Mad Max didn’t just run away with Furiosa and The Immortan Joe’s wives, he’s also running away with the hearts of film critics everywhere. The fourth film in the influential franchise just won more accolades this year, from The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), who bestowed George Miller’s action epic Mad Max: Fury Road with four awards: Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Director, for Miller himself.
Critics seem eager to reward Mad Max: Fury Road’s propulsive energy, powerful feminism and breathless stunts. They’re also probably eager to keep Mad Max a part of the awards season conversation, since this brand of violent science-fiction rarely resonates with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Awards like this increase the film’s visibility, and make it increasingly like that Miller’s film will be recognized in the non-technical categories (like Best Director and Best Picture) from the various guilds and ultimately the Oscars, but with more conventional dramas like Spotlight and Carol earning awards as well, Mad Max might still be an also-ran when the season is over and done.
Related: Exclusive Interview with ‘Mad Max’ Villain The Immortan Joe
It was a big year for sci-fi at the OFCS; Oscar Isaac also won the award for Best Supporting Actor, for his role in Alex Garland’s artificial intelligence drama Ex Machina. But the OFCS did spread the love to some of those more conventional awards season contenders: Todd Haynes’ 1950s lesbian romance Carol earned awards for Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Phyllis Nagy), Spotlight earned the award for Best Original Screenplay (Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy), and Michael Fassbender received Best Actor for his performance in Steve Jobs.
Related: ‘The Look of Silence’ Director Joshua Oppenheimer Does Crave’s B-Movies Podcast
In other categories, Inside Out won Best Animated Feature (over the indie favorite Anomalisa, Pixar’s only real competition this year), The Assassin won Best Film Not in the English Language and Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence earned the award for Best Documentary. The OFCS, whose members are spread across the entire globe, also use their awards to honor various films that have not been released in the United States.
You can see a list of those films, along with all the other winners, below.
Best Picture:
Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Animated Feature:
Inside Out
Best Film Not in the English Language:
The Assassin (Taiwan)
Best Documentary:
The Look of Silence
Best Director:
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Best Actor:
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Best Supporting Actor:
Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)
Best Supporting Actress:
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Best Original Screenplay:
Spotlight (Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy)
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Carol (Phyllis Nagy)
Best Editing:
Mad Max: Fury Road (Margaret Sixel)
Best Cinematography:
Mad Max: Fury Road (John Seale)
Non-U.S. Films (Alphabetical Order):
Aferim!
Cemetery of Splendor
The Club
Dheepan
The Lobster
Mountains May Depart
Mia Madre
Rams
Right Now, Wrong Then
The Sunset Song
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
