Sci-Fi Is Already Making a Good Showing This Awards Season

As the year comes to a close, awards season starts to heat up. We’re still a few weeks away from the biggest nominations like the Golden Globes or Oscars, but other major groups have started to roll out their nominations, and, for us here at io9, they’ve been very exciting. That’s because while most years there are one or two genre movies in the mix, this year there are at least four, possibly even five. And TV looks just as good, if not better.

Take, for example, the American Film Institute. AFI top tens every year of exclusively American movies and shows (which does take out a few of the best), but on the film list this year, there are five sci-fi films considered the best of 2025. Those are Avatar: Fire and Ash, Bugonia, Frankenstein, Sinners, and Wicked For Good. And, we have to say, we agree with (most of) those wholeheartedly. io9 will reveal its winners in a few weeks.

Friday, the Critics’ Choice Association announced its nominees too, and though Avatar didn’t make it in, the other four did. In addition, Sinners got an amazing 17 total nominations from the group, Frankenstein has 11 total, Wicked For Good had 7, and Bugonia had 3. Those nominations certainly give those films solid momentum as we get deeper into the season. (And, don’t forget animation, where films like KPop Demon Hunters and Zootopia 2 are in the mix.)

Flipping things over to TV, the Critics’ Choice nominees for Best Drama are over half sci-fi shows, which is impressive. There’s Alien: Earth, Andor, Paradise, Pluribus, and Severance, which, again, we very much agree with. Unfortunately, that’s the only nomination Alien: Earth got, while Andor, Paradise, and Pluribus each only got one additional: Diego Luna, Sterling K. Brown, and Rhea Seehorn were also all nominated in acting categories. Severance had three others, all acting noms for Adam Scott, Britt Lower, and Tramell Tillman.

AFI named three of those shows—Andor, Pluribus, and Severance—in its top ten. Which isn’t as exciting, but at least it’s something.

Of course, over the next few months, the nominations will continue to roll in, and soon, some favorites will emerge. Whether or not any of these movies or shows will actually win is probably doubtful. But it’s just wonderful to live in a world where movies about vampires and TV shows about Star Wars can be held up against the best of the best.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.