Move over, Golden Globes: Critics’ Choice Awards is kicking off awards season

Hollywood’s prestigious awards season begins on Monday, with the first of a parade of ceremonies that culminates with the big kahuna – the Oscars – in March. This year, however, the season looks slightly different.

Instead of commencing with the Golden Globes as usual, the star-studded season will begin on Monday (AEDT) with the 31st Critics’ Choice Awards, a ceremony that has historically been held around mid-January. Taking place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and hosted by four-time emcee Chelsea Handler, the Critics’ Choice Awards will honour excellence in both film and television throughout 2025.

Last year, Anora dominated the Critics’ Choice Awards, a key predictor for the Oscars in March.Credit: AP

As we prepare to watch Hollywood’s finest battle it out for coveted trophies, let’s look at who is in the running, which titles are expected to come out on top, and why the season’s awards order has changed.

What has been nominated?

If you want an idea of who or what could win big at the Academy Awards later this year, keep a close eye on the Critics’ Choice Awards. They’re selected by about 570 critics and entertainment reporters, meaning they usually reflect broader industry opinion and could therefore signal what Oscars voters (exclusively film professionals) will favour. The 2024 Golden Globes had a voting body of only about 300 people.

This year, the nominations truly span the whole gamut. Instead of one or two genres dominating, as is often the case, the recent nods honour everything from musical extravaganzas to Gothic vampire horrors.

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners has become one of the highest-grossing original films this year.Credit: AP

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, a vampire flick set during the Jim Crow era, just missed the record set by Barbie in 2024, securing 17 nods. It’s followed by Paul Thomas Anderson’s black-comedy thriller, One Battle After Another, which claimed 14 nominations. Meanwhile, Frankenstein and Hamnet both received 11 nods each, and Netflix’s one-shot wonder, Adolescence, dominated the television categories with six nods.

Any Australians in the running?

There are a number of Australians in contention this year. Rose Byrne and Joel Edgerton have each scored nods in the best actress and best actor category – Byrne for her searing role as a struggling mother in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and Edgerton for his more introspective performance as a grieving logger in Train Dreams.

Rose Byrne’s performance in A24’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You could win her the best actress award at the Critics’ Choice Awards.Credit: AP

Then, of course, there’s Jacob Elordi, now one of Hollywood’s shining “it boys”, who has been recognised for his physically demanding supporting role as Frankenstein’s monster in Guillermo del Toro’s remake of the Gothic classic.

Elsewhere, Nick Cave is up for best song for his track, Train Dreams, which was used in the film of the same name, and Sydney film editor Kirk Baxter is in the running for best editing for A House of Dynamite.

Who and what is likely to win?

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Based on the number of nods they received, it’s safe to assume both Sinners and One Battle After Another will perform well on Monday. The former, an original music-driven concept written by Ryan Coogler, is almost certain to win categories such as original screenplay and best score. It could also win Miles Caton his first Critics’ Choice Award under the best young actor category. The latter, meanwhile, is a favourite to win best picture and best director.

Though films like Marty Supreme, F1 and Train Dreams claimed fewer nominations, they could win big in major categories. The best actor trophy could be within Timothée Chalamet’s grasp for Marty Supreme this year following his Screen Actors Guild win for A Complete Unknown in 2025 – if he isn’t edged out by Michael B. Jordan, who astounded as twins in Sinners. F1 could clinch best sound given its masterful handling of a racing soundscape, and Train Dreams′ naturalistic aesthetic could win it best cinematography.

Over on the small screen, Adolescence is expected to scoop most (if not all) of the limited series categories, incuding best actor (Stephen Graham) and best supporting actor (Owen Cooper). Medical drama The Pitt, meanwhile, could snatch best drama series, and The Studio’s satirical take on Hollywood may also pay off, winning it best comedy series.

Adolescence’s Owen Cooper and Stephen Graham are up for major honours at the Critics’ Choice Awards this year.

Finally, KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix’s most-watched film ever, could win both awards for which it was nominated (best song – Golden – and best animated feature), and Frankenstein should be in a good position to scoop best costume design and best hair and make-up, though it faces stiff competition from Wicked: For Good.

Why has the order changed?

Although it is typically the first ceremony of awards season, the Golden Globes announced in April it would move to the second Sunday of January (US time) to accommodate for a new expanded broadcast event called “Golden Week”.

This left the first weekend temptingly free for the Critics’ Choice Awards to fill, presumably in the hopes of setting the initial narrative for the season.

Deadline sources said organisers had been planning for a January 11 (US time) broadcast, but changed tack once the earlier date became available.

“Critics’ Choice Awards is excited to build upon our three decades of experience driving the awards conversation and, this year, take the lead with our show on January 4,” chief executive Joey Berlin said in a press release last year.

This isn’t the first time the Critics’ Choice Awards has tried to move up. In 2022, during the height of the Golden Globes controversy and boycotts over its lack of diversity and questionable practices, the Critics’ Choice Awards attempted to take over the early January slot. However, it ended up being postponed until March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The winners of the 31st Critics’ Choice Awards will be announced at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on January 5 (AEDT). It will be broadcast live on E! and USA Network.

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