One Battle After Another Starts Awards Season Strong and Heads Towards the Oscars

Paul Thomas Anderson’s wild epic has already won Best Film at the Gotham Awards and the New York Film Critics. The first trophies in a list that could be long…

What if Paul Thomas Anderson accumulated trophies until next March?

The awards season has only just begun and yet, One Battle after another already grab everything. After winning the Gotham Awards, the flagship ceremony for independent cinema, his action epic for Warner won a new major trophy: the New York Film Critics Circle crowned it best film of the year. The prestigious New York critics’ circle met on Tuesday in Manhattan to debate at length the best films and performances of 2025… and the vote was clear.

One Battle after another Benicio Del Toro also received an award for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Sensei Sergio St. Carlos. But Leonardo DiCaprio does not win, leaving the Best Actor trophy to Wagner Moura in Secret agentalso crowned Best Foreign Film. Jafar Panahi is Best Director for A Simple Accident.

The oldest critics’ group in the United States, the NYFCC has not often hit the mark ahead of the Oscars, but nevertheless remains one of the most observed barometers of the season. One Battle after another was already a favorite since its theatrical release. This award only reinforces the conviction that PTA will accumulate trophies in the months to come.

Complete winners of the NYFCC 2025

• Best film: One Battle after another (Warner Bros.)

• Best Director: Jafar Panahi, for A Simple Accident (Neon)

• Best actor: Wagner Moura, for The Secret Agent (Neon)

• Best Actress: Rose Byrne, for If I Had Legs I’d Kick YouA24)

• Best Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, for One Battle after another (Warner Bros.)

• Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan, for Fainted (Warner Bros.)

• Best scenario: Marty Supreme (A24), written by Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie

• Best animated film: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)

• Best photography: Sinners (Warner Bros.), Autumn Arkapaw Durald

• Best documentary film: My Unwanted Friends: Part I – Last Breath in Moscow (self-distributed)

• Best international film: The Secret Agent (Neon)

• Best first film: Eephus (Carson Lund, Music Box Films)