Atonement leads charge for Critics' Circle Film Awards

Joe Wright's drama nominated in eight categories.

by Amber Wilkinson

Atonement - fresh from a slew of Golden Globe nominations - leads the pack vying for the London Critics' Circle Film Awards.

The Epic British drama, directed by Joe Wright, leads the list of nominees with eight nominations, including The Attenborough Award for British Film of the Year, British Actor of the Year for James McAvoy and British Actress of the Year for Keira Knightley.

Angelina Jolie, George Clooney and Sienna Miller are also among the stars nominated for the 28th Critics’ Circle Film Awards to be held in aid of the NSPCC, on Friday February 8 at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.

Atonement faces tough competition for British Film of the Year from Once, Control, Eastern Promises and This Is England. Summer blockbuster The Bourne Ultimatum will need to see off No Country For Old Men, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, There Will Be Blood, and Zodiac to be crowned Film of the Year.

The awards ceremony will be presented by broadcasters Mariella Frostrup and Paul Gambaccini.

The full list of nominees is below:

Film of the Year


There Will Be Blood

The Attenborough Award for British Film of the Year




Director of the Year
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck -
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Joel and Ethan Coen –
David Fincher –
Cristian Mungiu –

British Director of the Year
Anton Corbijn –
Paul Greengrass –
Shane Meadows –
Joe Wright –
Danny Boyle –

Actor of the Year
Ulrich Mühe –
Casey Affleck –
George Clooney –
Tommy Lee Jones – In the Valley of Elah
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood

Actress of the Year
Laura Linney – The Savages
Marion Cotillard –
Maggie Gyllenhaal –
Angelina Jolie –
Anamaria Marinca –

British Actor of the Year
Sam Riley –
James McAvoy –
Christian Bale –
Jim Broadbent -
Jonny Lee Miller –

British Actress of the Year
Samantha Morton –
Julie Christie –
Keira Knightley –
Helena Bonham Carter – Sweeney Todd
Sienna Miller – Interview

British Actor in a Supporting Role
Tom Wilkinson –
Toby Jones –
Alfred Molina –
Toby Kebell –
Albert Finney – Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead

British Actress in a Supporting Role
Saoirse Ronan –
Imelda Staunton –
Tilda Swinton –
Kelly Macdonald –
Vanessa Redgrave –

Screenwriter of the Year
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck –
Joel and Ethan Coen –
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Ronald Harwood – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Christopher Hampton –

British Breakthrough – Acting
Saoirse Ronan –
Sam Riley –
Thomas Turgoose –
Benedict Cumberbatch –
Dakota Blue Richards –

British Breakthrough – Film-making
John Carney, writer and director –
Sarah Gavron, director –
Anton Corbijn, director –
Matt Greenhalgh, writer –
Stevan Riley, writer, director, producer –

Foreign Language Film of the Year
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days


Share this with others on...

Movies out this week include:

Bridesmaids Enzo Savage House
News

Uncovering everyday moments Alvin Hall and Sam Pollard on uncovering the history of The Lorraine

Driven by love and capitalism Director Pierre Le Gall on the themes of Flesh and Fuel

The ultimate act of friendship Robin Campillo on picking up the threads from the late Laurent Cantet

Reaching for a better future Daniel E Catullo, Julie DeVercelly and Gary DeVercelly on hazing and 4000 Days

Escaping perfection Andrew Durham on adapting Alysia Abbott's memoir Fairyland

Playing it safe Will Bates on early musical influences and scoring Tuner

Farewell to Anthony Head Much-loved star dies at 72

More news and features

We're bringing you news, reviews and more from ImagineNative and Tribeca.



We're looking forward to Docs Ireland and the Fantasia International Film Festival.



We've recently brought you coverage of Cannes, Queer East, the San Francisco Independent Film Festival, Visions du Réel, Fantaspoa, Overlook, BFI Flare and SXSW, the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival and the NY Rendezvous with French Cinema.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.

Interact

Don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon and Bluesky.


It's a busy time for festivals and here's the latest:


Fantasia Second wave of titles announced


Tribeca Artistic director Frédéric Boyer discusses the highlights of this year's edition


Cannes The 2026 Palme d'Or has gone to Fjord


Cannes Everytime wins Un Certain Regard prize


Cannes Yuri wins Palm Dog for La Perra


Cannes La Gradiva tops Critics' Week awards