Martin Scorsese‘s Western historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon on Wednesday was named Best Film by the National Board of Review, the second major awards honor for the Apple Original Films pic this week after it also won the top prize from the New York Film Critics Circle.
Scorsese was also picked as NBR’s Best Director, while Lily Gladstone repeated her NYFCCC feat by being named Best Actress. She stars in the pic as Mollie Burkhart, an Osage woman who was married to white settler Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) in the true story about the Reign of Terror in 1920s Oklahoma. Robert De Niro also stars in the script written by Scorsese and Eric Roth based on David Grann’s bestseller.
Flower Moon‘s got four wins today including for Rodrigo Prieto’s cinematography; he was cited for his work both for Scorsese and as DP on Barbie.
Last year, the NBR voted Top Gun: Maverick its Best Film, helping launch its awards run that saw it eventually nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture. Among other eventual Oscar nominees, the group also lined up with the Oscars’ Best Actress winner Michelle Yeoh.
Among other NBR winners today, Focus Features’ Alexander Payne-directed The Holdovers won in three categories, including Paul Giamatti as Best Actor and DaVine Joy Randolph as Best Supporting Actress. David Hemingson also won for his Original Screenplay.
The Adapted Screenplay prize went to Tony McNamara for Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Searchlight Pictures pic starring Emma Stone that won the Golden Lion this year in Venice. It also scored a Best Supporting Actor nod for Mark Ruffalo.
Flower Moon, Holdovers, Poor Things and Barbie all made the cut in the NBR’s Top Film list, joined by The Boy and the Heron, Ferrari, The Iron Claw, Maestro and Oppenheimer. The NBR, made up of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals and academics, also unveiled their top 5 international, documentary and indie films lists; Anatomy of a Fall and Still: A Michael J Fox Movie won the individual international and doc categories, respectively.
Winners will be honored at the NBR’s annual awards gala January 11, 2024 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City, in a ceremony hosted by Willie Geist.
Here’s the full list of winners.
Best Film
Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Director
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Actor
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Best Actress
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Supporting Actor
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
Best Supporting Actress
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
NBR Icon Award
Bradley Cooper
Best Original Screenplay
David Hemingson, The Holdovers
Best Adapted Screenplay
Tony McNamara, Poor Things
Breakthrough Performance
Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One
Best Directorial Debut
Celine Song, Past Lives
Best Animated Feature
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Best International Film
Anatomy of a Fall
Best Documentary
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Best Ensemble
The Iron Claw
Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry
Director Chad Stahelski and Stunt Coordinators Stephen Dunlevy & Scott Rogers, John Wick: Chapter 4
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Rodrigo Prieto, Barbie & Killers of the Flower Moon
Top Films (in alphabetical order)
Barbie
The Boy and the Heron
Ferrari
The Holdovers
The Iron Claw
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
Top 5 International Films (in alphabetical order)
La Chimera
Fallen Leaves
The Teachers’ Lounge
Tótem
The Zone of Interest
Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order)
20 Days in Mariupol
32 Sounds
The Eternal Memory
The Pigeon Tunnel
A Still Small Voice
Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order)
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
All of Us Strangers
BlackBerry
Earth Mama
Flora and Son
The Persian Version
Scrapper
Showing Up
Theater Camp
A Thousand and One