‘Roma’ and ‘The Favourite’ Lead London Critics’ Circle Winners

By Guy Lodge

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – After ruling the U.S. critics’ award circuit, “Roma” continued its dominance on the other side of the pond, as the London Film Critics’ Circle announced its winners tonight. A week after landing seven BAFTA nominations, Alfonso Cuarón’s Mexico City memory piece landed film of the year and director of the year honors from the group — which, its name notwithstanding, includes print, online and broadcast critics from across the U.K.

However, it was Yorgos Lanthimos’s dark historical comedy “The Favourite” that ended the night with the most wins: Having led the Circle’s nominations with 10 bids, it won four, including best actress for Olivia Colman, best supporting actress for Rachel Weisz and the screenplay prize for co-writers Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara. Though it lost the top award, it was named British/Irish film of the year.

Other multiple winners included twisty indie thriller “Beast,” which won British/Irish actress of the year for rising star Jessie Buckley and the breakthrough British/Irish filmmaker award for newcomer Michael Pearce. Also taking a brace of awards was Pawel Pawlikowski’s midcentury romance “Cold War”: In addition to the foreign-language prize, it scooped the group’s technical achievement Award for Lukasz Zal’s crisp black-and-white cinematography.

Other major winners included “First Reformed” star Ethan Hawke and “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” scene-stealer Richard E. Grant — both lavishly rewarded by U.S. critics — who took lead actor and supporting actor honors respectively. Rupert Everett, nominated by the group in multiple categories for directing and starring in the fragmented Oscar Wilde biopic “The Happy Prince,” was named British/Irish actor of the year. Agnes Varda’s “Faces Places,” an Oscar nominee last year but a 2019 release in the U.K., won the documentary prize.

“’s” wins didn’t represent the night’s only triumph for Spanish-language cinema. Veteran auteur Pedro Almodóvar, currently in post-production on his new film “Pain and Glory,” received the Circle’s annual Dilys Powell Award for contribution to cinema, following such recent winners as Kate Winslet, Isabelle Huppert and the late Nicolas Roeg.

The full list of winners:

Film of the Year: “Roma”

Foreign Language Film of the Year: “Cold War”

Documentary of the Year: “Faces Places”

British/Irish Film of the Year: “”

Director of the Year: Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”

Screenwriter of the Year: Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, “The Favourite”

Actress of the Year: Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”

Actor of the Year: Ethan Hawke, “First Reformed”

Supporting Actress of the Year: Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”

Supporting Actor of the Year: Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

British/Irish Actress of the Year: Jessie Buckley, “Beast”

British/Irish Actor of the Year: Rupert Everett, “The Happy Prince”

Young British/Irish Performer of the Year: Molly Wright, “Apostasy”

Breakthrough British/Irish Filmmaker of the Year: Michael Pearce, “Beast”

Technical Achievement of the Year: Lukasz Zal (cinematography), “Cold War”

British/Irish Short Film of the Year: Lara Zeidan, “Three Centimetres”

Dilys Powell Award: Pedro Almodóvar