Austin Film Critics Association Calls Killers of the Flower Moon Top Film of 2023

The Austin Film Critics Association has announced its awards for best films of 2023, and Martin Scorsese's historical crime epic Killers of the Flower Moon has taken the top prize.

Based on the "Reign of Terror," in which more than 60 members of the Osage Nation were murdered for the oil money, the film also took the Best Actress award for Lily Gladstone's performance as a woman who barely escaped the fate of so many others and instead helped expose the monstrous crimes. Gladstone's actually a two-time winner, having also been voted by AFCA members as this year's recipient of the Robert R. "Bobby" McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award.

However, while Killers may have taken the top award, it was a bountiful year for Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, which performed an almost perfect clean sweep with eight wins, including for Nolan as writer and director and for Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., and the entire ensemble for their performances.

The AFCA, which draws its membership from working film critics with Austin-area publications, including The Austin Chronicle, also presented the latest Austin Film Award (given to movie by a filmmaker residing in Austin during production) to music documentary Milli Vanilli, directed by Luke Korem.

Find the complete list of winners at austinchronicle.com/screens.

AFCA Top 10 Films of 2023

1) Killers of the Flower Moon

2) Oppenheimer

3) Poor Things

4) Past Lives

5) The Holdovers

6) Godzilla Minus One

7) The Iron Claw

8) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

9) Barbie

10) American Fiction