The host of the 2023 Spirit Awards, Hasan Minhaj, suggested in his monologue that Cate Blanchett was the one to beat at this year’s awards.
But instead, Blanchett and her film Tár nearly went home empty-handed, only winning one of the seven awards for which it was nominated. The Focus film won in the best cinematography category but lost in the other categories in which it was nominated.
Tár wasn’t the only movie with multiple Spirit Awards nominations to fail to win, as Everything Everywhere All at Once’s dominance meant that the following films, all of which were up for several awards, were also shut out: Four-time nominee Palm Trees and Power Lines and three-time nominees Bones and All, starring Timothée Chalamet; The Inspection; and Murina.
Women Talking also lost all of the competitive awards for which it was nominated, three, only accepting the previously-announced prize of the Robert Altman Award, which still gave the Sarah Polley-written and -directed feature some time in the spotlight. Producer and actress Frances McDormand also attended the Spirit Awards and was shown in a few cutaway shots.
Faring slightly better were five-time nominee Aftersun, which won best first feature but unfortunately failed to win anything else; The Cathedral, which won the John Cassavetes Award but lost on its other two nominations; and Emily the Criminal, which won best first screenplay but lost on its three other nominations. Aftersun‘s Paul Mescal and Emily the Criminal‘s Aubrey Plaza got some face time on the live-streamed awards show.
Indeed, John Patton Ford’s win for Emily the Criminal was somewhat of a surprise as the film beat out better known movies like Fire Island and Bodies Bodies Bodies.
On the TV side, three-time nominees Severance and Station Eleven were shut out.
Separately, Ayo Edebiri winning best supporting performance in a new series was somewhat of a surprise as she beat out Abbott Elementary stars Sheryl Lee Ralph and Janelle James, who have won equivalent awards at other ceremonies. But Edebiri’s win likely signaled The Bear‘s dominance as it won two of the three awards for which it was nominated, the most of any TV show.
