The blockbuster Broadway adaptation “Wicked” scored the prizes for best film from the National Board of Review, the organization announced on Wednesday. “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu also scooped the best director award and the movie’s stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande will be presented with the NBR Spotlight Award.
In the acting categories, Nicole Kidman won best actress for her bold performance as a New York CEO in “Babygirl” and Elle Fanning took best supporting actress for “A Complete Unknown,” where she plays bohemian artist Sylvie Russo. Both films will open in theaters on Christmas day.
Daniel Craig won best actor for his impassioned role in Luca Guadagnino’s 1950s-set “Queer” and Kieran Culkin, a winner yesterday at the New York Film Critics Circle, scored again here for his performance in Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain.”
The prize for best international film went to Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” a German production, while best documentary was won by “Sugarcane,” from first-time directors Emily Kassie and Julian Noise BraveCat.
Edward Berger’s Vatican potboiler “Conclave” won the award for best ensemble cast. “Flow,” the wordless Latvian movie about a black cat, was cited as best animated feature film.
The selection of “Wicked” represents a significant boost for the awards prospects of the hit Broadway adaptation. Other titles listed on the NBR’s alphabetical Top Ten of 2024 were “Anora,” “Babygirl,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Furiosa,” “Gladiator II,” “Juror #2,” “Queer,” “A Real Pain” and “Sing Sing.”
Notable omissions from the NBR’s lineup included “The Brutalist,” which yesterday won the New York Film Critics Circle’s best film award. It was completely shut out, as were the acclaimed titles “Dune: Part Two,” “Nickel Boys” and “Emilia Perez.”
Below is a full list of the 2024 award recipients, announced by the National Board of Review:
Best Film: “Wicked”
Best Director: Jon M. Chu, “Wicked”
Best Actor: Daniel Craig, “Queer”
Best Actress: Nicole Kidman, “Babygirl”
Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”
Best Supporting Actress: Elle Fanning, “A Complete Unknown”
Best Ensemble: “Conclave”
Breakthrough Performance: Mikey Madison, “Anora”
Best Directorial Debut: India Donaldson, “Good One”
Best Original Screenplay: Mike Leigh, “Hard Truths”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar, “Sing Sing”
NBR Spotlight Award: Creative Collaboration of Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: “No Other Land”
Best Animated Feature: “Flow”
Best International Film: “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
Best Documentary: “Sugarcane”
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke, “Nosferatu”
Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
Top Films (in alphabetical order):
“Anora”
“Babygirl”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Conclave”
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
“Gladiator II”
“Juror #2”
“Queer”
“A Real Pain”
“Sing Sing”
Top 5 International Films (in alphabetical order):
“All We Imagine As Light”
“The Girl with the Needle”
“I’m Still Here”
“Santosh”
“Universal Language”
Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order):
“Black Box Diaries”
“Dahomey”
“Look Into My Eyes”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story”
“Will & Harper”
Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order):
“Bird”
“A Different Man”
“Dìdi”
“Ghostlight”
“Good One”
“Hard Truths”
“His Three Daughters”
“Love Lies Bleeding”
“My Old Ass”
“Thelma”
How Jon M. Chu Broke the ‘Wicked’ Curse
Over the last decade, the NBR list of top films has on the average contained five or six that go on to receive Oscar Best Picture nominations. In that time, it has never included more than seven or fewer than four.
Though it is often lumped in with critics awards, the National Board of Review is a New York-based organization made up of what it describes as “film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals and academics of various ages and backgrounds.” In its first 76 years, its winning film went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture 24 times, though the two groups have agreed only three times in this century, with “No Country for Old Men” and “Slumdog Millionaire” in 2007 and 2008 and “Green Book” in 2018.
While it is rare for the NBR winner to go on to win the Oscar, most NBR victors do receive nominations, including last year’s winner “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which was later nominated for 10 Oscars. Recent exceptions include “Da 5 Bloods” in 2020 and “A Most Violent Year” in 2014.
The National Board of Review will hold a gala ceremony for the award honorees on Jan. 7, 2025 in New York City.