The Palme d’Or winner Anora and epic architect drama The Brutalist have come out on top in the nominations count for the London Critics’ Circle film awards, with seven apiece.

The two films are expected to feature strongly throughout the awards race during the next few months, and have largely matched each other here. Anora and The Brutalist are both nominated for film of the year and director of the year (for Sean Baker and Brady Corbet respectively), and their lead performers are also nominated: Mikey Madison for actress of the year for Anora and Adrien Brody for The Brutalist. Madison, who plays a sex worker who impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch, is also nominated for breakthrough performer.

Just behind, on six nominations each, are the papal drama Conclave and feminist body horror The Substance. The former, which stars Ralph Fiennes as a British cardinal involved in the election of a new pope, has nods for actor for the year for Fiennes and screenwriter of the year for Peter Straughan, adapting Robert Harris’s novel. In what counts as a major comeback, Demi Moore is up for actress of the year for The Substance, while its creator Coralie Fargeat is nominated twice, in the writing and directing categories.

Emilia Pérez, the trans gangster musical directed by Jacques Audiard, which is already being talked up as a major Oscar contender, has five nominations including film of the year and foreign-language film of the year. Zoe Saldaña, who is nominated for supporting actress of the year for the film, has also been announced as the recipient of the Derek Malcolm award for innovation. Named after the Guardian’s late chief film critic, the award cites Saldaña’s roles in Avatar, Out of the Furnace, Colombiana and the mini-series Rosemary’s Baby.

Conclave is the leading British/Irish film in the nominations count; behind it, with four each, are Mike Leigh’s latest drama, Hard Truths, and Belfast-set rap comedy Kneecap. Hard Truths star Marianne Jean-Baptiste is up for actress of the year and British/Irish performer of the year (with the latter for her “body of work”, including her role in The Book of Clarence). Kneecap, meanwhile, is set to have a strong awards season after emerging as the leading contender for the British independent film awards (Bifas) and making the shortlist for the best international feature film Oscar.

The Critics’ Circle award winners will be announced on 2 February at a ceremony in London.

Full list of nominations

Film of the year
All We Imagine As Light
Anora
The Brutalist
La Chimera
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Kneecap
Nickel Boys
Nosferatu
The Substance

Foreign-language film of the year
All We Imagine As Light
La Chimera
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Kneecap

Documentary of the year
Dahomey
Grand Theft Hamlet
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
No Other Land
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Animated feature of the year
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot

Attenborough award for British/Irish film of the year
Bird
Conclave
Hard Truths
Kneecap
Love Lies Bleeding

Director of the year
Sean Baker - Anora
Brady Corbet - The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat - The Substance
RaMell Ross - Nickel Boys
Denis Villeneuve - Dune: Part Two

Screenwriter of the year
Sean Baker - Anora
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold - The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg - A Real Pain
Coralie Fargeat - The Substance
Peter Straughan - Conclave

Actress of the year
Marianne Jean-Baptiste - Hard Truths
Nicole Kidman - Babygirl
Mikey Madison - Anora
Demi Moore - The Substance
Saoirse Ronan - The Outrun

Actor of the year
Adrien Brody - The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet - A Complete Unknown
Daniel Craig - Queer
Colman Domingo - Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes - Conclave

Supporting actress of the year
Michele Austin - Hard Truths
Danielle Deadwyler - The Piano Lesson
Margaret Qualley - The Substance
Isabella Rossellini - Conclave
Zoe Saldaña - Emilia Pérez

Supporting actor of the year
Yura Borisov - Anora
Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain
Guy Pearce - The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong - The Apprentice
Denzel Washington - Gladiator II

Breakthrough performer
Marisa Abela - Back to Black
Nykiya Adams - Bird
Karla Sofía Gascón - Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison - Anora
Maisy Stella - My Old Ass

Philip French award for Breakthrough British/Irish film-maker
Luna Carmoon - Hoard
Naqqash Khalid - In Camera
Amy Liptrot - The Outrun
Dev Patel - Monkey Man
Rich Peppiatt - Kneecap

British/Irish performer of the year (for body of work)
Cynthia Erivo - Drift/Wicked: Part I
Marianne Jean-Baptiste - The Book of Clarence/Hard Truths
Nicholas Hoult - Juror #2/Nosferatu/The Order
Josh O’Connor - La Chimera/Challengers/Lee
Saoirse Ronan - Blitz/The Outrun

Young British/Irish performer of the year (for body of work)
Nykiya Adams - Bird
Elliott Heffernan - Blitz
Raffey Cassidy - The Brutalist/Kensuke’s Kingdom
Dan Hough - Speak No Evil
Alisha Weir - Abigail/Buffalo Kids/Wicked Little Letters

British/Irish short film of the year
Iranian Yellow Pages
Karavidhe
Push
Wander to Wonder
We Beg to Differ

Technical achievement award
Anora - stunts, Manny Siverio, Christopher Colombo & Roberto Lopez
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - visual effects, Angus Bickerton
The Brutalist - production design, Judy Becker
A Complete Unknown - costumes, Arianne Phillips
Conclave - film editing, Nick Emerson
Dune: Part Two - visual effects, Paul Lambert
Emilia Pérez - music, Clément Ducol & Camille
Nickel Boys - cinematography, Jomo Fray
Nosferatu - cinematography, Jarin Blaschke
The Substance - makeup, Stéphanie Guillon & Pierre-Olivier Persin

Derek Malcolm award for innovation
Zoe Saldaña