The Atlanta Film Critics Circle (AFCC) announced its 7th annual awards winners, naming Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer the Best Film of 2023.

The biographical thriller on the life of nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, swept the AFCC’s awards in several categories, including Best Director (Christopher Nolan), Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema), Best Ensemble, Best Screenplay (Christopher Nolan), and Best Score (Ludwig Göransson).

The Best Supporting Actor race resulted in a tied vote, with Ryan Gosling winning Best Supporting Actor for his role in Barbie as Ken and Robert Downey Jr. winning for his portrayal of politician Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer.

Actress Lily Gladstone won both Best Lead Actress and Best Breakthrough Performer for her work in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

Other top honors include Best First Feature for Celine Song’s Past Lives, Da’Vine Joy Randolph for Best Supporting Actress in The Holdovers, French film The Anatomy of a Fall won Best International Feature, and Still: A Michael J. Fox Story won Best Documentary.

AFCC member Nsenga Burton, Ph.D., Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Burton Wire, said the winners signaled a year for large collaborative efforts, sometimes at the expense of smaller, character-driven films. “As you can see from the list, ensemble films were the big winners this year for AFCC,” she said. “But I’m excited to see breakout star Lily Gladstone and screenwriters and filmmakers like Celine Song and Cord Jefferson make the cut.”

Complete list of Atlanta Film Critics Circle 2023 Award 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