‘All We Imagine’ and ‘Citadel Honey Bunny’ Miss Out on Critics Choice Awards 2025
Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light stumbled at the Critics Choice Awards 2025. The film, a favorite for Best Foreign Language Film, lost to Emilia Perez, starring Selena Gomez. The other Indian nominee, Citadel: Honey Bunny, also failed to win. Both films competed against entries from Latvia, Brazil, Ireland, and Germany.
All We Imagine As Light had gained significant recognition after winning the Grand Prix at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, making it the first Indian film to achieve such a feat. However, despite its acclaim, it has struggled to secure major wins at international awards, failing to win at both the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes.
The film was also not nominated for the 2025 Oscars. Instead, Laapataa Ladies by Kiran Rao was chosen as India’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category, but it, too, did not receive an Academy nomination.
Emilia Perez, a Spanish-language musical crime film directed by Jacques Audiard, took home the Critics Choice Award. Despite facing controversy, including hateful tweets from star Karla Sofía Gascón, the film emerged victorious. Gascón did not attend the ceremony, as both Netflix and the film distanced themselves from her due to the controversy.
On the television side, Citadel: Honey Bunny, starring Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Series. However, it lost to Netflix’s global hit Squid Game. Other contenders in the category included Acapulco, La Máquina, The Law According to Lidia Poët, My Brilliant Friend, Pachinko, and Senna.
The Critics Choice Awards 2025 ceremony took place on February 7 in Los Angeles. As in previous years, film and television nominations were announced separately. The event was streamed live in India on Lionsgate Play.
