The Online Film Critics Society awards for 2024 are in the books. Sean Baker’s entertaining stripper-meets-Russian-oligarch’s-son dramedy Anora was the big winner (Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay). Movies from our weird movie coverage universe earned a handful of nominations this year. The Substance garnered an impressive six nominations and two wins (Coralie Fargeat for Best Director and Margaret Qualley for Best Supporting Actress), I Saw the TV Glow was nominated for Best Picture, A Different Man got a nomination for Sebastian Stan and a special technical award for makeup, and Vera Drew‘s The People’s Joker was a surprise winner in the Best Feature Debut category. Shockingly, Hundreds of Beavers scored zero nominations, despite my votes and presumably votes from the dozen or so of my colleagues who universally lauded it.
As always, despite the occasional levity in my tone, I take my voting responsibility seriously. I do not put forward weird films at the expense of worthier mainstream candidates just because it’s “my thing.” Here is the list of this year’s winners, along with my choices and a touch of personal commentary. And I apologize that this year, due to personal circumstances, I missed an unusually high number of nominated movies. But I did get in all of the Best Picture nominees, with the exception of Nosferatu (which was not a serious contender for the top prize).
BEST PICTURE
Winner: Anora
Also nominated (listed ranked in final order of votes): The Substance, The Brutalist, Challengers, Nickel Boys, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Nosferatu, I Saw the TV Glow, Wicked
My vote: The Substance
Comments: Clearly a strong contender based on its second place finish and directorial win, The Substance is awards-caliber horror that does not skimp on the squick. The consensus ultimately settled on a more palatable choice with Anora (my personal fifth place pick).
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Winner: Flow
Also nominated (in alphabetical order): Inside Out 2, Memoir of a Snail, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, The Wild Robot
My vote: Inside Out 2
Comments: Confession: I did not see Flow, Memoir of a Snail, or the new Wallace & Gromit, so my vote here doesn’t count for much. Between Inside Out and Wild Robot (which both made my top 20 movies of the year), I picked the more secular-minded choice. Continue reading ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY 28TH ANNUAL AWARDS (2024) (WITH OUR VOTES)