San Diego Film Critics Society (SDFCS) Awards: Kelly Fremon Craig’s ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.’ Named Best Picture

The San Diego Film Critics Society (SDFCS) broke from every critics group to announce so far, naming Kelly Fremon Craig’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. the Best Picture of 2023. The film had eight nominations from the group.

The Southern California org also awarded the film Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Rachel McAdams. This is McAdams’ second win, previously tying Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) with Los Angeles critics. The titular star, Abby Ryder Fortson, won Best Youth Performance.

Barbie was the top winner of the day, earning five awards of its field-best 12 nominations. Oppenheimer had also earned 12 nods but managed just a single win, Robert Downey Jr. in Best Supporting Actor.

Here is the complete list of winners and runners-up.

Best Picture
ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET – WINNER
OPPENHEIMER – RUNNER UP

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON – WINNER
Greta Gerwig, BARBIE – RUNNER UP

Best Actor
Jeffrey Wright, AMERICAN FICTION – WINNER
Paul Giamatti, THE HOLDOVERS – RUNNER UP

Best Actress
Lily Gladstone, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON – WINNER
Sandra Hüller, ANATOMY OF A FALL – RUNNER UP

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Downey Jr., OPPENHEIMER – WINNER
Ryan Gosling, BARBIE – RUNNER UP

Best Supporting Actress
Rachel McAdams, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET – WINNER
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, THE HOLDOVERS – RUNNER UP

Best Comedic Performance
Michael Cera, BARBIE – WINNER
Mark Ruffalo, POOR THINGS – RUNNER UP

Best Youth Performance (For a performer under the age of 18)
Abby Ryder Fortson, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET – WINNER
Milo Machado-Graner, ANATOMY OF A FALL – RUNNER UP

Best Original Screenplay
Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, BARBIE – WINNER
David Hemingson, THE HOLDOVERS – RUNNER UP

Best Adapted Screenplay
Kelly Fremon Craig, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET – WINNER
Cord Jefferson, AMERICAN FICTION – RUNNER UP

Best First Feature (Director)
Cord Jefferson, AMERICAN FICTION – WINNER
Celine Song, PAST LIVES – RUNNER UP

Best Documentary
STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE – WINNER
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL – RUNNER UP
LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING – RUNNER UP

Best Animated Film
THE BOY AND THE HERON – WINNER
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE – RUNNER UP

Best Foreign Language Film
ANATOMY OF A FALL – WINNER
GODZILLA MINUS ONE – RUNNER UP
THE ZONE OF INTEREST – RUNNER UP

Best Editing
Laurent Sénéchal, ANATOMY OF A FALL – WINNER
Jennifer Lame, OPPENHEIMER – RUNNER UP

Best Cinematography
Rodrigo Prieto, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON – WINNER
Hoyte Van Hoytema, OPPENHEIMER – RUNNER UP

Best Production Design
Sarah Greenwood, BARBIE – WINNER
Ruth De Jong, OPPENHEIMER – RUNNER UP

Best Visual Effects
GODZILLA MINUS ONE – WINNER
POOR THINGS – RUNNER UP

Best Costume Design
Jacqueline Durran, Charlotte Finlay, Hope Slepak, BARBIE – WINNER
Holly Waddington, Vincent Dumas, Zsuzsa Stenger, POOR THINGS – RUNNER UP

Best Sound Design
THE ZONE OF INTEREST – WINNER
OPPENHEIMER – RUNNER UP

Best Use of Music
BARBIE – WINNER
AIR – RUNNER UP

Best Stunt Choreography
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 – WINNER
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING – RUNNER UP

Best Ensemble
THE HOLDOVERS – WINNER
BARBIE – RUNNER UP
A HAUNTING IN VENICE – RUNNER UP

Breakthrough Actor
Abby Ryder Fortson, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME MARGARET

Special Award for Body of Work – 3 Credits
Nicolas Cage, DREAM SCENARIO, THE FLASH, THE OLD WAY, RENFIELD, THE RETIREMENT PLAN, SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

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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.

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