6 Best Critics Choice Award Best Picture Winners

By Vlad Zakh · June 18, 2026

The Critics’ Choice Award for Best Picture reflects what America’s film critics were most excited about, and these are recent winners. Parasite has a poor family worming into a wealthy household, Roma follows a live-in housekeeper in 1970s Mexico City, and The Shape of Water gives a mute cleaning woman an unlikely bond with a captured creature. Moonlight, Spotlight and 12 Years a Slave round out the six.

Parasite (2019)

IMDb ★ 8.5 RT 99% Metacritic 97

A poor family schemes its way into the lives of a wealthy household, with unforeseen consequences.

Directed by Bong Joon Ho · 2h 13m · Rated R

Won 4 Oscars309 wins & 261 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Roma (2018)

IMDb ★ 7.6 RT 96% Metacritic 96

A black-and-white memory piece about the domestic worker who raised Cuaron's own family.

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón · 2h 15m · Rated R

Won 3 Oscars256 wins & 230 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Shape of Water (2017)

IMDb ★ 7.3 RT 92% Metacritic 87

A mute janitor falls for a captive amphibious creature in a Cold War-era research facility.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro · 2h 03m · Rated R

Won 4 Oscars138 wins & 350 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, Cinemax Amazon Channel, HBO Max, Cinemax Apple TV channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Moonlight (2016)

IMDb ★ 7.4 RT 98% Metacritic 99

A quiet, three-part coming-of-age story told with real restraint.

Directed by Barry Jenkins · 1h 52m · Rated R

Won 3 Oscars237 wins & 315 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Netflix, Hulu, Netflix Standard with Ads · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Spotlight (2015)

IMDb ★ 8.1 RT 97% Metacritic 93

A team of investigative journalists exposes decades of institutional cover-up within the Catholic Church.

Directed by Tom McCarthy · 2h 09m · Rated R

Won 2 Oscars124 wins & 146 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

12 Years a Slave (2013)

IMDb ★ 8.1 RT 95% Metacritic 96

A free Black man is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the pre-Civil War South.

Directed by Steve McQueen · 2h 14m · Rated R

Won 3 Oscars244 wins & 338 nominations

Where to watch

Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

6 Best Critics Choice Award Best Picture Winners

Parasite (2019)

Roma (2018)

The Shape of Water (2017)

Moonlight (2016)

Spotlight (2015)

12 Years a Slave (2013)

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