Finally, a critics group that dares to go against the conventional tide.

Okay, not so much with Get Out, a worthy choice for Best Film that’s actually gaining steam with more and more critics groups. It’s in the lead acting categories, where James McAvoy gets a surprise win for his spectacular turn as the metaphysical multi-personality villain in M. Night Shyamalan‘s Split. In a more honest world, where pure merit mattered over fitting a certain type of Awards Season mold, McAvoy would be in the Oscar conversation.

And speaking of split, there’s the inspired choices for the winner and runner-up in the Best Actress category: Sally Hawkins – for both. The Shape of Water could win her an Oscar, but she’d be just as deserving for Maudie, an inspiring real life tale that ripped my heart out in the best way, primarily because of Hawkins. You might find acting equal to those two performances in 2017, but you won’t find better.

SAN DIEGO FILM CRITICS SOCIETY
2017 Awards

Best Film: Get Out
Runner Up: Lady Bird

Best Director: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Runner Up: Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk

Best Actor: James McAvoy, Split
Runner Up: James Franco, The Disaster Artist

Best Actress: Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Runner Up: Sally Hawkins, Maudie

Best Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Runner Up: Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project

Best Supporting Actress: TIE
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird and Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Best Comedic Performance: Daniel Craig, Logan Lucky
Runner Up: James Franco, The Disaster Artist

Best Ensemble Cast: Mudbound

Best Original Screenplay: Get Out, Jordan Peele
Runner Up:  Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Disaster Artist, Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Runner Up:  Mudbound, Virgil Williams & Dee Rees

Best Animated Film: My Life as a Zucchini
Runner Up: The Boss Baby

Best Foreign-Language Film: Thelma, Norway
Runner Up: BPM (Beats Per Minute), France

Best Documentary: Jane
Runner Up: The Work

Best Cinematography: Dunkirk, Hoyte Van Hoytema
Runner Up: The Lost City of Z, Darius Khondji

Best Editing: Baby Driver, Jonathan Amos & Paul Machliss
Runner Up: Dunkirk, Lee Smith

Best Production Design: The Shape of Water, Paul D. Austerberry
Runner Up: Blade Runner 2049, Alessandora Querzola and Dennis Gassner

Best Costume Design: TIE 
Beauty and the Beast, Jacqueline Durran and Phantom Thread, Mark Bridges

Best Use of Music: Baby Driver
Runner Up: Call Me By Your Name

Best Visual Effects: War for the Planet of the Apes
Runner Up: TIE Beauty and the Beast and Dunkirk

Breakthrough Artist: Timothee Chalamet
Runner Up: Barry Keoghan

Click on links below for other Critics Group Awards and Guild Nominees that have been announced so far for the 2017 / 18 season:

90th Annual Academy Award nominees
Writers Guild of America winners
Directors Guild of America winners
Screen Actors Guild winners
Producers Guild of America winners
Critics Choice Awards winners
Golden Globe Winners
National Society of Film Critics
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle
Chicago Film Critics Association
Atlanta Film Critics Circle
Philadelphia Film Critics Circle
Toronto Film Critics Association
San Francisco Film Critics Circle
Boston Society of Film Critics
Washington D.C. Film Critics Association
AFI Top 10 of 2017
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
New York Film Critics Circle
The National Board of Review