Just before Sunday’s Golden Globes, Celine Song’s decades-old romance “Past Lives” was named the best film of 2023 by the National Society of Film Critics.
The A24 drama starring Greta Lee finished two points ahead of World War II chamber drama “The Zone of Interest” and five points ahead of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” in the critics’ vote.
“Past Lives”’s win came a little more than a month after it kicked off awards season with best picture at the Gotham Awards in late November.
Although “The Zone of Interest” finished second in best picture voting, Jonathan Glazer took home the best director award, well ahead of runner-up Todd Haynes, who directed the Netflix film “May December.”
Sandra Hüller, who starred in “The Hot Spot” and “Anatomy of a Fall,” took the best actress award for her roles in international dramas. Da’Vine Joy Randolph took home the award for best supporting actress for her work in “The Holdovers.”
Andrew Scott won best actor for “All of Us Strangers” and Charles Melton for “May December” won best supporting actor.
“May Dec” writer Samy Burch beat “Past Lives” writer-director Song in the best screenplay category.
The organization is made up of 61 film critics from across the United States and has historically been known for its different tastes regarding the Academy Awards and other major film awards.
In the past 20 years, the society’s choice for best picture has overlapped with the Oscar voting six times. The two bodies coincided in 2004 (“Million Dollar Baby”), 2009 (“The Hurt Locker”), 2015 (“Spotlight”), 2016 (“Moonlight”), 2019 (“Parasite”) and 2020 (“Nomadland”) . The critics group also re-elected Times film critic Justin Chang as the group’s president, and Times film editor Joshua Rothkopf was elected vice president.
On Sunday, many of the images cited by film critics will clash at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, hosted by comedian Jo Koy, airing at 5 pm Pacific on CBS and Paramount+.
