Online Film Critics Society (OFCS): ‘Parasite’ dominates with six wins

Taking home six awards, including Best Picture of the Year, “Parasite” was the clear favorite of the Online Film Critics Society. “Us” and “1917” were the only other films to earn multiple awards.

In their twenty-third year, the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) continues to recognize the most superlative achievements of the year with no higher honor being presented by a body of film critics whose work appears predominantly online. This marks the second consecutive year that a non-English language film has taken their top prize.

Confirming the overall quality of Bong Joon-ho’s work on “Parasite,” the Korean production also won awards for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, a special award for its production design, and Best Film Not in the English Language. Bong co-wrote the screenplay with Jin Won Han based on his own idea.

Other feature awards went to Josh Cooley’s “Toy Story 4” for Best Animated Feature and Todd Douglas Miller’s “Apollo 11” for Best Documentary. Director Olivia Wilde won Best Debut Feature with “Booksmart”.

Steven Zaillian won Best Adapted Screenplay for his screenplay for “The Irishman”. This was Zaillian’s second nomination from the OFCS. The previous citation was in 2012 for “Moneyball.” This is his first win.

Seven years after her OFCS victory for “12 Years a Slave,” Lupita Nyong’o won a second award from the OFCS, this time in the lead actress category for her dual role in “Us.” Adam Driver’s third OFCS Awards nomination in four years yielded his first award for Best Lead Actor for his performance in “Marriage Story.” The supporting awards went to Brad Pitt on his second nomination for “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” and Jennifer Lopez in “Hustlers,” her first nomination.

“Us” was also the winner of the Best Original Score award while fellow Best Picture nominee “1917” was given the award for Best Cinematography. In addition to these three creative categories and the award to “Parasite” for its production design, five special achievement awards were given for technical achievements.

“John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” was honored for its stunt coordination, “Ad Astra” for its visual effects, “1917” for its production design, and “Knives Out” for its acting ensemble.

Each year, the OFCS also asks its members to nominate people and organizations for special recognition. These special achievement awards are given to achievements that aren’t directly related to filmmaking or even to the film industry itself. This year, the OFCS has chosen to honor the Agência Nacional de Cinema (the National Cinema Agency of Brazil) for their work supporting art against attacks from their fascist government.

The OFCS also recognizes five individuals each year who have given tremendously to the art of cinema over lengthy careers, representing various aspects of the filmmaking process including this year’s honorees: actors Julie Andrews and Olivia de Havilland, producer Roger Corman, director Martin Scorsese, and multi-hyphenate John Waters.

The OFCS, which represents 284 film critics from around the world, recognizes the global nature of film and encourages international producers to screen their films for U.S. audiences. To that end, the OFCS recognizes ten films each year that have not yet been released in the United States. These films represent a broadly diverse set of nations from Brazil to Russia to Japan.

And Then We Danced (A European co-production)
Bacurau (Brazil)
Bait (United Kingdom)
Beanpole (Russia)
A Good Woman Is Hard To Find (United Kingdom)
A Rainy Day in New York (USA)
The Truth (France-Japan)
Vitalina Varela (Portugal)
The Whistlers (A European co-production)
Zombi Child (France)

In addition to films that haven’t seen release in the United States, they also want to recognize films that are released on digital platforms, but which are not afforded theatrical distribution. This list includes narrative features and documentaries alike.

Between Two Ferns: The Movie
The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé
Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror
Little Monsters
One Cut of the Dead
The Perfection
See You Yesterday
The Wind

Based on the votes of our members, the following are the year’s top ten films based on their ranked voting during the awards process.
1. Parasite
2. The Irishman
3. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
4. Marriage Story
5. Knives Out
6. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
7. Us
8. Uncut Gems
9. 1917
10. Jojo Rabbit

Here is the full list of nominations and winners.

Best Picture

The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Knives Out
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Parasite – WINNER
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Uncut Gems
Us

Best Animated Feature

Frozen II
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Missing Link
Toy Story 4 – WINNER

Best Director

Bong Joon-ho – Parasite – WINNER
Sam Mendes – 1917
Celine Sciamma – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Martin Scorsese – The Irishman
Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Best Actor

Antonio Banderas – Pain and Glory
Robert De Niro – The Irishman
Adam Driver – Marriage Story – WINNER
Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
Adam Sandler – Uncut Gems

Best Actress

Awkwafina – The Farewell
Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
Lupita Nyong’o – Us – WINNER
Florence Pugh – Midsommar
Renée Zellweger – Judy

Best Supporting Actor

Willem Dafoe – The Lighthouse
Al Pacino – The Irishman
Joe Pesci – The Irishman
Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – WINNER
Song Kang-ho – Parasite

Best Supporting Actress

Laura Dern – Marriage Story
Jennifer Lopez – Hustlers – WINNER
Florence Pugh – Little Women
Margot Robbie – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Shuzhen Zhao – The Farewell

Best Original Screenplay

Knives Out – Rian Johnson
Marriage Story – Noah Baumbach
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino
Parasite – Bong Joon-ho, Han Jin-won – WINNER
Us – Jordan Peele

Best Adapted Screenplay

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster
Hustlers – Lorene Scafaria
The Irishman – Steven Zaillian – WINNER
Jojo Rabbit – Taika Waititi
Little Women – Greta Gerwig

Best Editing

Ford v Ferrari – Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker
The Irishman – Thelma Schoonmaker
1917 – Lee Smith
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – Fred Raskin
Parasite – Jinmo Yang – WINNER

Best Cinematography

The Irishman – Rodrigo Prieto
The Lighthouse – Jarin Blaschke
1917 – Roger Deakins – WINNER
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – Robert Richardson
Portrait of a Lady on Fire – Claire Mathon

Best Original Score

Joker – Hildur Guðnadóttir
Little Women – Alexandre Desplat
Marriage Story – Randy Newman
1917 – Thomas Newman
Us – Michael Abels – WINNER

Best Debut Feature

Mati Diop – Atlantics
Melina Matsoukas – Queen & Slim
Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz – The Peanut Butter Falcon
Joe Talbot – The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Olivia Wilde – Booksmart – WINNER

Best Film Not in the English Language

Atlantics
Monos
Pain and Glory
Parasite – WINNER
Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Best Documentary

American Factory
Apollo 11 – WINNER
For Sama
Honeyland
One Child Nation

Technical Achievement Awards

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – Stunt Coordination
Ad Astra – Visual Effects
1917 – Production Design
Knives Out – Acting Ensemble
Parasite – Production Design

Lifetime Achievement Awards

Julie Andrews
Roger Corman
Olivia de Havilland
Martin Scorsese
John Waters

Special Achievement Awards

Agencia Nacional de Cinema (Brazil) for supporting art against the attacks from a fascist government

About the Online Film Critics Society
Established in 1997, the Online Film Critics Society continues to support and champion the best of global online film criticism. With an international membership, work is published in more than 15 languages and covers cinema from around the world. More information can be found at ofcs.org.