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Homegrown talent led the field as the UK’s leading film critics unveiled the nominations for the 43rd annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, with British-Irish director Martin McDonagh’s dark tragicomedy The Banshees of Inisherin coming out on top with nine nominations. McDonagh, who triumphed in the Circle’s 2018 awards with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, is eyeing another hefty London haul. Close behind, with eight nominations, was Scottish debut filmmaker Charlotte Wells’ powerful coming-of-age story Aftersun.

Both films scored nominations for Film of the Year, Director of the Year and Screenwriter of the Year, as did two favourites from across the pond: Todd Field’s provocative culture-war drama Tár and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s fantastical family portrait Everything Everywhere All at Once, both of which scored six nominations. These nomination leaders also landed multiple acting nominations, with Banshees notablyscoring nods for all four of its principal stars, including Colin Farrell for Actor of the Year, while Kerry Condon, Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan received supporting recognition.

Also among the ten nominees for Film of the Year are a documentary, Laura Poitras’ penetrating Nan Goldin study All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, and two non-English-language titles: Korean auteur Park Chan-wook’s twisty romantic noir Decision to Leave, which also landed him a Director of the Year nod, and French director Alice Diop’s socially conscious courtroom drama Saint Omer. Rounding out this highly varied category are Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans, Oliver Hermanus’ lyrical Kurosawa remake Living and the year’s highest-grossing blockbuster, Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick.

Though it missed out in the top category, Sebastian Lelio’s richly questioning faith drama The Wonder nabbed an impressive six nominations, including one for British/Irish Film of the Year, where it joins Banshees, Aftersun, Living and the Irish indie phenomenon The Quiet Girl. Colm Bairéad’s heart-tugger also landed in the Foreign-Language Film of the Year field, alongside Decision to Leave, Saint Omer, EO and the Tollywood sensation RRR.

Joining Farrell in Actor of the Year are fellow Irishman Paul Mescal for Aftersun, Bill Nighy for Living, Brendan Fraser in The Whale and Austin Butler for his uncanny inhabitation of Elvis Presley in Elvis. It was a good morning for actors ambitiously taking on icons: Ana de Armas’ vivid Marilyn Monroe in Blonde and Vicky Krieps’ mischievous Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Corsage made the cut for Actress of the Year, alongside Tár’s Cate Blanchett, Everything Everywhere’s Michelle Yeoh and The Wonder’s Florence Pugh.

“As always, our nominees stand out from others because our members actually see all of the films that are released each year,” says Rich Cline, chair of the Critics’ Circle Film Section. “So these nominations represent a cross-section of the very best of the movies we watched in 2022. And each year it’s great that we can highlight films, filmmakers and performances that deserve attention.”

This year’s winners in all categories will be announced at London’s May Fair Hotel on 5th February 2023 — with the Circle returning to an in-person gathering after two years of virtual awards ceremonies due to pandemic precautions. Last year’s ceremony saw Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog take four awards, including Film, Director and Actor of the Year.

The awards are given by the 200-member Film Section of the Critics’ Circle, the UK’s longest-standing and most prestigious critics’ organisation. The May Fair Hotel, part of Edwardian Hotels London, is the main sponsor of the event. New sponsors this year include The House of Koko, the new private members club which is part of the iconic London music venue; leading film, television and online media school MetFilm; and creative industry accountants Nyman Libson Paul.

The full list of nominations:

FILM OF THE YEAR
Aftersun
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
The Banshees of Inisherin
Decision to Leave
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Living
Saint Omer
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Decision to Leave
EO
The Quiet Girl
RRR
Saint Omer

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
All That Breathes
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Fire of Love
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time
Moonage Daydream

The Attenborough Award:
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR
Aftersun
The Banshees of Inisherin
Living
The Quiet Girl
The Wonder

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR sponsored by The House of Koko
Todd Field – Tár
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Park Chan-wook – Decision to Leave
Charlotte Wells – Aftersun

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Todd Field – Tár
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner – The Fabelmans
Charlotte Wells – Aftersun

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR sponsored by Nyman Libson Paul
Cate Blanchett – Tár
Ana de Armas – Blonde
Vicky Krieps – Corsage
Florence Pugh – The Wonder
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All at Once

ACTOR OF THE YEAR sponsored by The House of Koko
Austin Butler – Elvis
Colin Farrell – The Banshees of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Paul Mescal – Aftersun
Bill Nighy – Living

SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Hong Chau – The Whale
Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin
Dolly De Leon – Triangle of Sadness
Nina Hoss – Tár
Guslagie Malanda – Saint Omer

SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Tom Burke – The Wonder
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees of Inisherin
Brian Tyree Henry – Causeway
Barry Keoghan – The Banshees of Inisherin
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once

BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR for body of work
Jessie Buckley – Men, Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, Women Talking
Olivia Colman – Empire of Light, Joyride, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Scrooge: A Christmas Carol
Florence Pugh – Don’t Worry Darling, The Wonder
Emma Thompson – Good Luck to You Leo Grande, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical
Letitia Wright – Aisha, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Silent Twins

BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR for body of work
Harris Dickinson – See How They Run, Triangle of Sadness, Where the Crawdads Sing
Colin Farrell – After Yang, The Banshees of Inisherin, The Batman, Thirteen Lives
Ralph Fiennes – The Forgiven, The Menu
Paul Mescal – Aftersun
Bill Nighy – Living

The Philip French Award:
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER sponsored by MetFilm
Katy Brand – Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Colm Bairéad – The Quiet Girl
Frances O’Connor – Emily
Georgia Oakley – Blue Jean
Charlotte Wells – Aftersun

YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER
Kila Lord Cassidy – The Wonder
Catherine Clinch – The Quiet Girl
Frankie Corio – Aftersun
Bella Ramsey – Catherine Called Birdy
Alisha Weir – Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical

BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR
A Fox in the Night – dir Keeran Anwar Blessie
Groom – dir Leyla Coll-O’Reilly
Honesty – dir Roxy Rezvany
A Letter to Black Men – dir Kiosa Sukami
Scale – dir Joseph Pierce

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Athena – Matias Boucard, cinematography
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Ruth E Carter, costumes
Blonde – Leslie Shatz, sound design
Decision to Leave – Kim Ji-yong, cinematography
Elvis – Catherine Martin, costumes
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Paul Rogers, film editing
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Brian Leif Hansen, animation
RRR – Nick Powell, stunts
Tár – Stephen Griffiths, sound design
The Wonder – Nina Gold, casting