Penelope Cruz is the Society’s choice…

The National Society of Film Critics has announced the winners of its 2021 film awards, with the 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress among the honorees.

Cruz was named Best Actress for her performance in Pedro Almodovar’s Spanish-language film Parallel Mothers, with 55 points.

The NSFC features elected and eligible members from major media outlets. The annual awards honors the best in acting, direction, writing, cinematography and more across onscreen and streaming releases in the US.

Any film that opened in the US on a screen or streaming platform during the year is eligible for consideration.

The 60-members NSFC include critics from major papers and outlets in Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago including from outlets Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, the New Yorker, the Christian Science Monitor and NPR.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Picture:

WINNER: DRIVE MY CAR (48 points)

RUNNERS-UP:
PETITE MAMAN (25 points)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (23 points)

Director:

WINNER: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, DRIVE MY CAR and WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY (46 points)

RUNNERS-UP:
Jane Campion, THE POWER OF THE DOG (36 points)
Céline Sciamma, PETITE MAMAN (28 points)

Actress:

WINNER: Penélope Cruz, PARALLEL MOTHERS (55 points)

RUNNERS-UP:
Renate Reinsve, THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (42 points)
Alana Haim, LICORICE PIZZA (32 points)

Actor:

WINNER: Hidetoshi Nishijima, DRIVE MY CAR (63 points)

RUNNERS-UP:
Benedict Cumberbatch, THE POWER OF THE DOG (44 points)
Simon Rex, RED ROCKET (30 points)

Supporting Actress:

WINNER: Ruth Negga, PASSING (46 points)

RUNNERS-UP:
Ariana DeBose, WEST SIDE STORY (22 points)
Jessie Buckley, THE LOST DAUGHTER (21 points)

Supporting Actor:

WINNER: Anders Danielsen Lie, THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (54 points)

RUNNER-UPS:
Vincent Lindon, TITANE (33 points)
Mike Faist, WEST SIDE STORY, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, THE POWER OF THE DOG (26 points)

Screenplay:

WINNER: Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe, DRIVE MY CAR (46 points)

RUNNERS-UP:
Pedro Almodóvar, PARALLEL MOTHERS (22 points)
Paul Thomas Anderson, LICORICE PIZZA (20 points)

Cinematography:

WINNER: Andrew Droz Palermo, THE GREEN KNIGHT (52 points)

RUNNERS-UP:
Ari Wegner, THE POWER OF THE DOG (40 points)
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, MEMORIA (35 points)

Nonfiction Film:

WINNER: FLEE (41 points)

RUNNERS-UP:
PROCESSION and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (28 points)

Film Heritage Award:

The late Bertrand Tavernier and Peter Bogdanovich, distinguished critic-filmmakers who never lost their passion for other people’s movies and film history. Both crowned their careers with invaluable chronicles of their engagement with the cinema: Tavernier with the books “50 Years of American Cinema and American Friends,” and Bogdanovich with the books “Who the Devil Made It” and “Who the Hell’s In It?”

Maya Cade for the Black Film Archive, which expands knowledge of and access to Black films made between 1915 and 1979, and includes her critical essays that define the project and consider the films in relation to each other and to the cinema overall.

Special Citation for a Film Awaiting U.S. Distribution: Jean-Gabriel Périot’s documentary “Returning to Reims,” which draws on Didier Eribon’s 2009 memoir about his French hometown and the inequities of class and education that shaped him and his family.