn off the lights and turn on your mind,” she sings.

As the ending of the musical attests, there may be a way to do both, to be politically engaged and still enjoy the beauty of the world around you. For, as these varied films attest, a rebel doesn’t just voice their discontent at the status quo. They wear it proudly.