'All of Us Strangers' leads Critics' Circle Film Awards nominations

Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The London Film Critics' Circle has announced the nominations for the Critics' Circle Film Awards.

The 44th annual ceremony will take place Feb. 4 at May Fair Hotel in London.

All of Us Strangers, a drama written and directed by Andrew Haigh and starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, leads the nominees with nine nominations, including Film of the Year.

The movie is based on the Taichi Yamada novel Strangers and follows Adam (Scott), a man who develops a relationship with his neighbor Harry (Mescal) after a chance encounter.

Oppenheimer follows with seven nominations, while Past Lives, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest have six nominations each. Barbie is up for five awards.

All of Us Strangers, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Poor Things, The Zone of Interest and Barbie will compete for Film of the Year with Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon and May December.

Other Critics' Circle Film Awards nominations include:

Director of the Year

Greta Gerwig, Barbie

Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

Actress of the Year

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall

Greta Lee, Past Lives

Carey Mulligan, Maestro

Emma Stone, Poor Things

Actor of the Year

Bradley Cooper, Maestro

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers

Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

In addition, Jeffrey Wright will receive the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film.

"We are thrilled to present such an iconic actor as Jeffrey Wright with the Dilys Powell Award. And we are planning another special award as well, new this year, to be announced soon. As always, our nominees stand out from other awards because our members actually take the time to watch all of the year's films," Critics' Circle Film Section chair Rich Cline said in a press release.

"So these nominations represent a cross-section of the very best movies we saw in 2023. Instead of being critical, it's nice to celebrate films, filmmakers and performances that deserve attention."