The prestigious New York Film Critics Circle have given Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow’s thriller about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, a new shove in the direction of Oscar glory.

The critics group named the film best of 2012 and Bigelow best director. The group also highlighted Daniel Day-Lewis in Steven Spielberg’s likely Oscar contender Lincoln for best actor. The historical biopic also saw Sally Field winning best supporting actress and Tony Kushner best screenplay.

Zero Dark Thirty centres on a female CIA analyst – played by Jessica Chastain – credited as a key force in the hunt for the Al-Qaeda chief, killed by US Navy SEALs in an audacious dead-of-night raid on his hiding place in Pakistan.

Entertainment Weekly tipped the film as a possible nominee for best film, best director, best screenplay and best leading actress for Chastain, who was Oscar-nominated for her supporting role in last year’s civil rights drama The Help.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.