‘One Battle After Another’ named best picture of 2025

The National Society of Film Critics has chosen “One Battle After Another” as Best Picture of 2025.

The Society, which is made up of more than 60 of the country’s most prominent movie critics, held its 59th annual awards voting meeting on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. Critics voted at in-person gatherings in Los Angeles and New York, and also participated virtually from across the country.

BEST PICTURE: “One Battle After Another” (57 points)
Runners-up:
“Sinners” (29 points)
“The Secret Agent” (27 points)

BEST DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another” (54 points)
Runners-up:
Jafar Panahi, “It Was Just an Accident” (48 points)
Richard Linklater, “Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague” (39 points)

BEST ACTRESS: Kathleen Chalfant, “Familiar Touch” (45 points)
Runners-up:
Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (39 points)
Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value” (37 points)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another” (56 points)
Runners-up:
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value” (47 points)
Wunmi Mosaku, “Sinners” (41 points)

BEST ACTOR: Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon” (57 points)
Runners-up:
Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent” (43 points)
Michael B. Jordan, “Sinners” (36 points)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Benicio del Toro, “One Battle After Another” (54 points)
Runners-up:
Delroy Lindo, Sinners” (37 points)
Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value” (30 points)

BEST SCREENPLAY: Jafar Panahi, “It Was Just an Accident” (53 points)
Runners-up:
Robert Kaplow, “Blue Moon” (50 points)
Kleber Mendonça Filho, “The Secret Agent” (40 points)

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: “The Secret Agent” (58 points)
Runners-up:
“It Was Just an Accident” (57 points)
“Sentimental Value” (38 points)

BEST NONFICTION FILM: “My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow” (56 points)
Runners-up:
“The Perfect Neighbor” (22 points)
“Orwell: 2+2=5” (18 points)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, “Sinners” (50 points)
Runners-up:
Adolpho Veloso, “Train Dreams” (36 points)
Michael Bauman, “One Battle After Another” (29 points)

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM: “Morning Circle” (Basma al-Sharif)

SPECIAL AWARD FOR A FILM AWAITING U.S. DISTRIBUTION: “Landmarks” (Lucrecia Martel)

FILM HERITAGE AWARDS:
— Cinema Tropical, for its tireless efforts to distribute, program and promote Latin American cinema in the U.S.
— The Film Desk, for releasing key movies from all over the world, in 35mm prints and on home video, and publishing books that have enriched the public’s knowledge of cinema.
— Ken and Flo Jacobs, an irreplaceable, gravitational center of the American avant-garde, with a shared artistic sensibility that helped define experimental cinema.