LOS ANGELES - "Sinners" scooped the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild gala in Los Angeles on Sunday, tightening the race to the Oscars with two weeks to go before Hollywood's awards season finale.
The honour at the newly rebranded Actor Awards recognises the ensemble cast of a film -- a decision that sometimes, but not always, presages Academy Award best picture glory.
Ryan Coogler's vampire fable about America's difficult racial history, has stormed through awards season, garnering a record 16 Oscar nominations.
"We brought our hearts, we brought our souls, we brought our spirits to this endeavour," said Delroy Lindo, who plays blues musician player Delta Slim, as he accepted the award on behalf of the cast.
"This project is anointed. And from that standpoint, we are all anointed to be a part of this incredible journey created by the genius Ryan Coogler."
It was the first time "Sinners" seized a top prize at a pre-Oscars gala, which have so far been largely swept by "One Battle After Another," including at the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday.
Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle" is a political thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a pot-addled former revolutionary forced back into the game when his teenage daughter goes missing.
"Sinners" may have had the upper hand with SAG-AFTRA, which represents more than 160,000 members -- but that may not hold true in two weeks' time for the Academy Awards.
"I'm not as confident that it's going to win the best picture Oscar," Scott Feinberg, awards columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, told AFP ahead of the gala, after predicting the SAG award win.
"Those two awards have gone to different films just about as often as they have gone to the same film."