Well how about that?

The 2015 Awards season has officially begun, and The National Board of Review named the summer action tentpole Mad Max: Fury Road Best Film of 2015.

The surreal directorial vision from George Miller (click here for my review) received universal praise when it was released in May, and now this honor all-but-solidifies MM:FR as being a part of the ongoing awards conversation.

Ridley Scott‘s The Martian – another sci-fi blockbuster – took the biggest haul with 3 wins: Director (Scott), Actor (Matt Damon), and Adapted Screenplay (Drew Goddard).

One surprise: early favorites like Carol and Brooklyn (two lush 1950s period pieces) as well as Spotlight (the lauded ensemble drama about the Boston Globe’s 2001 investigation into the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal) were almost entirely ignored, with only Spotlight finding a place in the group’s Top 10.

Here is the full list of winners, including that Top 10.

NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW
Best of 2015

Best Film:  Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Director:  Ridley Scott – The Martian
Best Actor:  Matt Damon – The Martian
Best Actress: Brie Larson – Room
Best Supporting Actor:  Sylvester Stallone – Creed
Best Supporting Actress:  Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Best Original Screenplay:  Quentin Tarantino – The Hateful Eight
Best Adapted Screenplay:  Drew Goddard – The Martian
Best Animated Feature:  Inside Out
Breakthrough Performance:  Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation & Jacob Tremblay – Room
Best Directorial Debut:  Jonas Carpignano – Mediterranea
Best Foreign Language Film:  Son of Saul
Best Documentary:  Amy
William K. Everson Film History Award:  Cecilia De Mille Presley
Best Ensemble:  The Big Short
Spotlight Award:  Sicario, for Outstanding Collaborative Vision
NBR Freedom of Expression Award:  Beasts of No Nation & Mustang

Top Films (their #1 choice, then in alphabetical order)
Mad Max: Fury Road
Bridge of Spies
Creed
The Hateful Eight
Inside Out
Spotlight
The Martian
Room
Sicario
Straight Outta Compton

Top 5 Foreign Language Films
Goodnight Mommy
Mediterranea
Phoenix
The Second Mother
The Tribe

Top 5 Documentaries
Best of Enemies
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
The Diplomat
Listen to Me Marlon
The Look of Silence

Top 10 Independent Films
’71
45 Years
Cop Car
Ex Machina
Grandma
It Follows
James White
Mississippi Grind
Welcome to Me
While We’re Young

Click on the links below to see the Critics Group Awards previously announced so far this season:

New York Film Critics Circle
Boston Society of Film Critics
Los Angeles Film Critics Association