The Last of Us is the big winner at the MTV Movie Awards

The Last of Us Episode 8
The Last of Us Episode 8

The MTV Movie Awards are an odd duck on the awards show circuit at the best of times. In some ways, they’re thinking years ahead of the competition: men and women compete in (some of) the same acting categories, for instance. Then there are the strange categories like “Most Frightened Performance.” The whole thing is voted on by the public rather than some elite group of insiders, so it has a much looser feel than the Oscars or even the Emmys.

And things were even stranger at the 2023 awards last night. They landed in the midst of a writers’ strike, and host Drew Barrymore refused to cross the picket lines to participate. So the show was now a pre-recorded affair that included lots of clips from previous ceremonies.

There was still plenty of hardware to give out, though. The big winner of the night was The Last of Us, which walked home with three awards. Stranger Things and Scream VI made out with two apiece.

Check out all the winners below:

Best Movie

  • Avatar: The Way of Water
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
  • Elvis
  • Nope
  • Scream VI
  • Smile
  • Top Gun: Maverick

Best Host

  • Drew Barrymore — The Drew Barrymore Show
  • Joel Madden — Ink Master
  • Nick Cannon — The Masked Singer
  • RuPaul — RuPaul’s Drag Race
  • Kelly Clarkson — The Kelly Clarkson Show

Best Performance in a Show

  • Aubrey Plaza — The White Lotus
  • Christina Ricci — Yellowjackets
  • Jenna Ortega — Wednesday
  • Riley Keough — Daisy Jones & the Six
  • Sadie Sink — Stranger Things
  • Selena Gomez — Only Murders in the Building

Best Musical Moment

  • “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)“ — Daisy Jones & The Six
  • Jack’s Tap Dance — Don’t Worry Darling
  • “Trouble” — Elvis
  • “I Will Survive” (Bachelorette Party) — Ginny & Georgia
  • “Titanium” — M3GAN
  • “Revolting Children” — Matilda The Musical
  • “Come Back Home” — Purple Hearts
  • “Naatu Naatu” — RRR
  • “Big Boys” — Saturday Night Live
  • “Body” — She-Hulk: Attorney At Law
  • “Running Up That Hill” — Stranger Things
  • “Long Long Time” (Bill & Frank Play Piano) — The Last Of Us
  • “You Should See Me In A Crown” — The School For Good And Evil
  • “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” — The Summer I Turned Pretty
  • “Goo Goo Muck” — Wednesday
  • “Simon’s Song” — Young Royals

Best Show

  • Stranger Things
  • The Last of Us
  • The White Lotus
  • Wednesday
  • Wolf Pack
  • Yellowstone
  • Yellowjackets

Best Music Documentary

  • Halftime
  • Love, Lizzo
  • Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me
  • Sheryl
  • The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s American Pie

Best Kiss

  • Anna Torv & Philip Prajoux — The Last of Us
  • Harry Styles & David Dawson — My Policeman
  • Madison Bailey & Rudy Pankow — Outer Banks
  • Riley Keough & Sam Claflin — Daisy Jones & the Six
  • Selena Gomez & Cara Delevingne — Only Murders in the Building

Best Competition Series

  • All-Star Shore
  • Big Brother
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars
  • The Challenge: USA
  • The Traitors

Most Frightened Performance

  • Jennifer Coolidge — The White Lotus
  • Jesse Tyler Ferguson — Cocaine Bear
  • Justin Long — Barbarian
  • Rachel Sennott — Bodies Bodies Bodies
  • Sosie Bacon — Smile

Best Fight

  • Brad Pitt (Ladybug) vs. Bad Bunny (The Wolf) — Bullet Train
  • Courteney Cox (Gale Weathers) vs. Ghostface — Scream VI
  • Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna) vs. Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) — Stranger Things
  • Keanu Reeves (John Wick) vs. Everyone — John Wick 4
  • Escape from Narkina 5 — Andor

Best Duo

  • Camila Mendes & Maya Hawke — Do Revenge
  • Jenna Ortega & Thing — Wednesday
  • Pedro Pascal & Bella Ramsey — The Last of Us
  • Simona Tabasco & Beatrice Grannò — The White Lotus
  • Tom Cruise & Miles Teller — Top Gun: Maverick

Best Comedic Performance

  • Adam Sandler — Murder Mystery 2
  • Dylan O’Brien — Not Okay
  • Jennifer Coolidge — Shotgun Wedding
  • Keke Palmer — Nope
  • Quinta Brunson — Abbott Elementary

Best Reality Onscreen Team

  • Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Vinny Guadagnino, Pauly D (MVP) — Jersey Shore: Family Vacation
  • Tori Deal and Devin Walker — The Challenge: Ride or Dies
  • RuPaul Charles and Michelle Visage — RuPaul’s Drag Race
  • Ariana Madix, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay, and LaLa Kent — Vanderpump Rules
  • Garcelle Beauvais and Sutton Stracke — The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Breakthrough Performance

  • Bad Bunny — Bullet Train
  • Bella Ramsey — The Last of Us
  • Emma D’Arcy — House of the Dragon
  • Joseph Quinn — Stranger Things
  • Rachel Sennott — Bodies Bodies Bodies

Best Docu-Reality Series

  • Jersey Shore: Family Vacation
  • The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
  • Family Reunion: Love & Hip Hop Edition
  • The Kardashians
  • Vanderpump Rules

Best Performance in a Movie

  • Austin Butler — Elvis
  • Florence Pugh — Don’t Worry Darling
  • Keke Palmer — Nope
  • Michael B. Jordan — Creed III
  • Tom Cruise — Top Gun: Maverick

Best Hero

  • Diego Luna — Andor
  • Jenna Ortega — Wednesday
  • Paul Rudd — Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
  • Pedro Pascal — The Last of Us
  • Tom Cruise — Top Gun: Maverick

Best Kick-Ass Cast

  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
  • Outer Banks
  • Stranger Things
  • Teen Wolf: The Movie

Best Song

  • Demi Lovato — “Still Alive” (Scream VI)
  • Doja Cat — “Vegas” (Elvis)
  • Lady Gaga — “Hold My Hand” (Top Gun: Maverick)
  • OneRepublic — “I Ain’t Worried” (Top Gun: Maverick)
  • Rihanna — “Lift Me Up” (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
  • Taylor Swift — “Carolina” (Where the Crawdads Sing)

Congrats to all the winners!

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h/t The A.V. Club