Poor Things Tops Houston Film Critics Awards

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 22, 2024) — Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos’ flamboyant celebration of a woman searching for herself – captured top honors from the Houston Film Critics Society in its 17th Annual Awards.

In addition to Best Picture of 2023, the Society also named Emma Stone the year’s Best Actress and honored the film’s visual effects.

“In a year full of established directors making new works at a time when audiences rediscovered the joy of going to a cinema, our critics favored the weird above all others,” says Travis Leamons, President of the organization. “Each year, our members spend hundreds of hours searching for and sharing their experiences with cinema. While it may be too early to declare, 2023 ranks as one of best movie years in recent memory.”

The Holdovers garnered two awards for acting, one for Paul Giamatti as a teacher examining the impact of isolation, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as a voice of truth during the instructor’s search. Christopher Nolan was named Best Director for the epic biography Oppenheimer, a film also cited for its cinematography.

Named the year’s Best Ensemble Cast were the actors in Killers of the Flower Moon – including Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone – while Chocolate Lizards, a look at a failed actor in Buffalo Gap, won the Texas Independent Film Award for the best movie made in the state.

2023 Houston Film Critics Society Award Winners