Women Film Critics Circle Awards: ‘Promising Young Woman’ dominates

Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman ruled the Women Film Critics Circle Awards announced on Monday. The group focuses on women-centered films, filmmakers and casts and among the wins of darkly comic revenge fantasy were Best Movie About Women, Bravest Directing and the Adrienne Shelly Award. The film was also mentioned in the group’s ‘Wall of Shame’ category but not for the film itself, but the review by Variety critic Dennis Harvey that caused a social firestorm when he referred to star and Best Actress winner as not ‘hot enough’ for the role.

The controversial slave drama Antebellum won two awards for star Janelle Monáe, Eliza Hittman was named Best Female Writer for her moving abortion drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always and Chloé Zhao earned the Best Movie Directed by a Woman award for Nomadland.

Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan won Best Onscreen Couple for their lesbian period romance Ammonite, which also won Best Kept Secret. Like that category, many from the Women Film Critics Circle are not your traditional awards categories. The Sex Equality Award went to Emma. while the Josephine Baker Award was given to Miss Juneteenth.

Here is the full list of winners and runners-up of the Women Film Critics Circle Awards.

BEST MOVIE ABOUT WOMEN
Promising Young Woman
Runner Up: Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Ammonite
Antebellum

BEST MOVIE DIRECTED BY A WOMAN
Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
Runner Up: Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell
Never Rarely Sometimes Always – Eliza Hittman
One Night in Miami – Regina King

BEST ACTRESS
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman
Runner Up: Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Runner Up: Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman
Andra Day – The United States vs. Billie Holiday

BEST ACTOR
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Runner Up: Anthony Hopkins – The Father
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Tahar Rahim – The Mauritanian

BEST FEMALE WRITER
Never Rarely Sometimes Always – Eliza Hittman
Runner Up: Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell
Nomadland – Chloe Zhao
The United States vs. Billie Holiday – Suzan-Lori Parks

BEST HEROINE
Janelle Monáe – Antebellum
Runner Up: Jodie Foster – The Mauritanian

BEST CAST
Radium Girls
Runner Up: The Glorias

BEST ON SCREEN COUPLE
Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan – Ammonite
Runner Up: Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel – News of the World
Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti – Palm Springs
Barbara Sukowa and Martine Chevallier – Two of Us (Deux)

BRAVEST DIRECTING
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Runner Up: Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always

BRAVEST INTERPRETATION
Janelle Monáe – Antebellum
Runner Up: Elizabeth Moss – The Invisible Man

BEST FOREIGN FILM
La Llorona
Runner Up: True Mothers
The Truth (La Verite)
Two of Us (Deux)

BEST DOCUMENTARY DIRECTED BY WOMEN ABOUT WOMEN
Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story
Runner Up: Time
All In: The Fight For Democracy
I Am Greta

BEST SEX EQUALITY
Emma.
Runner Up: I Care A Lot
Malcolm & Marie
Radioactive

BEST ANIMATED WOMAN
Fei Fei – Over the Moon
Runner Up: Mebh Og MacTire – Wolfwalkers
Libba – Soul
Robyn Goodfellowe – Wolfwalkers

ADRIENNE SHELLY AWARD
Promising Young Woman
Runner Up: The Invisible Man
I’m Your Woman
The Assistant

JOSEPHINE BAKER AWARD
Miss Juneteenth
Runner Up: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Antebellum
The Forty-Year-Old Version

KAREN MORLEY AWARD
The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Runner Up: Shirley
Radium Girls
The Glorias

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN AWARD
Cicely Tyson – A Fall From Grace
Runner Up: Dianne Wiest – I Care A Lot

MOMMIE DEAREST AWARD
Sarah Paulson – Run

WOMEN SAVING THEMSELVES AWARD
Claire Dunn – Herself
Runner Up: Elizabeth Moss – The Invisible Man

BEST KEPT SECRET
Ammonite
Runner Up: Swallow

ACTING AND ACTIVISM AWARD
Regina King

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Julie Andrews

WFCC HALL OF SHAME
Rudy Giuliani – For removing any doubt about the kind of creepy predator he is, in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Of course there were no consequences for his behavior, even though it was captured on film and broadcast worldwide.
Dennis Harvey – in his Variety review for Promising Young Woman, stating Carey Mulligan is not ‘hot enough’ for the role. Not to mention perpetuating the lie that rape is about sex and not violence against women. And, why we need women film critics more than ever…
The Prom – for casting straight actors in queer roles in the most anticipated lesbian movie of the year, and making it seem like overcoming homophobia is as simple as singing a song.
Dallas Sonnier and Adam Donaghey – For sexual harassment and abuse at Cineaste Magazine, and the cover-up.​

Photo courtesy of Focus Features

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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), 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.

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