Édgar Ramírez’s latest film is already proving to be an awards darling, even though it hasn’t been released in theaters yet…

The New York Film Critics Circle has named Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, which stars the 35-year-old Venezuelan actor as a military member, its film of the year.

The group also named Bigelow its best director for the war drama, which centers on the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Zero Dark Thirty came under criticism from various groups recently, claiming that Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal were granted access to classified documents by the Obama administration while making the film, which chronicles the manhunt that led to the eventual killing of bin Laden in a Navy SEA raid.

Bigelow and Boal went on Nightline last week to deny they had received classified information. “I certainly did a lot of homework, but I never asked for classified materials; to my knowledge, I never received any,” Boal told Martha Raddatz.

Zero Dark Thirty, which also stars Jessica Chastain, Chris Pratt and Joel Edgerton, will be released in U.S. theaters on December 19.