DETROIT – The Michigan Movie Critics Guild has announced its winners for the best films and performances of 2023. Barbie – also the highest-grossing film of 2023 – was the year’s big winner, taking home prizes for best picture, best director, and best supporting actor. Other winners included Emma Stone for her performance in Poor Things and a tie for best actor between Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers and Jeffrey Wright for American Fiction. American Fiction writer-director Cord Jefferson was named the guild’s breakthrough of the year for his directorial debut. Comedian Keegan-Michael Key, a Detroit native, received the group’s MMCG Award for Film Excellence.

This year’s full list of winners and nominees is (winners in bold):
● Best Picture
○ American Fiction
○ Anatomy of a Fall
○ Barbie
○ The Holdovers
○ Past Lives
○ Poor Things

● Best Director
○ Greta Gerwig – Barbie
○ Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
○ Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things
○ Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
○ Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon

● Best Actress
○ Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
○ Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall
○ Greta Lee – Past Lives
○ Carey Mulligan – Maestro
○ Emma Stone – Poor Things

● Best Actor
○ Bradley Cooper – Maestro
○ Zac Efron – The Iron Claw
○ Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers (tie)
○ Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
○ Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction (tie)

● Best Supporting Actress
○ America Ferrera – Barbie
○ Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
○ Rachel McAdams – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
○ Julianne Moore – May December
○ Rosamund Pike – Saltburn

● Best Supporting Actor
○ Sterling K. Brown – American Fiction
○ Robert DeNiro – Killers of the Flower Moon
○ Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer
○ Ryan Gosling – Barbie
○ Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things

● Best Animated Film
○ The Boy and The Heron
○ Nimona
○ Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
○ The Super Mario Bros. Movie
○ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

● Best Documentary
○ Beyond Utopia
○ Sly
○ Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

● Best Ensemble
○ Air
○ Barbie
○ The Holdovers
○ Killers of the Flower Moon
○ Oppenheimer

● Best Screenplay (Adapted or Original)
○ American Fiction
○ Anatomy of a Fall
○ Barbie
○ The Holdovers
○ Past Lives

● Breakthrough Award
○ Sandra Hüller – Actress, Anatomy of a Fall
○ Cord Jefferson – Director, American Fiction
○ Greta Lee – Actress, Past Lives
○ Dominic Sessa – Actor, The Holdovers
○ Celine Song – Director/Writer Past Lives

● Stunts
○ John Wick: Chapter 4 (tie)
○ The Killer
○ Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (tie)
○ Polite Society
○ Silent Night

● The MMCG Award for Film Excellence (presented to a filmmaker, writer, actor, crew
member etc. who has Michigan ties or to a film made or set in Michigan)
○ Keegan-Michael Key – Actor Wonka/The Super Mario Bros. Movie
/Migration
○ Ashley Park – Actress, Joy Ride
○ Paul Schrader – Director, Master Gardener
○ Lily Tomlin – Actress, 80 For Brady
○ J.K. Simmons – Actor, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
○ Bruce Campbell – Producer, Evil Dead Rise

The MMCG is a collective of film critics who are committed to enhancing the conversation about cinema and further establishing the state’s reputation as a film-loving community. This year’s MMCG – its first – is composed of 11 critics, who cover films for a variety of outlets across the state. From websites to newspapers and podcasts to YouTube, they capture the diversity of the field and bring a range of expertise, outlooks, and tastes. This year’s lineup includes:

* = leadership board member.

Information about the MMCG and its members is available on its website. For further information, email michiganmoviecritics@gmail.com.

You can find them on Facebook, Blue Sky, Instagram, and X.

Articles by
MontiLee Stormer
Movie Reelist Contributor: MontiLee Stormer
MontiLee Stormer is a writer of horror, dark and urban fantasy. She’s also is a troublemaker, concocting acts of mayhem and despair for her own selfish pleasure. An avid movie watcher, she prefers horror but will see just about anything if you're buying. Poltergeist (1982) is her favorite movie and she actively hates The Shining (1980) due to its racism, misogyny, the butchering of the source material. She could host a TEDtalk on this single subject. Writing about herself in the third person is just a bonus.

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