Moonlight, Barry Jenkins’s drama about a young gay black man in Florida, continues to pick up momentum ahead of next year’s Oscars by topping the nominees for the London Critics’ Circle awards. The film is up for best film, director, screenplay, supporting actor, supporting actress, British/Irish actress and technical achievement.
On level pegging, also with seven nominations, is Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendship – an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Lady Susan whose failure to be nominated for a single Golden Globe last week raised eyebrows. That film is also up for best film, director, screenplay and British/Irish actress – it adds nominations for actress, British/Irish actor and British/Irish film.
Chasing their tails is German comedy Toni Erdmann, with six nominations, followed by Oscar frontrunner La La Land, bereavement drama Manchester by the Sea and Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, which each take five.
The nominations diverge quite drastically across the board from those dished out by bodies across the Atlantic. Surprise inclusions stretch from Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough for their supporting roles in American Honey to two foreign-language turns (by Isabelle Huppert and Sandra Huller) in best actress.
The 37th edition of the awards will take place on 22 January, with a ceremony hosted by Sightseers stars Alice Lowe and Steve Oram.
Last year’s best film and best director went to Mad Max: Fury Road, while Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years picked up three prizes.
