# Houston Film Critics Society Awards 2021

The 15th Houston Film Critics Society Awards were announced on January 19, 2022, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) in Texas. The nominations were announced on January 3, 2022, with The Power of the Dog leading the nominations with nine.
The nominees for the Texas Independent Film Award were announced on December 3, 2021.

## Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted with boldface.
| Best Picture | Best Director |
| The Power of the Dog Belfast CODA Don't Look Up Dune King Richard Licorice Pizza Parallel Mothers tick, tick... BOOM! The Tragedy of Macbeth | Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza Kenneth Branagh – Belfast Guillermo del Toro – Nightmare Alley Denis Villeneuve – Dune |
| Best Actor | Best Actress |
| Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog as Phil Burbank Peter Dinklage – Cyrano as Cyrano de Bergerac Andrew Garfield – tick, tick... BOOM! as Jonathan Larson Will Smith – King Richard as Richard Williams Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth as Lord Macbeth | Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye as Tammy Faye Bakker Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter as Leda Caruso Penélope Cruz – Parallel Mothers as Janis Martinez Alana Haim – Licorice Pizza as Alana Kane Emilia Jones – CODA as Ruby Rossi Kristen Stewart – Spencer as Diana, Princess of Wales |
| Best Supporting Actor | Best Supporting Actress |
| Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power of the Dog as Peter Gordon Andrew Garfield – The Eyes of Tammy Faye as Jim Bakker Ciarán Hinds – Belfast as Pop Troy Kotsur – CODA as Frank Rossi J. K. Simmons – Being the Ricardos as William Frawley | Ann Dowd – Mass as Linda Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter as Young Leda Caruso Ariana DeBose – West Side Story as Anita Kirsten Dunst – The Power of the Dog as Rose Gordon Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard as Oracene "Brandy" Price |
| Best Screenplay | Best Animated Feature |
| The Power of the Dog – Jane Campion Belfast – Kenneth Branagh CODA – Sian Heder Don't Look Up – Adam McKay Licorice Pizza – Paul Thomas Anderson | The Mitchells vs. the Machines Encanto Flee Luca Raya and the Last Dragon |
| Best Documentary Feature | Best Foreign Language Feature |
| Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Flee The Rescue The Sparks Brothers Val | Drive My Car (Japan) Flee (Denmark) Parallel Mothers (Spain) Riders of Justice (Denmark) The Worst Person in the World (Norway) |
| Best Original Score | Best Original Song |
| Dune – Hans Zimmer (TIE) The Power of the Dog – Jonny Greenwood (TIE) The French Dispatch – Alexandre Desplat The Harder They Fall – Jeymes Samuel Spencer – Jonny Greenwood | "Wherever I Fall – Part I" – Cyrano (music by Bryce Dessner and Aaron Dessner; lyrics by Matt Berninger and Carin Besser) "Dos Oruguitas" – Encanto "Guns Go Bang" – The Harder They Fall "Just Look Up" – Don't Look Up "No Time to Die" – No Time to Die |
| Best Cinematography | Best Visual Effects |
| Dune – Greig Fraser Nightmare Alley – Dan Laustsen The Power of the Dog – Ari Wegner The Tragedy of Macbeth – Bruno Delbonnel West Side Story – Janusz Kamiński | Dune – Brian Connor, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, and Gerd Nefzer The Matrix Resurrections Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings |
| Best Ensemble Cast | Best Stunt Coordination Team |
| Mass Belfast CODA Nightmare Alley The Power of the Dog | No Time to Die Black Widow The Matrix Resurrections Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Spider-Man: No Way Home |
| Cinematic Achievement Award ||
| Well Go USA ||
| Texas Independent Film Award ||
| Red Rocket: Sean Baker visits a down-on-his-luck porn star who revisits his Texas City home Amaraica: Tim Sparks introduces an undocumented immigrant who wants to be a U.S. citizen Playing God: Scott Brignac follows brother-and-sister con artists as they plan a big job Test Pattern: Shatara Michelle Ford considers race, parenthood, and the freedom to choose 12 Mighty Orphans: Ty Roberts returns to football in Fort Worth during the Great Depression ||