The 2021 Seattle Film Critics Society Award Winners

Awards season seriously feels like it runs half the year. It’s not quite that long, but beginning in early (and earlier every year) December and, at least the last couple years, wrapping up with the Oscars in March, it’s not short. 

 

One of the perks of being a film critic is being part of a couple of these groups that gets together each year and casting votes for our favorite movies of a particular year. One of the factions I’m fortunate enough to be a part of, the Seattle Film Critics Society, just announced our awards for 2021.

[Related Reading: The Ten Best Movies of 2021]

 

As usual, I like some of these choices and take great umbrage with others. I love some of these movies but appreciate a few much less. Also, par for the course, I haven’t seen a couple of these, and some of them likely will never get around to viewing. Such is the way. 

[Related Reading: The 50 Most-Anticipated Movies of 2022]

 

I’ll skip my usual spiel about how I hate ranking, grading, and otherwise pitting movies against one another. And the one about how, while some people take these awards deathly serious, I play fast and loose with my nominations and votes. 

[Related Reading: The 2020 SFCS Award Winners]

 

While I may have issue with some of these selections, I do appreciate that the SFCS usually has our own, slightly off-center take on movie awards. We’re a bunch of weirdos and a relatively small group, so things get wacky from time to time. And we have categories like best action choreography and best villain that tend to be more fun than your typical choices. 

[Related Reading: The Top 15 Movies of 2020]

 

All of that said, here are the 2021 Seattle Film Critics Society Award Winners. Make of them what you will. 

 

The 2021 Seattle Film Critics Society Winners:

 

Best Picture of the Year

 

Drive My Car

 

Best Director

 

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car

 

Best Actor in a Leading Role

 

Nicolas Cage – Pig

 

Best Actress in a Leading Role

 

Kristen Stewart – Spencer

 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

 

Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power of the Dog

 

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

 

Ariana DeBose – West Side Story

 

Best Ensemble Cast

 

Mass – Henry Russell Bergstein, Allison Estrin, casting directors

 

Best Action Choreography

 

In the Heights

 

Best Screenplay

 

Drive My Car – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi & Takamasa Oe

 

Best Animated Feature

 

Flee – Jonas Poher Rasmussen, director

 

Best Documentary Feature

 

Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) – Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, director

 

Best Film Not in the English Language

 

Drive My Car – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, director

 

Best Cinematography

 

The Green Knight – Andrew Droz Palermo

 

Best Costume Design

 

The Green Knight – Malgosia Turzanska

 

Best Film Editing

 

Dune – Joe Walker

 

Best Original Score

 

Dune – Hans Zimmer

 

Best Production Design

 

The Green Knight – Jade Healy (Production Design); Jenny Oman (Set Decorator)

 

Best Visual Effects

 

Dune – Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brain Connor, Gerd Nefzer

 

Best Youth Performance

 

Emilia Jones – CODA

 

Villain of the Year

 

Phil Burbank – The Power of the Dog – portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch