6 Best Critics Choice Award Best Picture Winners

By Vlad Zakh · June 18, 2026

The Critics’ Choice Award for Best Picture, voted on by America’s film critics, has crowned some of the past decade’s most acclaimed and talked-about films. In Parasite (2019): A poor family schemes their way into employment with a wealthy household, with increasingly dangerous consequences. Worth seeking out is 12 Years a Slave (2013): A free Black man is kidnapped and sold into slavery, enduring brutal hardship for over a decade before reclaiming his freedom.

Parasite (2019)

IMDb ★ 8.5 RT 99% Metacritic 97

A poor family schemes their way into employment with a wealthy household, with increasingly dangerous 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 live-in housekeeper for a middle-class family in 1970s Mexico City navigates personal upheaval against a backdrop of political unrest.

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 cleaning woman at a secret government facility forms an unlikely bond with a captured amphibious creature.

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 young Black man's journey through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood explores identity, sexuality, and belonging.

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 uncovers a systemic cover-up of child abuse 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, enduring brutal hardship for over a decade before reclaiming his freedom.

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, built to fix a specific annoyance: most recommendation sites are just algorithm-driven noise. Our lists are researched and organized by who's in a film, where it's from, and the mood you're actually 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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