Netflix's Roma has been named the best film of the year by New York critics

Roma.
(Image credit: Carlos Somonte)

Netflix just took home a major victory in the ongoing race to the Oscars.

The New York Film Critics Circle on Thursday named Alfonso Cuarón's Roma, a Netflix original film, the best movie of 2018. Cuarón also took home the awards for best director and best cinematography. These winners are determined by by New York-based film critics, and their choices each year are often aligned with the eventual Academy Award nominations. Since 2008, every movie that won best film at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards has also earned an Academy Award nomination except for one: 2015's Carol. Only three times in the past decade has the same film won both awards, though: No Country for Old Men, The Hurt Locker, and The Artist. Last year, New York's critics awarded Lady Bird the top prize, but it did not win any Oscars.

Meanwhile, First Reformed also had a great showing at the awards, with Ethan Hawke taking best actor and Paul Schrader taking best screenplay after previously winning the equivalent prize at the Gotham Awards and the National Board of Review Awards. Regina Hall surprised by winning best actress for her work in Support the Girls, while Richard E. Grant was awarded best supporting actor for Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Regina King took best supporting actress for If Beale Street Could Talk. Bo Burnham's directorial debut Eighth Grade also won the award for best first film, while Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse took best animated film.

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Roma's big win comes after the The Rider won the top prize at the Gotham Awards and after the National Board of Review named Green Book the best film of the year. Read the full results at Deadline. Brendan Morrow

Editor's note: A previous version of this article misspelled Richard E. Grant's name. It has been corrected. We regret the error.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.