The 2nd Annual ScreenAge Wasteland Awards Winners List: ‘Tenet’ Takes Home Best Director & More

We just announced the winners for the 2nd Annual ScreenAge Wasteland Awards over on our official Twitter account: @SAWasteland!

In case you don’t follow us over there (c’mon, we know you want to), we have listed all of the SAWards 2021 winners below in bold.


Best Picture

  • Da 5 Bloods
  • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  • One Night in Miami
  • Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  • Promising Young Woman
  • Sound of Metal
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Animated Film

  • Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
  • Soul
  • Weathering with You
  • The Wolf House
  • Wolfwalkers

Most Overlooked Film

  • Blood Nose, Empty Pockets
  • His House
  • The Lodge
  • We Summon the Darkness
  • The Wolf of Snow Hollow

Best Director

  • David Fincher – Mank
  • Darius Marder – Sound of Metal
  • Christopher Nolan – Tenet
  • Céline Sciamma – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  • George C. Wolfe – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best Breakout Film Direction

  • Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
  • Sam Hargrave – Extraction
  • Regina King – One Night in Miami
  • Darius Marder – Sound of Metal
  • Remi Weekes – His House

Best Actor

  • Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
  • Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods
  • Gary Oldman – Mank
  • Jesse Plemons – I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Best Supporting Actor

  • Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – The Trial of the Chicago 7
  • Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7
  • Kingsley Ben-Adir – One Night in Miami
  • Ewan McGregor – Birds of Prey
  • Paul Raci – Sound of Metal

Best Actress

  • Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • Noémie Merlant – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  • Wunmi Mosaku – His House
  • Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman
  • Margot Robbie – Birds of Prey

Best Supporting Actress

  • Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
  • Toni Collette – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
  • Olivia Cooke – Sound of Metal
  • Adèle Haenel – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  • Amanda Seyfried – Mank

Best Breakout Film Performance

  • Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (TIE)
  • Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  • Eli Goree – One Night in Miami
  • Cristin Milioti – Palm Springs (TIE)
  • Wunmi Mosaku – His House

Best Movie Ensemble

  • Da 5 Bloods
  • Hamilton
  • Happiest Season
  • One Night in Miami
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Bill & Ted Face the Music
  • The Devil All the Time
  • I’m Thinking of Ending Things
  • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • One Night in Miami

Best Original Screenplay

  • Da 5 Bloods
  • Happiest Season
  • Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  • Sound of Metal
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Visual Effects

  • The Invisible Man
  • The Midnight Sky
  • Tenet
  • Underwater
  • The Vast of Night

Best Cinematography

  • I’m Thinking of Ending Things
  • Mank
  • Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  • Tenet
  • The Vast of Night

Best Score

  • Birds of Prey
  • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • Mank
  • Soul
  • Tenet

Best Movie Moment

  • Fertility Dance – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
  • Freeing the Kid – Extraction
  • Harper Comes Out to Her Family – Happiest Season
  • Bus Flashback – His House
  • The Throat Slit – The Invisible Man
  • Oslo Airport Fight Take #2 – Tenet
  • The Ending – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  • Reveal of the Monster – Underwater

As well, Alfred Hitchcock and Sean Connery were this year’s recipients for the SAW Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hitchcock was recognized for his influence on cinema and his career that spanned six decades. His films, such as Psycho, Rear Window, and Vertigo, earned him the title Master of Suspense.

Connery was recognized for his lengthy acting career and for being the first actor to portray legendary British secret agent James Bond/007 beginning with 1962’s Dr. No. His roles earned him an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes.


Tenet cleaned up at this year’s SAWards winning in every category it was nominated in! An impressive feat that proves Christopher Nolan can still deliver a crowd pleaser.

Tenet‘s five awards are the most wins for a film this year. The only other film to win more than one award was Happiest Season taking home the awards for Best Movie Ensemble and Best Original Screenplay.


Thank you to everyone who voted! We look forward to doing this again next year with all of you!


Were you pleased with who took home an award? Were there any upsets? Looking ahead to 2022, which upcoming 2021 films do you think will snag nominations at the 3rd Annual SAWards?

Author: Marmaduke Karlston

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute Doc, uh, are you telling me you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?"