In this article6 sections
- Critics Choice Awards 2026 Winners: Ceremony at a Glance
- Critics Choice Awards 2026 Winners: Motion Picture Categories
- Critics Choice Awards 2026 Winners: Television Categories
- Who Won the Most at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards?
- Critics Choice Awards 2026 Winners and Awards Season
- Explore More Critics Choice and Awards Season Coverage
Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners — every verified honoree from the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards, held Sunday, January 4, 2026, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. Chelsea Handler returned to host the Critics Choice Association telecast on E! and USA, crowning One Battle After Another Best Picture while Sinners and Frankenstein tied for the most film trophies with four apiece. Whether you missed an envelope during the broadcast or want every category result in one scrollable guide, this page lists the Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners across all motion-picture and television categories — sourced from the Critics Choice Association, Deadline, and Vogue. We cover results and records — not outfit breakdowns. For awards-season context, see our Hollywood awards season guide, Golden Globes 2026 winners full list, and SAG Awards 2026 winners list.
The Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners list reflects a ceremony that split the Oscar narrative between Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another — which claimed Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay — and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which entered with a leading 17 nominations and won four trophies including Best Original Screenplay and the inaugural Casting and Ensemble prize. Timothée Chalamet won Best Actor for Marty Supreme; Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for Hamnet. On television, HBO Max’s The Pitt and Apple TV’s The Studio repeated their Golden Globes momentum, while Netflix’s Adolescence led all TV programs with four wins. Below, we organize verified Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners by the categories readers search most.

Critics Choice Awards 2026 Winners: Ceremony at a Glance
Before diving into category-by-category results, here is the framework for the Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners list. The 31st ceremony aired live Sunday, January 4, 2026, from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on E! and USA. Nominations were announced in December 2025; the Critics Choice Association added three new categories for 2026 — Best Sound, Best Stunt Design (film), and Best Variety Series (TV).
Host Chelsea Handler returned for a fourth consecutive stint, opening with tributes to the late Rob Reiner and sharp industry commentary before handing out the competitive Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners across film and television. Netflix led all distributors with 12 total trophies (seven film, five TV), followed by Warner Bros. with eight.
Key ceremony facts for the Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners list:
- Date: January 4, 2026
- Venue: Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, California
- Host: Chelsea Handler (fourth consecutive year)
- Broadcast: E! and USA (live)
- Film Best Picture: One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
- Most film wins (tied): Sinners and Frankenstein — four each
- TV drama series: The Pitt (HBO Max)
- TV comedy series: The Studio (Apple TV)
- Most TV wins: Adolescence — four

Critics Choice Awards 2026 Winners: Motion Picture Categories
Film categories anchor every Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners list conversation because the Critics Choice Association blends critics and industry voters — making these results a key Oscar-season signal before SAG and Academy voting. Here are the verified motion-picture victors from CriticsChoice.com and Deadline reporting.
Best Picture
Winner: One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s satirical action thriller claimed the top film prize over Bugonia, Frankenstein, Jay Kelly, Marty Supreme, Sentimental Value, Sinners, Train Dreams, and Wicked: For Good. Four Best Picture nominees — Wicked: For Good, Sentimental Value, Jay Kelly, and Bugonia — went home empty-handed on Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners night.
Best Actor
Winner: Timothée Chalamet — Marty Supreme (A24)
Chalamet triumphed over Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Michael B. Jordan (Sinners), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), and Jesse Plemons (Bugonia). His victory extended Marty Supreme‘s Golden Globes lead-actor momentum and set up a later SAG split when Michael B. Jordan won the guild prize in March.
Best Actress
Winner: Jessie Buckley — Hamnet (Focus Features)
Buckley won for her portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare over Rose Byrne, Kate Hudson, Chase Infiniti, and Emma Stone. The Hamnet win continued Buckley’s awards-season arc across the Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners list and subsequent guild ceremonies.
Best Director
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson — One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Anderson’s directing win paired with Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay to give his film three of the night’s highest-profile trophies on the Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners list.
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Jacob Elordi — Frankenstein (Netflix)
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Amy Madigan — Weapons (Warner Bros.)
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Ryan Coogler — Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson — One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Best Casting and Ensemble
Winner: Francine Maisler — Sinners (Warner Bros.)
The inaugural Casting and Ensemble category debuted on the Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners list, honoring Sinners‘ ensemble casting ahead of Oscar season.
Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: The Secret Agent (Neon)
Best Animated Feature
Winner: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
Best Comedy
Winner: The Naked Gun (Paramount)
Craft Categories — Film
- Best Production Design: Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau — Frankenstein (Netflix)
- Best Editing: Stephen Mirrione — F1 (Apple Original Films)
- Best Costume Design: Kate Hawley — Frankenstein (Netflix)
- Best Hair and Makeup: Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey — Frankenstein (Netflix)
- Best Visual Effects: Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett — Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios)
- Best Sound: Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta, Gareth John — F1 (Apple Original Films)
- Best Cinematography: Adolpho Veloso — Train Dreams (Netflix)
- Best Song: “Golden” — Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, Teddy — KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
- Best Score: Ludwig Göransson — Sinners (Warner Bros.)
- Best Stunt Design: Wade Eastwood — Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Paramount Pictures)
- Best Young Actor / Actress: Miles Caton — Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Critics Choice Awards 2026 Winners: Television Categories
Television categories on the Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners list largely echoed Golden Globes consensus, with The Pitt and The Studio each earning both their series prize and lead acting trophies. Netflix’s Adolescence dominated the limited-series lane with four wins.
Best Drama Series
Winner: The Pitt (HBO Max)
Best Comedy Series
Winner: The Studio (Apple TV)
Best Actress in a Drama Series
Winner: Rhea Seehorn — Pluribus (Apple TV)
Best Actor in a Drama Series
Winner: Noah Wyle — The Pitt (HBO Max)
Best Actress in a Comedy Series
Winner: Jean Smart — Hacks (HBO Max)
Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Winner: Seth Rogen — The Studio (Apple TV)
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Winner: Tramell Tillman — Severance (Apple TV)
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Winner: Katherine LaNasa — The Pitt (HBO Max)
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Winner: Ike Barinholtz — The Studio (Apple TV)
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Winner: Janelle James — Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Best Limited Series
Winner: Adolescence (Netflix)
Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Winner: Sarah Snook — All Her Fault (Peacock)
Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Winner: Stephen Graham — Adolescence (Netflix)
Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Winner: Owen Cooper — Adolescence (Netflix)
Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Winner: Erin Doherty — Adolescence (Netflix)
Additional Television Categories
- Best Animated Series: South Park (Comedy Central)
- Best Talk Show: Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
- Best Variety Series: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO Max)
- Best Comedy Special: SNL50: The Anniversary Special (NBC)
- Best Foreign Language Series: Squid Game (Netflix)
- Best Movie Made for Television: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (Peacock)

Who Won the Most at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards?
Film wins clustered around two four-trophy titans and one three-trophy Best Picture champion:
- Frankenstein (film): 4 wins — Supporting Actor, Production Design, Costume Design, Hair and Makeup
- Sinners (film): 4 wins — Original Screenplay, Young Actor/Actress, Casting and Ensemble, Score
- One Battle After Another (film): 3 wins — Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay
- F1 (film): 2 wins — Sound, Editing
- KPop Demon Hunters (film): 2 wins — Animated Feature, Song
On television, Adolescence led with four trophies, followed by The Pitt and The Studio with three each. Netflix led all distributors and networks with 12 total Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners — seven for film and five for TV — followed by Warner Bros. with eight and Apple TV and HBO/Max with five each.

Critics Choice Awards 2026 Winners and Awards Season
The Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners list historically shapes Oscar narrative because the Critics Choice Association blends critics and industry voters — closer to Academy tastes than pure critics’ prizes but earlier in the calendar than SAG. One Battle After Another‘s Best Picture win positioned Paul Thomas Anderson’s film as a major Oscar contender, while Timothée Chalamet’s lead actor victory over Michael B. Jordan foreshadowed the later SAG split pundits dissected for weeks.
On television, The Pitt and The Studio reinforced Emmy-Globes-CCA triple-crown narratives before March guild voting. Owen Cooper and Stephen Graham kept Adolescence in every awards conversation. For broader context, cross-link to our SAG Awards vs Oscars predictor explained guide, Golden Globes vs Oscars difference explained primer, and what are the SAG Awards explained. When Academy results publish, see our Oscar nominees 2026 and who won Best Picture at Oscars 2026 for the complete 2026 awards season picture.

Explore More Critics Choice and Awards Season Coverage
- Calendar primer: Hollywood awards season guide
- Golden Globes results: Golden Globes 2026 winners full list
- SAG results: SAG Awards 2026 winners list
- Oscar predictor: SAG Awards vs Oscars predictor explained
- Oscar shortlist: Oscar nominees 2026
- Oscar snubs: Oscar nominations 2026 snubs and surprises
- Visit our Awards category for full ceremony coverage.