After the holiday pause, awards season has returned.
Sunday afternoon saw the Critics Choice Awards kick off the new year at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif., with a red carpet stretched beneath a hazy gray sky for the season’s first major event.
François Arnaud seemed almost caught off guard by how quickly the moment had arrived. Fresh off the breakout success of “Heated Rivalry,” currently the most talked-about show, he admitted he was trying to keep perspective.
“I try not to think about it too much,” he said of the hype. “It’s very exciting. It’s a bit overwhelming. You always want to do things that people connect with, and the response has been insane, especially for something that we thought might be a bit more niche.”
Wearing a Saint Laurent suit paired with a silk top, Arnaud framed fashion as both grounding and expressive: “I just like the classic elegance of it, and I do love a little silk moment. It’s like a warm hug through the day.”
It was his first time attending the ceremony, and amid the swirl of attention, there was one person he was especially hoping to see.
“Right now, I would say Amy Madigan from ‘Weapons,’” he said. “She just blew my mind. Such an inspiration. I’m kind of jealous. Those are the kinds of parts that I also want to play, you know, push the boundaries of what’s acceptable.”
Not long after, Madigan — who took home Best Supporting Actress — appeared on the carpet. She arrived in Dior, wearing an embroidered denim look styled by Andrew Gelwicks.
“I’m living in California,” she said of the ensemble. “It just feels really good.”
Reflecting on playing Gladys Lilly in the horror film, she recalled the moment she first connected with the character.
“Reading the script, I knew it was a great role,” she said, before stopping mid-sentence as cheers erupted nearby.
It was Teyana Taylor zooming past.
“Oh, someone’s having a good time,” Madigan laughed. Realizing it was Taylor, who was nominated in the same category, she added, “She’s so good, isn’t she? My God, she deserves all the attention. That’s the nice thing, women are here in force.”
That force carried over down the carpet. Mia Goth — arriving in a silk Dior gown by Jonathan Anderson — looked back on “Frankenstein” and the lessons that emerged over the course of the project, saying the biggest was learning to trust herself more.
“To not have so many doubts and to be more fearless,” she said. “It’s been an incredible journey.”
For Goth, the path into character as Lady Elizabeth Harlander began with costume.
“I definitely found her from the outside in,” she explained. Working closely with costume designer Kate Hawley, and with del Toro present at fittings, the transformation became physical. “Putting the pieces on and finally seeing her for those very first moments…they changed the way that I walked and how I stood, and it gave me a lot.”
“Frankenstein” went on to win Best Costume Design, Hair and Makeup and Best Supporting Actor for Jacob Elordi — a recognition that reinforced just how much labor went into building the film’s world. Elordi said he spent nine to 11 hours a day in the makeup chair.
It’s familiar territory for special effects makeup artist Mike Fontaine, who worked on Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” and Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” back-to-back.
“Timothée [Chalamet] is very detail oriented,” Fontaine said of working with the film’s star, who took home Best Actor. “He has an incredible eye. He brings a lot of his own ideas to the table, and they elevate the work.”
The work was so seamless it all but disappeared; on set, Gwyneth Paltrow had mistaken Chalamet’s character makeup for real skin issues and suggested he try microneedling.
“Josh said, ‘Gwyneth, Timmy’s skin is flawless. That’s makeup,’” Fontaine recalled. “I take it as a great compliment.”
Elsewhere in the film categories, the night’s top honors went to “One Battle After Another,” which won Best Picture, while Paul Thomas Anderson was named Best Director.
Television had its own defining moment with “The Pitt,” which would go on to sweep the evening, winning Best Drama Series, Best Leading Actor in a Drama for Noah Wyle and Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for Katherine LaNasa.
Patrick Ball, attending in Thom Browne, spoke about the momentum surrounding the show and how quickly it has unfolded: “This train just keeps rolling. It’s surreal.”
Costume as a gateway to character echoed again with Erin Doherty, winner of Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television for “Adolescence.”
“When you put that costume on for the first time, something shifts,” she said. “People walk differently, carry their weight differently. Costume is so important to those real nuances of who someone is.”
That belief was shared by Malgosia Turzanska, the costume designer for “Hamnet,” who arrived in a dress she designed herself.
“This is made out of a shower curtain,” she said of the gown, noting the exaggerated hips were built from foam blocks. Later, Jessie Buckley would win Best Actress for the film.
Animation also had its spotlight, with “KPop Demon Hunters” taking Best Animated Feature and Best Song for “Golden.”
“The movie started with just me at one point seven years ago, and I really just wanted to make a movie with Korean women and Korean culture,” said creator and codirector Maggie Kang. “To see it become something so many people connected with meant so much to me. It doesn’t matter where a story comes from or what culture it’s rooted in, it’s all relatable. And we need to focus more on global storytelling, because that’s the future of filmmaking and stories.”
