Cillian Murphy in "Oppenheimer" (Universal Pictures)
Cillian Murphy in “Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures). “Oppenheimer” won Best Film at the Atlanta Film Critics Circle.

The Atlanta Film Critics Circle (AFCC) has named Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” the Best Film of 2023.

The AFCC released the winners for its 7th annual awards on Dec. 4. In addition to winning Best Film, “Oppenheimer” won Best Director and Best Screenplay for Nolan, Best Lead Actor for Cillian Murphy, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr. (an award shared with Ryan Gosling for “Barbie”), Best Cinematography for Hoyte van Hoytema, Best Score for Ludwig Göransson, and Best Ensemble for the cast at large. 

According to a press release, the committee went through several rounds of tallying votes due to the tight nature of numerous races. 

“It’s always hard to narrow down our favorite films of the year, but this year felt particularly tough thanks to a plethora of incredible options,” said AFCC member Devindra Hardawar, Senior Editor at Engadget and co-host of The Filmcast, in the release. “In the same year we saw Barbie reckon with toxic masculinity and the limits of living in a patriarchal society, we also saw films explore the evil of building the atomic bomb and Native American genocide.”

Lily Gladstone won two awards, one for Best Lead Actress and another special award for Best Breakthrough Performer, both for her role in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” 

Keep scrolling for a full list of the Atlanta Film Critics Circle winners. 

BEST FILM: “Oppenheimer”

TOP 10 FILMS (ranked from first place to tenth place):

1. “Oppenheimer”

2. “Killers of the Flower Moon”

3. “The Holdovers”

4. “Past Lives”

5. “Barbie”

6. “May December”

7. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

8. “American Fiction”

9. “Anatomy of a Fall”

10. “Poor Things”

BEST LEAD ACTOR: Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”

BEST LEAD ACTRESS: Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: TIE – Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”; Ryan Gosling, “Barbie”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: “Oppenheimer”

BEST DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”

BEST SCREENPLAY: Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”

BEST DOCUMENTARY: “Still: A Michael J. Fox Story”

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE: “Anatomy of a Fall” (France)

BEST ANIMATED FILM: “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Hoyte van Hoytema, “Oppenheimer”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Ludwig Göransson, “Oppenheimer”

BEST STUNT WORK: “John Wick: Chapter 4”

AFCC Special Award for BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER: Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”

AFCC Special Award for BEST FIRST FEATURE FILM: Celine Song, “Past Lives”

Sammie Purcell is Associate Editor at Rough Draft Atlanta where she writes about arts & entertainment, including editing the weekly Scene newsletter.