As the 2026 awards circuit intensifies, the Denver Film Critics Society (DFCS) announced its winners last night, further cementing the hierarchy of this year’s cinematic heavyweights. In a year defined by bold genre-bending and auteur-driven epics, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” emerged as the night’s big victor. Coming off the heels of a historic 16 Academy Award nominations, the film’s success in Denver serves as a strong indicator of its broad critical appeal. 



While Sinners took home the top prizes, the ceremony also recognized a diverse array of talent, from Timothée Chalamet’s high-energy turn in Marty Supreme to the technical wizardry of the latest Avatar installment.



<h3>The Big Winner: Sinners Takes Seven</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1920" height="1080" src="https://media.bolavip.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/01/26095431/Sinners-1-1-1920x1080.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-84071"></figure><figcaption>IMDb</figcaption></figure>



Ryan Coogler’s Southern Gothic horror-thriller was the undisputed champion of the evening. Sinners claimed a total of seven awards, including:



<ul><li>Best Film</li><li>Best Director (Ryan Coogler)</li><li>Best Original Screenplay</li><li>Best Ensemble</li><li>Best Horror Feature</li><li>Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson)</li><li>Best Cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw)</li></ul>



Critics praised the film for revitalizing the horror genre with prestige filmmaking, noting that Coogler’s vision has created a rare “consensus hit” that appeals to both genre fans and high-art critics alike.



<h3>Acting Honors: Chalamet and Buckley Lead the Pack</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1920" height="1080" src="https://media.bolavip.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/01/26095441/Marty-Suprem-1920x1080.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-84072"></figure><figcaption>Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme (2025) / IMDb</figcaption></figure>



The lead acting categories saw two of the season’s most celebrated performers take the top spots. Timothée Chalamet won Best Lead Performance by an Actor for his portrayal of a 1950s ping-pong hustler in Marty Supreme, adding another trophy to his increasingly crowded mantle. On the female side, Jessie Buckley was awarded Best Lead Performance by an Actress for her devastatingly beautiful work in Hamnet.



In the supporting categories, the DFCS opted for veteran excellence:



Best Supporting Performance by an Actor: Benicio Del Toro (One Battle After Another)



Best Supporting Performance by an Actress: Amy Madigan (Weapons)



<h3>Genre and Technical Standouts</h3>



The society also recognized excellence across specific genres and technical disciplines, highlighting the diversity of the 2025-2026 film slate:



<ul><li>Best Animated Film: KPop Demon Hunters</li><li>Best Sci-Fi Film: Bugonia</li><li>Best Comedy: Wake Up Dead Man</li><li>Best Non-English Language Feature: Sentimental Value</li><li>Best Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash</li><li>Best Stunts: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning</li></ul>



<h3>The Road to the Oscars</h3>



The other awards mirror several trends seen in the recent Oscar nominations, specifically the overwhelming momentum for Sinners and One Battle After Another. As the industry heads toward the Academy Awards on March 15, 2026, these regional critics’ wins provide crucial “second-wave” momentum for films looking to convert their nominations into gold.

Denver Film Critics Society 2026 Winners Revealed

Denver Film Critics Society 2026 Winners Revealed - Spoiler US

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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. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1920" height="1080" src="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https://images.bolavip.com/webp/spen/full/SPEN_20260104_SPEN_82130_Sinners_2fc70a5d.webp&amp;width=1920&amp;height=1080" alt="" class="wp-image-82133"></figure><figcaption>IMDb</figcaption></figure>



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.



<h3>The 2026 Critics Choice Awards: Major Film Nominations</h3>



<h4>Best Picture</h4>



<ul><li>Bugonia</li><li>Frankenstein</li><li>Hamnet</li><li>Jay Kelly</li><li>Marty Supreme</li><li>One Battle After Another</li><li>Sentimental Value</li><li>Sinners (Leading with 17 nominations)</li><li>Train Dreams</li><li>Wicked: For Good</li></ul>



<h4>Best Actor</h4>



<ul><li>Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme</li><li>Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another</li><li>Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams</li><li>Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon</li><li>Michael B. Jordan – Sinners</li><li>Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent</li></ul>



<h4>Best Actress</h4>



<ul><li>Jessie Buckley – Hamnet</li><li>Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You</li><li>Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another</li><li>Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value</li><li>Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee</li><li>Emma Stone – Bugonia</li></ul>



<h4>Best Supporting Actor</h4>



<ul><li>Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)</li><li>Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein (Netflix)</li><li>Paul Mescal – Hamnet (Focus Features)</li><li>Sean Penn – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)</li><li>Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly (Netflix)</li><li>Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value (Neon)</li></ul>



<h4>Best Supporting Actress</h4>



<ul><li>Elle Fanning –&nbsp;Sentimental Value</li><li>Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good</li><li>Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas –&nbsp;Sentimental Value</li><li>Amy Madigan –&nbsp;Weapons</li><li>Wunmi Mosaku –&nbsp;Sinners</li><li>Teyana Taylor –&nbsp;One Battle After Another</li></ul>



<h4>Best Young Actor / Actress</h4>



<ul><li>Everett Blunck,&nbsp;The Plague</li><li>Miles Caton,&nbsp;Sinners</li><li>Cary Christopher,&nbsp;Weapons</li><li>Shannon Mahina Gorman,&nbsp;Rental Family</li><li>Jacobi Jupe,&nbsp;Hamnet</li><li>Nina Ye,&nbsp;Left-Handed Girl</li></ul>



<h4>Best Director</h4>



<ul><li>Paul Thomas Anderson,&nbsp;One Battle After Another</li><li>Ryan Coogler,&nbsp;Sinners</li><li>Guillermo del Toro,&nbsp;Frankenstein</li><li>Josh Safdie,&nbsp;Marty Supreme</li><li>Joachim Trier,&nbsp;Sentimental Value</li><li>Chloé Zhao,&nbsp;Hamnet</li></ul>



<h3>Best Cinematography</h3>



<ul><li>Claudio Miranda,&nbsp;F1</li><li>Dan Laustsen,&nbsp;Frankenstein</li><li>Łukasz Żal,&nbsp;Hamnet</li><li>Michael Bauman,&nbsp;One Battle After Another</li><li>Autumn Durald Arkapaw,&nbsp;Sinners</li><li>Adolpho Veloso,&nbsp;Train Dreams</li></ul>



<h4>Best Visual Effects</h4>



<ul><li>Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett,&nbsp;Avatar: Fire and Ash</li><li>Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, Eric Leven, Edward Price, Keith Dawson,&nbsp;F1</li><li>Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell,&nbsp;Frankenstein Alex Wuttke, Ian Lowe, Jeff Sutherland, Kirstin Hall,&nbsp;Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning</li><li>Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean,&nbsp;Sinners Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stéphane Nazé, Guy Williams,&nbsp;Superman</li></ul>



<h4>Best Comedy</h4>



<ul><li>The Ballad of Wallis Island</li><li>Eternity</li><li>Friendship</li><li>The Naked Gun</li><li>The Phoenician Scheme</li><li>Splitsville</li></ul>



<h4>Best Animated Feature</h4>



<ul><li>Arco (Neon)</li><li>Elio (Pixar Animation Studios)</li><li>In Your Dreams (Netflix)</li><li>KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)</li><li>Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS)</li><li>Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)</li></ul>



<h4>Best Score</h4>



<ul><li>Hans Zimmer,&nbsp;F1</li><li>Alexandre Desplat,&nbsp;Frankenstein</li><li>Max Richter,&nbsp;Hamnet</li><li>Daniel Lopatin,&nbsp;Marty Supreme</li><li>Jonny Greenwood,&nbsp;One Battle After Another</li><li>Ludwig Göransson,&nbsp;Sinners</li></ul>



<h4>Best Foreign Language Film</h4>



<ul><li>It Was Just an Accident</li><li>Left-Handed Girl</li><li>No Other Choice</li><li>The Secret Agent</li><li>Sirāt</li><li>Belén</li></ul>

Critics Choice Awards 2026: ‘Sinners’ and ‘One Battle After Another’ Lead a Star-Studded Night

Critics Choice Awards 2026: 'Sinners' and 'One Battle After Another' Lead a Star-Studded Night - Spoiler US

Far more than just a sequel, this film, directed by Ryan Coogler, accomplished the near-impossible: it successfully revitalized the beloved Rocky franchise for a new generation while preserving the heart and underdog spirit of the original films. It was a critical and commercial knockout that established a new cinematic legacy focused on identity, mentorship, and the burden of inheritance.



<h2>The New Underdog: Plot and Stars</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1920" height="1080" src="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https://images.bolavip.com/webp/spen/full/SPEN_20251125_SPEN_78497_Creed-1-1_f3d9a90a.webp&amp;width=1920&amp;height=1080" alt="" class="wp-image-78502"></figure><figcaption>Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan in Creed (2015)</figcaption></figure>



Creed introduced audiences to Adonis “Donnie” Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), the illegitimate son of the late, legendary boxer Apollo Creed. Donnie rejects a wealthy life to pursue his boxing passion, traveling to Philadelphia to seek out his father’s old rival and friend, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), to become his trainer. The film’s core conflict centers on Donnie’s struggle to forge his own identity outside his father’s formidable shadow, a narrative modernized by the stunning performance of Tessa Thompson as his love interest, Bianca Taylor, a talented musician dealing with progressive hearing loss.



<h2>A Critical and Commercial Knockout</h2>



Creed was met with universal critical acclaim, earning a phenomenal 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, a score that is even better than the original 1976 Rocky. The film was lauded for its fresh, gritty aesthetic, its complex exploration of contemporary masculinity, and a famous single-take boxing match sequence. It was also a commercial success, earning over $173 million worldwide on a modest $37 million budget. The film cemented director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan as major Hollywood forces.



<h2>The Successor to Rocky: Impact and Legacy</h2>



The film fundamentally reshaped the Rocky franchise by shifting the focus from Rocky’s career struggles to Apollo Creed’s legacy and the theme of fatherhood. Sylvester Stallone’s return was hailed as his most mature and sensitive performance in years, moving him from an action hero caricature to a vulnerable mentor battling cancer and loneliness. Stallone earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film successfully passed the torch, establishing Adonis as the central figure.



<h2>Continuing the Legacy: The Sequels</h2>



The success of the first film launched a thriving sequel trilogy:



<ul><li>Creed II (2018): Directed by Steven Caple Jr., this installment brought back the ultimate enemy, pitting Adonis against Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago—the boxer who killed Apollo Creed decades earlier. The film explored themes of inherited destiny and revenge, grossing over $214 million worldwide.</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1920" height="1080" src="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https://images.bolavip.com/webp/spen/full/SPEN_20251125_SPEN_78497_Creed-2_569fe305.webp&amp;width=1920&amp;height=1080" alt="" class="wp-image-78504"></figure><figcaption>IMDb</figcaption></figure>



<ul><li>Creed III (2023): Michael B. Jordan made his directorial debut with the third installment, which broke from franchise tradition by excluding Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa from the cast. The film introduced a new, intensely personal villain, Damian “Diamond Dame” Anderson (Jonathan Majors), Adonis’s childhood friend turned rival, and became the highest-grossing film of the trilogy, making over $276 million globally.</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1920" height="1080" src="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https://images.bolavip.com/webp/spen/full/SPEN_20251125_SPEN_78497_Creed-3_19be0623.webp&amp;width=1920&amp;height=1080" alt="" class="wp-image-78505"></figure><figcaption>IMDb</figcaption></figure>



The Creed series successfully transformed a nostalgic franchise into a modern, relevant sports saga that now stands firmly on its own.

‘Creed’ Turns 10, Reigniting the Rocky Saga

'Creed' Turns 10, Reigniting the Rocky Saga - Spoiler US

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Denver Film Critics Society 2026 Winners Revealed

Critics Choice Awards 2026: ‘Sinners’ and ‘One Battle After Another’ Lead a Star-Studded Night

‘Creed’ Turns 10, Reigniting the Rocky Saga

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