Critics Choice to Oscars: Does ‘One Battle After Another’ Need Acting or Tech Wins? Is Jacob Elordi the New Frontrunner?

The 31st Critics Choice Awards winners both reflected where much of the industry sees the Oscar race — and, in key ways, upended it.

With the Golden Globes arriving next Sunday night and Oscar nomination voting opening the next day on Monday morning, the Cca ceremony served as one of the final, meaningful data points before Academy members begin filling out ballots. In that context, Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” sweeping best picture, director and adapted screenplay sends an unmistakable message to the rest of the field: this is the film to beat. Historically, that combination is Oscar catnip — a filmmaker-driven vision paired with broad, cross-branch support.

In the preferential-ballot era, breadth routinely defeats intensity, and “One Battle After Another” now looks like the title most capable of surviving every round of redistribution.

And yet, the sweep also comes with a built-in asterisk. Critics don’t vote for the Oscars.