The 2026 awards season officially shifts into high gear tonight. The Critics Choice Association (CCA) gathers to honor the finest achievements in film and television. Hosted once again by the sharp-witted Chelsea Handler—marking her fourth consecutive year at the helm—the ceremony is widely regarded as one of the most accurate predictors for the eventual Academy Award winners.
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This year’s field is dominated by a clash between massive auteur-driven blockbusters and intimate, transformative dramas. While the film side sees an intense battle between Ryan Coogler’s record-breaking Sinners and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, the television side is equally competitive, featuring heavyweights like Severance and Andor. As the stars descend upon Santa Monica, tonight is where the 2026 Oscar and Emmy narratives truly begin to solidify.
The 2026 Critics Choice Awards: Major Film Nominations
Best Picture
- Bugonia
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- Jay Kelly
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle After Another
- Sentimental Value
- Sinners (Leading with 17 nominations)
- Train Dreams
- Wicked: For Good
Best Actor
- Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
- 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
- Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
- 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 Supporting Actor
- Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
- Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein (Netflix)
- Paul Mescal – Hamnet (Focus Features)
- Sean Penn – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
- Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly (Netflix)
- Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value (Neon)
Best Supporting Actress
- Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
- Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
- Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
- Amy Madigan – Weapons
- Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
- Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another
Best Young Actor / Actress
- Everett Blunck, The Plague
- Miles Caton, Sinners
- Cary Christopher, Weapons
- Shannon Mahina Gorman, Rental Family
- Jacobi Jupe, Hamnet
- Nina Ye, Left-Handed Girl
Best Director
- Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
- Ryan Coogler, Sinners
- Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein
- Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
- Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
- Chloé Zhao, Hamnet
Best Cinematography
- Claudio Miranda, F1
- Dan Laustsen, Frankenstein
- Łukasz Żal, Hamnet
- Michael Bauman, One Battle After Another
- Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners
- Adolpho Veloso, Train Dreams
Best Visual Effects
- Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett, Avatar: Fire and Ash
- 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 Comedy
- The Ballad of Wallis Island
- Eternity
- Friendship
- The Naked Gun
- The Phoenician Scheme
- Splitsville
Best Animated Feature
- Arco (Neon)
- Elio (Pixar Animation Studios)
- In Your Dreams (Netflix)
- KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS)
- Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
Best Score
- Hans Zimmer, F1
- Alexandre Desplat, Frankenstein
- Max Richter, Hamnet
- Daniel Lopatin, Marty Supreme
- Jonny Greenwood, One Battle After Another
- Ludwig Göransson, Sinners
Best Foreign Language Film
- It Was Just an Accident
- Left-Handed Girl
- No Other Choice
- The Secret Agent
- Sirāt
- Belén
