'The Rider' Named Best Film Of 2018 By National Society Of Film Critics

One of the most underrated films of 2018, as far as awards season recognition goes, is definitely Chloé Zhao’s incredible work, “The Rider.” The film debuted early in the year (which is always a disadvantage come awards season) to universal acclaim, but never really seemed to have the staying power to really make a dent in the late-year awards conversation. Well, the National Society of Film Critics didn’t get that memo, as it awarded “The Rider” with its Best Picture award.

Not only did “The Rider” get honored as Best Picture, but Chloé Zhao was also named a runner-up in the category of Best Director. This bodes well for her next project, the upcoming Marvel Studios film “The Eternals.”

Joining “The Rider” in the Best Picture conversation were two foreign-language films, “Burning” and “Roma.” While “Roma” is expected to have an incredible awards season haul (already won two Golden Globes), “Burning” is another film that looks to be largely ignored outside of the Best Foreign-language film categories. However, the National Society of Film Critics gave “Burning” even more love, with Steven Yeun earning the Best Supporting Actor award and the film getting runner-up behind “Roma” as Best Foreign Language Film.

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Largely, the National Society of Film Critics didn’t break the mold as far as the folks it honored, but it did go the extra mile to include some of those lesser-known indie films like the aforementioned “The Rider,” as well as “Leave No Trace,” “Support the Girls,” and “The Death of Stalin,” which all earned some recognition.

Here’s the full list of 2018 films honored by the National Society of Film Critics (via Deadline):

Best Picture: The Rider
Runners-Up: Roma, Burning

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Runners-up: Lee Chang-dong, Burning, Chloé Zhao, The Rider

Best Actress: Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Runners-Up: Regina Hall, Support the Girls; Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Runners-Up: Elizabeth Debicki, Widows; Emma Stone, The Favourite

Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
Runners-Up: Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate, Ben Foster, Leave No Trace; John C. Reilly, The Sisters Brothers and Stan & Ollie

Best Supporting Actor: Steven Yeun, Burning
Runners-Up: Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Brian Tyree Henry, If Beale Street Could Talk, Widows, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Best Foreign Language Film: Roma
Runners-up: Cold War, Burning, Shoplifters

Best Non-Fiction Film: Minding the Gap
Runners-Up: Shirkers, Amazing Grace

Best Cinematography: Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Runners-Up: James Laxton, If Beale Street Could Talk; Lukasz Zal, Cold War

Best Screenplay: Armando Iannucci, David Schneider and Ian Martin, The Death of Stalin
Runners-Up: Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, The Favourite