Critics Choice Awards 2026: Hollywood’s Award Season Kicks Off with Major Wins
Critics Choice Awards 2026 Launch Hollywood’s Award Season
The 31st Critics’ Choice Awards were presented on January 4, 2026, at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, California, honouring the finest achievements of filmmaking and television programming in 2025. The ceremony was hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler for the fourth consecutive year. Hollywood’s 2026 awards season kicked off in chic but relatively pared-back style at the 31st Critics Choice Awards on Sunday evening. The event marks a crucial early indicator for the Oscars, with industry professionals closely monitoring how films and television shows perform amongst critics.
Major Winners and Standout Performances
The 31st Critics Choice Awards were handed out tonight in Los Angeles with ‘One Battle After Another’ taking best film and director. Both ‘Sinners’ and ‘Frankenstein’ proved big winners, nabbing four wins each, while ‘KPop: Demon Hunters’ and ‘F1’ took two each. In the nominations race, Ryan Coogler’s period supernatural horror film ‘Sinners’ led the film nominations with seventeen, followed by Paul Thomas Anderson’s action thriller ‘One Battle After Another’ with fourteen.
On the television side, ‘Adolescence,’ the story of a murder investigation told in a single shot, earned four awards, including the statue for best limited series. ‘The Pitt’ was named best drama, and picked up prizes for stars Noah Wyle and Katherine LaNasa, while ‘The Studio’ picked up the award for best comedy series. Jimmy Kimmel won the 2026 Critics Choice best talk show award.
Fashion and Star-Studded Red Carpet
The Critics Choice Awards kicked off the 2026 season with Jessica Biel, Elle Fanning, Kristen Bell and Ariana Grande working the carpet. Despite rainy conditions in Santa Monica, celebrities brought their most glamorous looks to the event. The star-studded awards show offered a glimpse at the fashion trends that may unfold between now and the Academy Awards in mid-March.
Significance for Oscar Season
The annual ceremony is considered a bellwether for the Oscars, with the industry closely monitoring how hotly tipped movies perform among the Critics Choice Association’s hundreds of members. Critics Choice Award winners are determined by some 600 critics and journalists who are members of the Critics Choice Association, whereas Oscar winners are determined by some 11,000 people who actually work on films. As Hollywood enters its most competitive season, the Critics Choice Awards set the stage for what promises to be an exciting race towards the Academy Awards in March 2026.