The acclaimed film won four awards in total, including accolades for writer-director Greta Gerwig.Lady Bird won four awards, including best picture, from the National Society of Film Critics on Saturday.
The acclaimed film also won for best director and best screenplay (Greta Gerwig) and best supporting actress (Laurie Metcalf). Star Saoirse Ronan was also the first runner-up in the best actress category, with the top prize going to Sally Hawkins for her work in both The Shape of Water and Maudie.
Best actor went to Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya. Writer-director Jordan Peele's acclaimed horror film was also a runner-up for best picture, director and screenplay. Best supporting actor went to The Florida Project's Willem Dafoe.
Voting for the annual awards took place Saturday at New York's Film Society of Lincoln Center with NSFC chair Justin Chang announcing the winners and runners-up live, category by category, at @NatSocFilmCrix.
Last year, Moonlight won top honors from the NSFC, with the Barry Jenkins-directed movie taking four awards, including best picture.
The NSFC is made up of 59 of the country's top film critics and is chaired by the Los Angeles Times' Chang. Founded in 1966, the NSFC elects its members from outlets across the country, including critics from The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Village Voice, The Christian Science Monitor and NPR. This year marks the 52nd meeting of its voters.
Shortly before voting began, the group said this year's awards are dedicated to late film critic and historian Richard Schickel, who was a founding member of the NSFC. Schickel died in February of last year. The group also recognized late Lincoln Plaza Cinemas co-founder Dan Talbot, an influential figure in the independent film world, with one of its two film heritage awards.
Best picture:
Lady Bird | Runners-up: Get Out, Phantom Thread
Best actor: Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out | Runners-up: Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread; Timothee Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Best actress:
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water and Maudie | Runners-up: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird; Cynthia Nixon, A Quiet Passion; and Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best supporting actress:
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird | Runners-up: Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread; Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Best supporting actor:
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project | Runners-up: Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me by Your Name, The Shape of Water and The Post; Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best director:
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird | Runners-up (tie): Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread; Jordan Peele, Get Out
Best screenplay:
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird | Runners-up: Jordan Peele, Get Out; Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
Best cinematography: Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049 | Runners-up: Hoyte van Hoytema, Dunkirk; Alexis Zabe, The Florida Project
Best foreign-language film: Graduation | Runners-up: Faces Places, BPM
Best non-fiction film: Faces Places | Runners-up: Ex Libris: The New York Public Library, Dawson City: Frozen Time
Special citation for a film awaiting U.S. distribution: Agnieszka Holland's Spoor
Best experimental film: Ben Russell's Good Luck
Film heritage award: "One Way or Another: Black Women's Cinema 1970-1991," BAMcinématek
Film heritage award: Dan Talbot for his pioneering work as an exhibitor and distributor in bringing worldwide cinema to the United States