Lexie HammesfahrThe current Oscar front-runner, "Spotlight," is already racking up some major awards, and we're not even into the heat of awards season.
The film, which is based on the Boston Globe's uncovering of the Catholic priest sexual abuse scandal, was named Best Feature on Monday night at the 25th Gotham Independent Film Awards.
The cast — which includes Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery and Stanley Tucci — also took home the Jury Award for Ensemble Cast.
Aside from the Gothams, "Spotlight" has won a few other notable awards.
The Independent Spirit Awards are not until the end of February, but the film has already won the Robert Altman Award — a prize that's given to one film's director and cast ahead of the Independent Spirit Awards.
On top of that win, "Spotlight" is nominated for Best Editing, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
Earlier this year, Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer won Screenwriter of the Year at the Hollywood Film Awards.
"Spotlight" also won two awards in September at the Venice Film Festival.
Despite all these accolades, the Oscar race is still wide open. We might get some insight on how the Oscars might play out when the Golden Globes nominations are announced Dec. 10.
But even then, Gold Derby experts are giving the upper hand to "Spotlight" over "The Revenant" for Best Film.
It would be equally hard and unfair to place all our eggs in one basket this early in the awards season. But if the Oscars were held tomorrow, "Spotlight" shines as the lead contender for Best Picture.
This video includes images from Getty Images.
