Phoenix Film Critics Society winners: ‘Belfast’ tops with Best Picture, ‘Dune’ cleans up techs
“Belfast,” Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical take on the troubles in the title city, took Best Picture honors, and Branagh won for Best Director and Best Screenplay, in the Phoenix Film Critic’s Society’s 2021 awards. The film also captured awards for Ciaran Hinds for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and for Jude Hill for Best Performance by a Youth. With five wins, “Belfast” tied with the sci-fi epic “Dune” for the most honored film of the year.
Acting awards went to Kristen Stewart, Best Actress for “Spencer”; Benedict Cumberbatch, Best Actor for Jane Campion’s western “The Power of the Dog”; Ariana DeBose, Best Supporting Actress for Steven Spielberg’s new “West Side Story”; Alana Haim for Breakthrough Performance for “Licorice Pizza,” and the cast of “Mass” for Best Ensemble. “The Power of the Dog” won for Best Adapted Screenplay.
“The Mitchells vs. the Machines” took the award for Best Animated Film; Paolo Sorrentino’s Italian coming-of-age drama “The Hand of God” won for Best Foreign Language Film, and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s concert movie “Summer of Soul” was honored for Best Documentary. The title tune from the Bond picture “No Time to Die” was awarded Best Original Song, and “Nightmare Alley” captured Best Production Design. “Dune” took the honors for Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Film editing, Best Costume Design and Best Visual Effects.
Every year PFCS honors a film they feel didn’t get the audiences it deserved with the “Overlooked Film of the Year” award. This year it went to “Mass.”
Here is the complete list of winners and the group’s top 10 films of the year.
PFCS TOP TEN (in alphabetical order)
Belfast
Don’t Look Up
Dune
Licorice Pizza
Mass
Nightmare Alley
No Time To Die
Spencer
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
BEST PICTURE
Belfast
BEST DIRECTOR
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Kristen Stewart, Spencer
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Ciaran Hinds, Belfast
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING
Mass
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Belfast
BEST SCREENPLAY ADAPTED FROM OTHER MATERIAL
The Power of the Dog
THE OVERLOOKED FILM OF THE YEAR
Mass
BEST ANIMATED FILM
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Hand of God
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Summer of Soul
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
No Time To Die, No Time To Die
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Dune
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dune
BEST FILM EDITING
Dune
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Nightmare Alley
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Dune
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUTH
Jude Hill, Belfast
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- 2025 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR (November) - November 21, 2024
- 2025 Oscars: Eligibility Lists for Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards - November 21, 2024
- Nava Mau, Sean Wang Among 2024 BAFTA Breakthroughs Championing New ‘Must-Watch’ Creatives - November 21, 2024
2025 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR (November) 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 72 – ‘Three Colours: Blue’ (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1993) 
2025 Oscars: Eligibility Lists for Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards 
Nava Mau, Sean Wang Among 2024 BAFTA Breakthroughs Championing New ‘Must-Watch’ Creatives