The Golden Globes returned this year for its 81st edition on January 7, 2024, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. The awards honored the best in film and American television productions of 2023.
The biggest surprise from this year’s Golden Globes was certainly Oppenheimer’s domination. The three hour historically accurate thriller depicting the life of J Robert Oppenheimer, the man who created the atomic bomb, cost over $1 billion to produce and was widely regarded as one of the best movies of the year. Its fiercest box office rival, Barbie, was expected to win most of the major Golden Globe awards; however, Christopher Nolan’s historical epic won five major awards. These awards included the movie individually winning Best Motion Picture-Drama, Nolan winning Best Director for a Motion Picture, Cillian Murphy winning the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama, Robert Downey Jr. winning the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture, and even composer Ludwig Goransson won the award for Best Original Score in a Motion Picture.
This surprise almost “run of the table” for awards by Oppenheimer puts the film in an even stronger position heading into the beginning of Oscar voting.
Barbie wasn’t left empty handed however, as it won the award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement and Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell won the award for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for their “What Was I Made For?” The song was written about the character Barbie herself, and the character’s anxieties about losing her innocence and wondering what she’s supposed to do next.
As for television, three series dominated every TV related award, those being The Bear in comedy, Succession in drama, and Beef in limited series. The Bear dominated the sphere of awards for comedic television, as Jeremy Allen White won the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Ayo Edebiri won the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, besides the shows winning of the award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.
As successful as The Bear was, Succession was right on par. Awards for the show included Kieran Culkin’s Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama, Matthew Macfadyen’s Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Television Series, and the show itself was named the Best Television Series – Drama.
Lastly, Beef also won a plethora of awards. These included Ali Wong’s Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, Steven Yeun’s Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, and the show itself for winning the award for the Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.
Overall, this year’s edition of the Golden Globes was definitely one to remember. Oppenheimer’s surprise run helps pave the way for similar success at the highly anticipated Oscar’s ceremony on March 10 on ABC. Will Oppenheimer have similar success? Or will Barbie reign supreme like it did in the box office? Nominations were announced today, January 23.
Full list of Golden Globe Winners
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
-Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers” — Winner
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
-Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer” — Winner
Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
-Ali Wong, “Beef” — Winner
Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Steven Yeun, “Beef” — Winner
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Television Series
Elizabeth Debicki, “The Crown” — Winner
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Television Series
Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession” — Winner
Best Screenplay — Motion Picture
-Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, “Anatomy of a Fall” — Winner
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
-Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear” — Winner
Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television
“Ricky Gervais: Armageddon” — Winner
Best Motion Picture — Non-English Language
“Anatomy of a Fall” (France) — Winner
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear” — Winner
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Kieran Culkin, “Succession” — Winner
Best Motion Picture — Animated
The Boy and the Heron — Winner
Best Director — Motion Picture
Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer” — Winner
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy
Emma Stone, “Poor Things” — Winner
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama
Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer” — Winner
Best Original Score — Motion Picture
Ludwig Göransson, “Oppenheimer” — Winner
Best Original Song — Motion Picture
“What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell (from “Barbie”) — Winner
Cinematic and Box Office Achievement
“Barbie” — Winner
Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Beef
Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
The Bear
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama
-Sarah Snook, “Succession” — Winner
Best Television Series – Drama
“Succession” — Winner
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy
Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers” — Winner
Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy
“Poor Things” — Winner
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama
Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon” — Winner
Best Motion Picture — Drama
“Oppenheimer” — Winner
