The 81st Golden Globe Awards, America’s annual celebration of the best in film and television productions for the year 2023 was held (and broadcast live worldwide) on the 7th of January, 2024. The glamorous affair was held in The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California from 05.00 p.m. PST onwards. The nominees were announced in early December, and Barbie and Succession were tied for the most nominations with nine nominations each. Oppenheimer, the other biggest blockbuster in 2023 had eight – this meant that the combined cultural phenomenon ‘Barbenheimer’ held a combined 17 nominations each. The 81st award ceremony also debuted two entirely new award categories: ‘Cinematic and Box Office Achievement’ and ‘Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television’. Two Lifetime Achievement Awards were removed from the lineup: the ‘Cecil B. DeMille Award’ and the ‘Carol Burnett Award’, although they are expected to return in future ceremonies.
The Golden Globes ceremony held this year was the first one to be held after the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was disbanded last year. The not-for-profit was best known for founding and hosting the Golden Globes. However, its illustrious history was marred by allegations of sexual harassment, membership issues, accusations of self-dealing, lack of representation and diversity, and boycotts that called for comprehensive reforms. The rights to the Golden Globes were then acquired by Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge Industries in June last year, who took on the task of hosting the event. CBS replaced NBC as the official television broadcaster for the event as well. Given that HFPA now played no role in overseeing the event, a diverse voter base consisting of 300 journalists representing 76 countries selected the nominees and final winners for 2023.
The winners of the 81st Golden Globe Awards are as follows.
- Best film – drama motion picture – Oppenheimer
- Best female actor in a film – drama motion picture – Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
- Best film – musical or comedy – Poor Things
- Best male actor in a film – musical or comedy – Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
- Best TV series – drama – Succession
- Best female actor in a TV series – drama – Sarah Snook, Succession
- Best TV series – musical or comedy – The Bear
- Best limited TV series, anthology series, or TV movie – Beef
- Cinematic and box office achievement – Barbie
- Best original song in a film – What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish and Finneas (Barbie)
- Best original score in a film – Ludwig Goransson, Oppenheimer
- Best male actor in a film – drama motion picture – Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
- Best female actor in a film – musical or comedy – Emma Stone, Poor Things
- Best director in a film – Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
- Best animated film – The Boy and the Heron
- Best male actor in a TV series – Kieran Culkin, Succession
- Best female actor in a TV series – musical or comedy – Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
- Best non-English language film – Anatomy of a Fall
- Best performance in stand-up comedy on TV – Ricky Gervais, Ricky Gervais Armageddon
- Best male actor in a TV series – musical or comedy – Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
- Best screenplay for a film – Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall
- Best supporting male actor in a TV series – Matthew Macfadyen, Succession
- Best supporting female actor in a TV series – Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
- Best male actor in a limited TV series, anthology series, or TV movie – Steven Yeun, Beef
- Best female actor in a limited TV series, anthology series, or TV movie – Ali Wong, Beef
- Best supporting male actor in a film – Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer
- Best supporting female actor in a film – Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Despite the explosive ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ cultural moment, it might have been surprising to anyone in America that the two films did not have the same neck and neck race that they had in theatres and nominations. ‘Succession’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ took four and five awards respectively, becoming the metaphorical talk of the town. Oppenheimer’s other main rival in the drama category was Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Floor Moon, which helped Lily Gladstone win in the best actress category. She was the first Indigenous actor to be nominated and win in the category and gave voice to her identity by beginning her acceptance speech in the Blackfeet language. In her speech, Gladstone noted how Native speech used to be represented in cinema by having their English lines played backwards.
Barbie’s performance with the audience won an award in an entirely new category created this year: the ‘Cinematic and Box Office Achievement’ for making over one billion dollars at the box office. Accepting the award, lead female actress Margot Robbie dedicated the award to “every single person on the planet who dressed up and went to the greatest place on earth: the movie theatre”. Ricky Gervais won the other debuting award, for his special Armageddon. The winner list this year also features several international productions, likely owing to the HFPA’s improved global membership. The French Anatomy of a Fall won the screenplay over heavyweight contenders Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Oppenheimer. Hayao Miyazaki’s last instalment in an illustrious career The Boy and the Heron won the best non-English language film. Ali Wong became the first Asian-American to be nominated or win in a limited TV series, anthology series, or TV movie category.
This year’s Golden Globe Awards was also a breath of fresh air in other ways: according to Paramount, the 2024 Golden Globes was propelled to its highest ratings in years. The success is attributed in part to the Barbenheimer phenomenon. 9.4 million people sat down to watch the broadcast, a 50% increase compared to 2023’s 6.3 million. The success can also be in part due to the event being streamed on Paramount+ for the first time. The 2024 Golden Globes is currently the second highest-streamed event on the platform. The two competitive new award categories for films that grossed a substantial amount in domestic and international sales have also been described as an effort to attract a more general audience beyond the critics. The higher viewer ratings may also be a reflection of the audience’s renewed hope in the institutions following the extensive restructuring of the Globes’ rules.
Perhaps the coming years may truly prove to be a golden era for the Globes.
(Theruni M. Liyanage)