'One Battle After Another' tops NSFC Awards 2025; Best Picture win leads the night; Paul Thomas Anderson shines as director

'One Battle After Another' emerged as the top winner at the National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) Awards for 2025, clinching the Best Picture honour and leading the field with four awards in total, Variety reported.

The film also won Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, Best Supporting Actress for Teyana Taylor and Best Supporting Actor for Benicio del Toro, underlining its strong showing with the critics' body.

Despite the film's success, lead star Leonardo DiCaprio did not feature among the winners in the Best Actor category. The award went to Ethan Hawke for his portrayal of lyricist Lorenz Hart in Richard Linklater's Blue Moon. Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent) and Michael B. Jordan (Sinners) were named runners-up.

'The Secret Agent' and 'Sinners' took home top honours for best film not in the English language and best cinematography, respectively. Other notable winners included My Undesirable Friends: Part I -- Last Air in Moscow for Best Nonfiction Film and Familiar Touch, which earned Kathleen Chalfant the Best Actress prize, according to Variety.

Commenting on the awards, NSFC chair Justin Chang said 2025 had been "a great year for movies," noting a strong presence of films centred on themes of revolution and solidarity. He added that it was especially meaningful to honour films such as One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent and Sinners following a challenging year for journalism and filmmaking.

"This was a great year for movies and -- as we're hardly the only critics' group to acknowledge -- an especially resonant one for movies about revolution and solidarity," said Justin Chang, chair of the NSFC. "Following a difficult year for journalism and filmmaking, it's thrilling to salute 'One Battle After Another,' 'The Secret Agent,' 'It Was Just an Accident,' 'My Undesirable Friends: Part I -- Last Air in Moscow' and 'Sinners,' and all the other brilliant films represented among our winners and runners-up," as quoted by Variety.

Below is the complete list of winners and runners-up announced by the National Society of Film Critics:

Best Picture:

Winner: One Battle After Another

Runners-up: Sinners; The Secret Agent

Best Director:

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Runners-up: Jafar Panahi (It Was Just an Accident); Richard Linklater (Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague)

Best Actress:

Winner: Kathleen Chalfant (Familiar Touch)

Runners-up: Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You); Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value)

Best Supporting Actress:

Winner: Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)

Runners-up: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value); Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)

Best Actor:

Winner: Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)

Runners-up: Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent); Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)

Best Supporting Actor:

Winner: Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another)

Runners-up: Delroy Lindo (Sinners); Stellan Skarsgard (Sentimental Value)

Best Screenplay:

Winner: Jafar Panahi (It Was Just an Accident)

Runners-up: Robert Kaplow (Blue Moon); Kleber Mendonca Filho (The Secret Agent)

Best Film Not in the English Language:

Winner: The Secret Agent

Runners-up: It Was Just an Accident; Sentimental Value

Best Nonfiction Film:

Winner: My Undesirable Friends: Part I -- Last Air in Moscow

Runners-up: The Perfect Neighbor; Orwell: 2+2=5

Best Cinematography:

Winner: Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Sinners)

Runners-up: Aldolpho Veloso (Train Dreams); Michael Bauman (One Battle After Another)

Best Experimental Film:

Winner: Morning Circle (Basma al-Sharif)

Special Award for a Film Awaiting U.S. Distribution:

Winner: Landmarks (Lucrecia Martel)

Film Heritage Awards:

Cinema Tropical, for promoting Latin American cinema in the U.S.; The Film Desk, for releasing global cinema in theatres and on home video; Ken and Flo Jacobs, for their lasting contribution to American experimental cinema, as reported by Variety.

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