“One Battle After Another” Named Best Picture by National Society of Film Critics
According to the CinemaDrame News Agency, the National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) named One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, as the Best Picture of 2025 during its annual voting meeting on Saturday, January 3, 2026.
The film dominated the ceremony, securing a total of four awards, including Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, Best Supporting Actress for Teyana Taylor, and Best Supporting Actor for Benicio del Toro. Notably, lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio was absent from the winners’ list, with the Best Actor trophy going to Ethan Hawke for his performance in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon.
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi also received high honors, winning Best Screenplay for It Was Just an Accident. His film was also named the first runner-up in both the Best Director and Best Film Not in the English Language categories.
Full List of 2026 National Society of Film Critics Winners:
- Best Picture:One Battle After Another
- Runners-up: Sinners, The Secret Agent
- Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
- Runners-up: Jafar Panahi (It Was Just an Accident), Richard Linklater (Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague)
- Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
- Runners-up: Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent), Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)
- Best Actress: Kathleen Chalfant, Familiar Touch
- Runners-up: Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value)
- Best Supporting Actor: Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another
- Runners-up: Delroy Lindo (Sinners), Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value)
- Best Supporting Actress: Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
- Runners-up: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value), Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)
- Best Screenplay: Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident
- Runners-up: Robert Kaplow (Blue Moon), Kleber Mendonça Filho (The Secret Agent)
- Best Film Not in the English Language:The Secret Agent
- Runners-up: It Was Just an Accident, Sentimental Value
- Best Nonfiction Film:My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow
- Runners-up: The Perfect Neighbor, Orwell: 2+2=5
- Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners
- Runners-up: Adolpho Veloso (Train Dreams), Michael Bauman (One Battle After Another)
- Best Experimental Film: Morning Circle (Basma al-Sharif)
- Special Citation for a Film Awaiting U.S. Distribution: Landmarks (Lucrecia Martel)
