Todd Field’s “Tár” won another top critics award on Saturday, as the National Society of Film Critics named the dark drama about an imperious director and composer the best film of 2022.
The win gave “Tár” almost a sweep of the top critics awards. The film won first prize from the New York Film Critics Circle and tied for “Everything Everywhere, All At Once” with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. The only other movies to finish in first place with all three groups were “Schindler’s List,” “LA Confidential,” “The Hurt Locker,” “The Social Network,” and “Drive My Car.”
The runner-up in the NSFC’s Best Picture voting was Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun,” followed by Jafar Panahi’s “No Bears.”
“Tár” also won awards for Field’s screenplay and for lead actress Cate Blanchett, who won over Michelle Yeoh for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Tilda Swinton for “The Eternal Daughter” and Michelle Williams for “The Fabelmans.” .
Colin Farrell was named actor of the year for his performances in both “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “After Yang,” with Paul Mescal and Bill Nighy coming in second for “Aftersun” and “Living,” respectively. Supporting Awards went to Kerry Condon for “The Banshees of Inisherin” and Ke Huy Quan for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
“EO” won Best Non-English Language Film, while “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” took Best Documentary.
The National Society of Film Critics consists of 62 critics, although some members abstain from voting if they have not seen enough movies. The group was established in 1966, and for much of its history made best picture choices more idiosyncratic than the Oscars. However, in two of the past three years, the NSFC winner, 2019’s “Parasite” and 2020’s “Nomadland,” has won the Best Picture Oscar. That gave the two organizations five games in the past 13 years, after meeting just four times in the previous 44.
The winners and runners-up, with total points:
BEST PICTURE
1. “Tár” (61 points)
2. “Aftersun” (49 points)
3. “No bears” (32 points)
BEST DIRECTOR
1. Charlotte Wells, “Aftersun” (60 points)
2. Park Chan-wook, “Decision to Leave” (47 points)
3. Jafar Panahi, “Without Bears” (36 points)
BEST ACTRESS
1. Cate Blanchett, “Tár” (59 points)
2. Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere, All At Once” (38 points)
3. Tilda Swinton, “The Eternal Daughter”, and Michelle Williams, “The Fabelmans” (27 points)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Kerry Condon, “The Banshees of Inisherin” (57 points)
2. Nina Hoss, “Tár” (43 points)
3. Dolly de León, “Triangle of sadness” (35 points)
BEST ACTOR
1. Colin Farrell, “After Yang” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” (71 points)
2. Paul Mescal, “Aftersun” (55 points)
3. Bill Nighy, “Living” (33 points)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Ke Huy Quan, “Everything at Once, Everywhere” (45 points)
2. Brian Tyree Henry, “Elevated Causeway” (35 points)
3. Barry Keoghan, “The Banshees of Inisherin” (27 points)
BEST SCREENPLAY
1. Todd Field, “Tár” (61 points)
2. Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin” (42 points)
3. James Gray, “Armageddon Time” (18 points)
BEST FILM NOT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
1. “OE” (43 points)
2. “No bears” (37 points)
3. “Decision to leave” (34 points)
BEST NON-FICTION FILM
1. “All the beauty and the bloodshed” (46 points)
2. “Descendant” (40 points)
3. “Everything that breathes” (27 points)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
one. Michał Dymek, “EO” (62 points)
2. Hoyte van Hoytema, “No” (37 points)
3. Kim Ji-yong, “Decision to Leave” (34 points)
FILM HERITAGE AWARDS
1.Jeanine Basingerone of our most esteemed and important film scholars, whose work at Wesleyan University and beyond has bridged the gap between Hollywood and academia, film studies, and a love of cinema.
2. Screen whiteboardpublished and edited by Jon Dieringer, an essential online daily publication that has done much to build and sustain the communities of filmmakers, theater exhibitors, and film critics in New York City, and by extension, the world at large.
3. Turner Classic Moviesfor a rich variety of programming that spans the depths and breadth of movie history, a service that is too easily taken for granted by audiences and deserves the utmost care and attention from its corporate owners.
DEDICATION
We dedicate our awards to Sheila Benson, an esteemed member of the Society and the warmest and kindest of colleagues. As a film critic for the Los Angeles Times and other publications, she wrote about movies with an infectious joy and enviable skill. We miss her a lot.
