Daniel Craig, Jon M. Chu, & More Honored by The National Board of Review- Full List of Awards

The National Board of Review (NBR) has announced their 2024 honorees, with top awards including Wicked for Best Film; Jon M. Chu for Best Director for Wicked; Daniel Craig for Best Actor for Queer; and Nicole Kidman for Best Actress for Babygirl. This year, the NBR will present the NBR Spotlight Award to Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande for their creative collaboration in Wicked.

Established in 1909, the NBR recognizes excellence in filmmaking. This year, 246 films were viewed by a select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, academics, and students, many of which were followed by in-depth discussions with directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters. Ballots were tabulated by the accounting firm of Lutz and Carr CPA.

The National Board of Review’s awards celebrate the art of cinema, with categories that include Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Actress, Best Original and Adapted Screenplay, Breakthrough Performance, Best Directorial Debut, Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography and Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry.

The honorees will be fêted at the NBR Awards Gala, hosted by Willie Geist (Host, NBC News’ Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist and co-host, MSNBC’s Morning Joe) on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at Cipriani 42nd Street, in New York City.

2024 Award Recipients

Best Film:  Wicked

Best Director:  Jon M. Chu, Wicked

Best Actor: Daniel Craig, Queer

Best Actress: Nicole Kidman, Babygirl

Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain

Best Supporting Actress: Elle Fanning, A Complete Unknown

Best Ensemble: Conclave

Breakthrough Performance: Mikey Madison, Anora

Best Directorial Debut: India Donaldson, Good One

Best Original Screenplay: Mike Leigh, Hard Truths

Best Adapted Screenplay: Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar, Sing Sing

NBR Spotlight Award: Creative Collaboration of Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: No Other Land

Best Animated Feature: Flow

Best International Film: The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Best Documentary: Sugarcane

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu

Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Top Films (in alphabetical order):

Anora

Babygirl

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Gladiator II

Juror #2

Queer

A Real Pain

Sing Sing

Top 5 International Films (in alphabetical order):

All We Imagine as Light

The Girl with the Needle

I’m Still Here

Santosh

Universal Language

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order):

Black Box Diaries

Dahomey

Look Into My Eyes

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Will & Harper

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order):

Bird

A Different Man

Dìdi

Ghostlight

Good One

Hard Truths

His Three Daughters

Love Lies Bleeding

My Old Ass

Thelma

ABOUT THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW

Since 1909, the National Board of Review has dedicated its efforts to the support of cinema as both art and entertainment. Each year, this select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals and academics participates in illuminating discussions with directors, actors, producers and screenwriters before announcing their selections for the best work of the year.  Since first citing year-end cinematic achievements in 1929, NBR has recognized a vast selection of outstanding studio, independent, foreign-language, animated and documentary films, often propelling recipients such as Peter Farrelly’s Green Book and George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road into the larger awards conversation. In addition, one of the organization’s core values is identifying new talent and nurturing young filmmakers by awarding promising talent with Directorial Debut and Breakthrough Performance awards as well as grants to rising film students. With its continued efforts to assist up-and-coming artists in completing and presenting their work, NBR honors its commitment to not just identifying the best that current cinema has to offer, but also ensuring the quality of films for future generations to come.

Photo Credits: Mike Coppola/Dimitrios Kambouris/Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for BAFTA and Bruce Glikas

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