‘aftersun’-and-‘the-banshees-of-inisherin’-dominate-london’s-film-award-nominations

‘Aftersun’ and ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ dominate London’s film award nominations

Paul Mescal and ‘Aftersun’ will be going head-to-head with Colin Farrell and ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ at London’s big film awards in the new year.

The two widely-acclaimed films dominate the nominations for the 43rd annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, with the funny, melancholy ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ picking up nine and wistful, melancholy holiday-set drama ‘Aftersun’ snagging eight.

The line-up of nominees is chock-full of British and Irish talent. ‘Banshees’ writer-director Martin McDonagh is firmly in the running to repeat his 2018 success for ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’, and Scottish debut director Charlotte Wells also up for a Best Director gong for ‘Aftersun’. 

The 200 members of the Critics Circle selected a formidable array of nominees for Best Actress, too. Cate Blanchett (‘Tár’), Ana de Armas (‘Blonde’), Vicky Krieps (‘Corsage’), Florence Pugh (‘The Wonder’) and ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Michelle Yeoh will be duking it out in that category.

Colin Farrell is already attracting Oscar buzz for his deeply humane, donkey-befriending turn in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ and he’s scored a Best Actor nomination here too. He’ll be up against Mescal, ‘Elvis’s Austin Butler, Brendan Fraser for ‘The Whale’ and Bill Nighy for ‘Living’. 

Other hot prospects to look out for included the much-lauded Irish indie ‘The Quiet Girl’ and Telugu cinema smash ‘RRR’. 

‘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.’

The nominations in full:

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 for British/Irish film of the year
Aftersun
The Banshees of Inisherin
Living
The Quiet Girl
The Wonder

Director of the year 
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
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
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 
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 
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 for breakthrough British/Irish filmmaker
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

The Critics’ Circle award winners are announced on February 5, 2023.

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