The New York Film Critics Circle honored the very arthouse films that the National Board of Review ignored.

A day after the NBR got the 2015 Awards Season rolling by naming Mad Max: Fury Road the Best Film Of The Year, the critics of New York chose Carol, the universally acclaimed 1950s period piece about a star-crossed lesbian love affair (based on the Patricia Highsmith novel “The Price Of Salt”, which was published in the 50s).

Best Director went to Carol auteur Todd Haynes, as did Best Screenplay (Phyllis Nagy). Another lush 1950s love story, Brooklyn, nabbed Best Actress for Saoirse Ronan, and Best Actor went to Michael Keaton for his uncharacteristically-restrained role as a Boston Globe editor in Spotlight.

Here is the complete list of winners:

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE
2015 Awards

Best Film – Carol
Best Director- Todd Haynes, Carol
Best Screenplay – Carol (Phyllis Nagy)
Best Actress – Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Best Actor – Michael Keaton, Spotlight
Best Supporting Actress – Kristen Stewart, Clouds Of Sils Maria
Best Supporting Actor – Mark Rylance, Bridge Of Spies
Best Cinematographer – Edward Lachman, Carol
Best Animated Film – Inside Out
Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary) – In Jackson Heights
Best Foreign Film – Timbuktu
Best First Film – László Nemes, Son Of Saul
Special Award – William Becker and Janus Films
Special Award – Ennio Morricone

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

National Board of Review
Boston Society of Film Critics
Los Angeles Film Critics Association