Michigan Movie Critics Guild Announces Winners for the Best of 2023

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: