Denver Film Critics: ‘The Power of the Dog’ leads winner list, J.K. Simmons earns first award of the season

Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog topped the Denver Film Critics Society (DFCS) winners with five awards including Best Movie, Director and Actor. The film had led the nominations with seven.

Dune was next with two wins from its six nominations (Visual Effects and Sci-Fi/Horror Film) while J.K. Simmons won his first Best Supporting Actor award of the season for his turn as William Frawley in Being the Ricardos. Kristen Stewart won Best Actress for Spencer and Ariana DeBose won Best Supporting Actress for West Side Story.

Here is the complete list of winners.

Best Movie

• Belfast
• Drive My Car
• Dune
• The Power of the Dog – WINNER
• Spider–Man: No Way Home

Best Director

• Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
• Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog – WINNER
• Joel Coen – The Tragedy of Macbeth
• Ryusuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car
• Denis Villeneuve – Dune

Best Actress

• Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye
• Alana Haim – Licorice Pizza
• Nicole Kidman – Being the Ricardos
• Lady Gaga – House of Gucci
• Kristen Stewart – Spencer – WINNER

Best Actor

• Nicolas Cage – Pig
• Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog – WINNER
• Peter Dinklage – Cyrano
• Will Smith – King Richard
• Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Supporting Actress

• Cate Blanchett – Nightmare Alley
• Ariana DeBose – West Side Story – WINNER
• Kirsten Dunst – The Power of the Dog
• Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard
• Ruth Negga – Passing

Best Supporting Actor

• Ben Affleck – The Tender Bar
• Ciarán Hinds – Belfast
• Troy Kotsur – CODA
• J.K. Simmons – Being the Ricardos – WINNER
• Kodi Smit–McPhee – The Power of the Dog

Adapted Screenplay

• CODA
• Drive My Car
• Dune
• The Power of the Dog – WINNER
• The Tragedy of Macbeth

Original Screenplay

• Belfast
• C’mon C’mon
• King Richard
• Licorice Pizza
• Pig – WINNER

Animated Film

• Encanto
• Flee – WINNER
• Luca
• The Mitchells vs. the Machines
• Raya and the Last Dragon

Documentary Film

• The First Wave
• Flee
• Procession
• Summer of Soul – WINNER
• The Velvet Underground

Foreign Language Film

• Drive My Car – WINNER
• Flee
• A Hero
• Petite Maman
• The Worst Person in the World

Original Score

• Dune
• Encanto
• The Harder They Fall
• The Power of the Dog – WINNER
• Spencer

Original Song

• “Be Alive” from King Richard
• “Dos Orugitas” from Encanto
• “Guns Go Bang” from The Harder They Fall
• “Just Look Up” from Don’t Look Up
• “No Time to Die” from No Time to Die – WINNER

Sci–Fi/Horror Film

• Dune – WINNER
• The Green Knight
• Last Night in Soho
• A Quiet Place Part II
• Spider–Man: No Way Home

Comedy Film

• Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar
• Don’t Look Up
• Free Guy
• The French Dispatch – WINNER
• The Suicide Squad

Visual Effects

• Dune – WINNER
• The Green Knight
• Godzilla vs. Kong
• Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
• Spider–Man: No Way Home

Photo: Glen Wilson / Amazon

• Author
• Recent Posts

Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

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), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) 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.

Latest posts by Erik Anderson (see all)

• 2026 Tribeca Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary with World Premieres of ‘Hadestown: The Musical,’ ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ Doc - April 16, 2026
• ‘Beef’ Season 2 Review: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton Sink Their Teeth Into Lee Sung Jin’s Meaty Morality Tale [A-] - April 16, 2026
• George Clooney to be Honored at 51st Chaplin Award Gala by Stephen Colbert, Sam Rockwell and More - April 15, 2026