On January 26, 2021 the New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) voted virtually for the first time in the group’s 21-year history. Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari won the group’s Best Picture prize, making this the third consecutive year that a foreign language film won the group’s top honor.
Nomadland’s director Chloé Zhao won Best Director for her drama, while Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman took honors for Screenplay, Debut Director, and for its star, Carey Mulligan. Sound of Metal star Riz Ahmed received the honor for Best Actor, while Leslie Odom, Jr. earned Supporting Actor honors for One Night in Miami.
The Supporting Actress category featured a tie between Ellen Burstyn for Pieces of a Woman and Youn Yuh-jung for Minari, and Breakthrough Performer tied Maria Bakalova of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm with Kingsley Ben-Adir of One Night in Miami.
The Ensemble Cast award went to Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7.
PICTURE
Minari (A24)
DIRECTOR
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland
ACTOR
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
ACTRESS
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Leslie Odom, Jr. – One Night in Miami
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ellen Burstyn – Pieces of a Woman (tie)
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari (tie)
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (tie)
Kingsley Ben-Adir – One Night in Miami (tie)
DEBUT DIRECTOR
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
DOCUMENTARY
The Way I See It – Magnolia Pictures
ANIMATED FEATURE
Soul – Disney/Pixar
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Minari
ENSEMBLE CAST
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Netflix
SCREENPLAY
Promising Young Woman – Screenwriter Emerald Fennell
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Nomadland – Joshua James Richards
USE OF MUSIC
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Music by Branford Marsalis
TOP TEN PICTURES (Alphabetical)
The Assistant (Bleecker Street)
First Cow (A24)
I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Minari (A24)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Tommaso (Kino Lorber)
The Trial of the Chicago Seven (Netflix)