The 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards handed out trophies for achievements in film and television for the 2022 calendar year, and given that the voting body is made up of critics, one might assume that the titles with the highest Metascores would be shoo-ins to take home this prize.
By that logic, the Best Picture winner would be Tár, which earned a Metascore of 91, while Best Comedy would go to The Banshees of Inisherin, which earned a Metascore of 87. Best Animated Film would go to Turning Red, with a Metascore of 83, and Best Foreign Language Film would be Decision to Leave, which has a Metascore of 84.
Meanwhile, the television series winners would be Better Call Saul (Metascore: 86) in the drama series category; Barry, The Bear, or Better Things (all with Metascores of 88) in the comedy series category, and This Is Going to Hurt (Metascore: 91) in the limited series category. And the Best Movie Made for Television would go to either Prey or The Survivor, which both have Metascores of 71. (The other TV categories include some nominees that do not have Metascores, which makes it unfair to assess those categories this way.)
However, the voting body that decides the winners of the Critics Choice Awards does not solely include Metacritic-approved critics. So while the Metascore is a good indicator of what will be nominated, it's harder to use it alone to predict wins. Therefore, there were quite a few surprises among the winners, especially if you were using critical acclaim as the metric by which to prognosticate.
How did the above critical darlings fare? Read on for the complete list of winners, the other nominees, and their Metascores.
Did this voting body get it right or even do what you expected given how critics responded to the projects with their reviews? Sound off in the comments and/or on social to let us know what you think!
Editor's Note: The Metascore is the number in parentheses next to the title. Also, Janelle Monáe accepted this year's See Her Award and Jeff Bridges received this ceremony's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once (81)
Other nominees: Avatar: The Way of Water (67), Babylon (61), The Banshees of Inisherin (87), Elvis (64), The Fabelmans (84), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (81), RRR (83), Tár (91), Top Gun: Maverick (78), Women Talking (78)
Winner: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (81)
Other nominees: The Banshees of Inisherin (87), Bros (72), Everything Everywhere All at Once (81), Triangle of Sadness (63), The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (68)
Winner: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (79)
Other nominees: Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (81), Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (75), Turning Red (83), Wendell & Wild (69)
Winner: RRR (83)
Other nominees: All Quiet on the Western Front (76); Argentina, 1985 (78); Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (53); Close (83), Decision to Leave (84)
Winner: Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
Other nominees: Austin Butler (Elvis), Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Paul Mescal (Aftersun), Bill Nighy (Living)
Winner: Cate Blanchett (Tár)
Other nominees: Viola Davis (The Woman King), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Margot Robbie (Babylon), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans), Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Winner: Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Other nominees: Paul Dano (The Fabelmans), Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin), Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans), Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway)
Winner: Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Other nominees: Jessie Buckley (Women Talking), Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin), Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Janelle Monáe, (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery)
Winner: Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans)
Other nominees: Frankie Corio (Aftersun), Jalyn Hall (Till), Bella Ramsey (Catherine Called Birdy), Banks Repeta (Armageddon Time), Sadie Sink (The Whale)
Winner: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Other nominees: The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans, The Woman King, Women Talking
Winner: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Other nominees: James Cameron (Avatar: The Way of Water), Damien Chazelle (Babylon), Todd Field (Tár), Baz Luhrmann (Elvis), Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin), Sarah Polley (Women Talking), Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King), S.S. Rajamouli (RRR), Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)
Winner: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Other nominees: Todd Field (Tár), Martin McDonagh (The Bansheed of Inisherin), Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner (The Fabelmans), Charlotte Wells (Aftersun)
Winner: Sarah Polley (Women Talking)
Other nominees: Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale), Kazuo Ishiguro (Living), Rian Johnson (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), Rebecca Lenkiewicz (She Said)
Winner: Claudio Miranda (Top Gun: Maverick)
Other nominees: Russell Carpenter (Avatar: The Way of Water), Roger Deakins (Empire of Light), Florian Hoffmeister (Tár), Janusz Kaminski (The Fabelmans), Linus Sandgren (Babylon)
Winner: Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino (Babylon)
Other nominees: Hannah Beachler and Lisa K. Sessions (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever); Rick Carter and Karen O'Hara (The Fabelmans); Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, and Vanessa Cole (Avatar: The Way of Water); Jason Kisvarday and Kelsi Ephraim (Everything Everywhere All at Once); Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, and Bev Dunn (Elvis)
Winner: Paul Rogers (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Other nominees: Tom Cross (Babylon); Eddie Hamilton (Top Gun: Maverick); Stephen Rivkin, David Brenner, John Refoua, and James Cameron (Avatar: The Way of Water); Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond (Elvis); Monika Willi (Tár)
Winner: Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Other nominees: Jenny Eagan (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), Shirley Kurata (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Catherine Martin (Elvis), Gersha Phillips (The Woman King), Mary Zophres (Babylon)
Winner: Elvis
Other nominees: Babylon, The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Whale
Winner: Avatar: The Way of Water
Other nominees: The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Everything Everywhere All at Once, RRR, Top Gun: Maverick
Winner: Hildur Guðnadóttir (Tár)
Other nominees: Alexandre Desplat (Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio), Michael Giacchino (The Batman), Hildur Guðnadóttir (Women Talking), Justin Hurwitz (Babylon), John Williams (The Fabelmans)
Winner: "Naatu Naatu" from RRR
Other nominees: "Carolina" from Where the Crawdads Sing, "Ciao Papa" from Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, "Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick, "Lift Me Up" from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, "New Body Rhumba" from White Noise
Winner: Better Call Saul (86)
Other nominees: Andor (74), Bad Sisters (79), The Crown (80), Euphoria (70), The Good Fight (80), House of the Dragon (69), Severance (83), Yellowstone (57)
Winner: Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)
Other nominees: Jeff Bridges (The Old Man), Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us), Diego Luna (Andor), Adam Scott (Severance), Antony Starr (The Boys)
Winner: Zendaya (Euphoria)
Other nominees: Christine Baranski (The Good Fight), Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters), Laura Linney (Ozark), Mandy Moore (This Is Us), Kelly Reilly (Yellowstone)
Winner: Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul)
Other nominees: Andre Braugher (The Good Fight), Ismael Cruz Córdova (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Michael Emerson (Evil), John Lithgow (The Old Man), Matt Smith (House of the Dragon)
Winner: Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus)
Other nominees: Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon), Carol Burnett (Better Call Saul), Julia Garner (Ozark), Audra McDonald (The Good Fight), Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul)
Winner: Abbott Elementary (83)
Other nominees: Barry (88), The Bear (88), Better Things (88), Ghosts (71), Hacks (85), Reboot (71), Reservation Dogs (87)
Winner: Jeremy Allen White (The Bear)
Other nominees: Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows), Bill Hader (Barry), Keegan-Michael Key (Reboot), Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building), D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs)
Winner: Jean Smart (Hacks)
Other nominees: Christina Applegate (Dead to Me), Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary), Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Girls5eva), Devery Jacobs (Reservation Dogs)
Winner: Henry Winkler (Barry)
Other nominees: Brandon Scott Jones (Ghosts), Leslie Jordan (Call Me Kat), James Marsden (Dead to Me), Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary), Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary)
Winner: Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary)
Other nominees: Paulina Alexis (Reservation Dogs), Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), Marcia Gay Harden (Uncoupled), Janelle James (Abbott Elementary), Annie Potts (Young Sheldon)
Winner: The Dropout (75)
Other nominees: Gaslit (70), The Girl From Plainville (74), The Offer (48), Pam & Tommy (70), Station Eleven (81), This Is Going to Hurt (91), Under the Banner of Heaven (71)
Winner: Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (70)
Other nominees: Fresh (67), Prey (71), Ray Donovan: The Movie (67), The Survivor (71), Three Months (68)
Winner: Daniel Radcliffe (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story)
Other nominees: Ben Foster (The Survivor), Andrew Garfield (Under the Banner of Heaven), Samuel L. Jackson (The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey), Sebastian Stan (Pam & Tommy), Ben Whishaw (This Is Going to Hurt)
Winner: Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout)
Other nominees: Julia Garner (Inventing Anna), Lily James (Pam & Tommy), Amber Midthunder (Prey), Michelle Pfeiffer (The First Lady), Julia Roberts (Gaslit)
Winner: Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird)
Other nominees: Murray Bartlett (Welcome to Chippendales), Domhnall Gleeson (The Patient), Matthew Goode (The Offer), Ray Liotta (Black Bird), Shea Whigham (Gaslit)
Winner: Niecy Nash-Betts (Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story)
Other nominees: Claire Danes (Fleishman Is in Trouble), Dominique Fishback (The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey), Betty Gilpin (Gaslit), Melanie Lynskey (Candy), Juno Temple (The Offer)
Winner: Pachinko (87)
Other nominees: 1899 (66), Borgen (87), Extraordinary Attorney Woo (N/A), Garcia! (N/A), The Kingdom Exodus (N/A), Kleo (N/A), My Brilliant Friend (89), Tehran (72)
Winner: Harley Quinn (88)
Other nominees: Bluey (N/A), Bob's Burgers (60), Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal (91), Star Trek: Lower Decks (59), Undone (86)
Winner: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (76)
Other nominees: The Amber Ruffin Show (N/A), Full Frontal With Samantha Bee (84), The Kelly Clarkson Show (N/A), Late Night With Seth Meyers (61), Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen (N/A)
Winner: Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special (78)
Other nominees: Fortune Feimster: Good Fortune (N/A), Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel (94), Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual (76), Nikki Glaser: Good Clean Filth (N/A), Would It Kill You to Laugh? Starring Kate Berlant & John Early (N/A)