The spice was strong in the Music City Film Critics’ Association 2025 Film Awards.

Sprinkled throughout four awards in total, Dune: Part Two was the big winner for The Music City Film Critics’ Association (MCFCA) this year, which is an association comprised of 40 film critics working in or near Nashville, Tennessee.

The blockbuster fantasy sequel won the awards for Best Picture, Best Director — Denis Villeneuve, Best Sound and Best Action Film.

“Over the years, Frank Herbert’s timeless novel has been deemed impossible to adapt,” said Sean Atkins, President of the MCFCA. “However, the spice overflows with awe in director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation, especially with Dune: Part Two turning into one of the best blockbusters in recent memory and one that will undoubtedly stand the test of time.”

Another notable film that received multiple awards from the MCFCA, despite the fact that it involved body horror, was The Substance, which collected Best Actress — Demi Moore and Best Supporting Actress — Margaret Qualley awards.

“It’s great to see Demi and Margaret both recognized because, after all, they are one,” stated Micheal Compton, Vice President of the MCFCA.

Each year the MCFCA gives out The Jim Ridley Award, a special recognition named after one of Nashville’s most beloved film critics, who died at the age of 50 in 2016. It is given to the film or the person that best represents Nashville and Tennessee.

This year’s recipient is Mike Cheslik’s Hundreds of Beavers.

“Among our nominees, all of which we felt Jim would have celebrated with gusto and glee, Beavers, a gut-crunching cavalcade of silent-era hijinks with the existential absurdity of a Wile E. Coyote reel, delivered one of the must-see communal moviegoing experiences of the year,” noted Sam Smith, member of the MCFCA and part of The Jim Ridley Award Jury that selects the nominees.

“With this award, we remember Jim and his supportive spirit and hope to lift up the delightful films that he would have championed.”

**Personal Commentary **

2024 experienced a deluge of releases that were backed up, in part, to the previous year’s closure of movie theaters due to the global pandemic. While the movie-theater business was hard hit and desperate to generate business, ticket sales were anything but great for non-franchise films. Sadly, I expect more of the same for next year, with streaming services slowly picking up the slack.

While there’s some great award-winning films included within our list, unfortunately, there’s quite a few high-quality releases that didn’t make the cut. Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine proved that franchise films still rule the marketplace, breaking box-office records in the process, but neither won any of our awards.

I was pleasantly surprised to note that animation feature films really upped their game this year, as Memoir of a Snail, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Moana 2 were terrific, but still got shut out. The same letdown feeling goes toward a few horror faves that deserved the recognition, but received none: Heretic (which, technically, is a thriller with horror elements), Longlegs and even Alien: Romulus.

While the overall awards season trudges on and movies that are being hyped with nominations are still being released each weekend moving forward (See: The Last Showgirl), I’ve got to say the entertainment quality actually improved from the previous year. It was definitely a marathon just to get to the MCFCA nominations deadline in December and I truly hope next year’s releases are more evenly spread out.

With a little luck, the box office will hopefully return to something closer to pre-pandemic times than in recent years. Your ZIMB Editorial Board will definitely be here for it!

 

The 2025 Music City Film Critics’ Association Film Award Winners:

Best Picture
Dune: Part Two

The Jim Ridley Award
Hundreds of Beavers

Best Director
Denis Villeneuve — Dune: Part Two

Best Actress
Demi Moore – The Substance

Best Actor
Timothee Chalamet – A Complete Unknown

Best Supporting Actress
Margaret Qualley – The Substance

Best Supporting Astor
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

Best Young Actress
Maisy Stella – My Old Ass

Best Young Actor
Izaac Wang — Didi

Best Acting Ensemble
Saturday Night

Best Music Film
Wicked

Best Animated Film
The Wild Robot

Best Documentary
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Best International Film
Flow

Best Screenplay
Anora

Best Original Song
“Kiss the Sky” — The Wild Robot

Best Original Score
Challengers

Best Sound
Dune: Part Two

Best Cinematography
Nosferatu

Best Production Design
Nosferatu

Best Editing
Challengers

Best Stunt Work
The Fall Guy

Best Comedy Film
Hundreds of Beavers

Best Horror Film
Nosferatu

Best Action Film
Dune: Part Two