The Seattle Film Critics Society announced their picks for the best of 2020 on the 15th.  Due to the inclement weather, I’m about two days late in sharing this.  All apologies!

Best Picture of the Year
First Cow (A24)
Hamilton (Walt Disney Pictures)
The Invisible Man (Universal)
Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)
Minari (A24)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Palm Springs (NEON/Hulu)
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)

Best Director
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Steve McQueen – Small Axe: Lovers Rock
Kelly Reichardt – First Cow
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods
Steven Yeun – Minari

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Elisabeth Moss – The Invisible Man
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah
Bill Murray – On the Rocks
Leslie Odom, Jr. – One Night in Miami…
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Olivia Colman – The Father
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Yuh-jung Youn – Minari

Best Ensemble Cast
Da 5 Bloods – Kim Coleman, casting director
Judas and the Black Messiah – Alexa L. Fogel, casting director
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Avy Kaufman, casting director
Minari – Julia Kim, casting director
One Night in Miami… – Kimberly Hardin, casting director

Best Action Choreography
Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn
Extraction
The Invisible Man
Monster Hunter
Tenet

Best Screenplay
First Cow – Jon Raymond & Kelly Reichardt
I’m Thinking of Ending Things – Charlie Kaufman
Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
Palm Springs – Andy Siara
Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell

Best Animated Feature
Onward – Dan Scanlon, director
Over the Moon – Glen Keane, John Kahrs, director
Ride Your Wave – Masaaki Yuasa, director
Soul – Pete Docter, director; Kemp Powers, co-director
Wolfwalkers – Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, director

Best Documentary Feature
Boys State – Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss, directors
Collective – Alexander Nanau, director
Dick Johnson is Dead – Kirsten Johnson, director
The History of the Seattle Mariners: Supercut Edition – Jon Bois, director
Time – Garrett Bradley, director

Best Film Not in the English Language
Another Round – Thomas Vinterberg, director
Bacurau – Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho, directors
La Llorona – Jayro Bustamante, director
Minari – Lee Isaac Chung, director
To the Ends of the Earth – Kiyoshi Kurosawa, director

Best Cinematography
First Cow – Christopher Blauvert
Mank – Erik Messerschmidt
News of the World – Dariusz Wolski
Nomadland – Joshua James Richards
Small Axe: Lovers Rock – Shabier Kirchner

Best Costume Design
Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn – Erin Benach
Emma. – Alexandra Byrne
First Cow – April Napier
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Ann Roth
Mank – Trish Summerville

Best Film Editing
Da 5 Bloods – Adam Gough
Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
Tenet – Jennifer Lame
Time – Gabriel Rhodes
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Alan Baumgarten

Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods – Terence Blanchard
Mank – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Minari – Emile Mosseri
Soul – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
Tenet – Ludwig Göransson

Best Production Design
First Cow – Anthony Gasparro (Production Design); Vanessa Knoll (Set Decorator)
Judas and the Black Messiah – Sam Lisenco (Production Design); Rebecca Brown (Set Decorator)
Mank – Donald Graham Burt (Production Design); Jan Pascale (Set Decorator)
News of the World – David Crank (Production Design); Elizabeth Keenan (Set Decorator)
Tenet – Nathan Crowley (Production Design); Kathy Lucas (Set Decorator)

Best Visual Effects
Greyhound – Pete Bebb, Nathan McGuinness, Whitney Richman, Sebastian Theo von Overheidt
The Invisible Man – Jonathan Dearing, Marcus Bolton, Matt Ebb, Aevar Bjarnason
The Midnight Sky – Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, Dave Watkins, Max Soloman
Possessor – Derek Liscoumb, Murray Barber, Bryan Jones
Tenet – Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley, Scott Fisher, Mike Chambers

Best Youth Performance (18 years of age or younger upon start of filming)
Millie Bobby Brown – Enola Holmes
Alan Kim – Minari
Ji-hu Park – House of Hummingbird
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Helena Zengel – News of the World

Villain of the Year
Diane Sherman – Run – portrayed by Sarah Paulson
The Invisible Man/Adrian Griffin – The Invisible Man – portrayed by Oliver Jackson-Cohen
Judge Julius Hoffman – The Trial of the Chicago 7 – portrayed by Frank Langella
Michael – Bacurau – portrayed by Udo Kier
Roman Sionis – Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn – portrayed by Ewan McGregor