‘Nomadland,’ ‘The Crown,’ ‘Ted Lasso’ Notch Wins at 26th Critics’ Choice Awards

Spicing up the 2021 Oscar race and offering a possible preview of Emmys to come, the 26th annual Critics’ Choice Awards gave further laurels to contenders “Nomadland,” “Promising Young Woman,” “The Crown,” “Ted Lasso,” and more. Voted upon by journalist members of the Critics Choice Association, the March 7 virtual ceremony honored film and TV’s critical darlings, hosted by Taye Diggs and broadcast live on The CW. 

Chloé Zhao, writer-director-editor-producer of “Nomadland,” emerged as the big CCA winner, taking home prizes for directing, adapted screenplay, and best film. Starring Frances McDormand as a van-dwelling nomad journeying through the American West, the Searchlight Pictures drama has also picked up accolades at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals, and is recognized among this year’s SAG Award nominees. Emerald Fennell triumphed in the original screenplay category for Focus Features’ “Promising Young Woman,” while Hulu’s “Palm Springs” won for best comedy film.

Echoing the HFPA’s recent Golden Globe results, Anya Taylor-Joy of Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit,” John Boyega of Amazon Prime Video’s “Small Axe” anthology, Jason Sudeikis of Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso,” Catherine O’Hara of PopTV’s “Schitt’s Creek,” and Emma Corrin, Josh O’Connor, and Gillian Anderson of Netflix’s royal drama “The Crown” earned CCA statues for their TV work. “Ted Lasso,” “The Crown,” and “The Queen’s Gambit” also triumphed overall, for best comedy, drama, and limited series, respectively. 

Winning best film actor and actress were the late Chadwick Boseman of Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and Carey Mulligan of “Promising Young Woman.” Daniel Kaluuya of Warner Bros.’ “Judas and the Black Messiah” and Maria Bakalova of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” earned the supporting film prizes, while the best ensemble honor went to Netflix’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” 

At age 8, Alan Kim won the distinction of best young actor for A24’s “Minari,” which also claimed the CCA prize for foreign language film. Despite going into the ceremony with a leading 12 nominations, Netflix’s “Mank” only received recognition for Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale’s production design. For a full list of winners, visit www.criticschoice.com. And keep an eye on Backstage’s coverage to see how the rest of this unusual awards season unfolds.