Atlanta Film Critics Circle Selects 'One Battle After Another' as 2025's Best Movie

I'm in three critics groups: Atlanta Film Critics Circle, Southeastern Film Critics Association, and Georgia Film Critics Association. The first of the three announced its winners today with One Battle After Another taking the top prize along with Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Ensemble, Best Supporting Actor (Benicio del Toro), and Best Breakthrough Performance for Chase Infiniti. I'll have my personal Top 10 coming at the end of the month, but I'll be interested to see how One Battle performs with other critics groups. It won Best Picture from New York Film Critics Circle yesterday, and I wouldn't be surprised if it does fairly well with other critics groups. The question is whether the guilds will spark to it as well or if they'll go for other contenders like Sinners or Hamnet.

Here's the press release:

(Dec. 3, Atlanta) Now in its ninth year, the Atlanta Film Critics Circle has announced its awards for top cinematic achievements in 2025.

The 39 voting members of the AFCC chose director Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another as its top film of the year. The big-budget thriller swept seven major categories, also winning Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Ensemble, Best Supporting Actor (Benicio del Toro), and Best Breakthrough Performance for Chase Infiniti.

Leonardo DiCaprio earned Best Actor honors for his performance in the film, narrowly edging out Michael B.Jordan in Ryan Coogler's horror sensation Sinners, which captured Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score. Amy Madigan took Best Supporting Actress for Weapons in another close race. Other topwinners included Eva Victor's Sorry, Baby for Best First Feature, The Perfect Neighbor for Best Documentary, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning for Best Stunt Work.

This year's voting was notably competitive, with several races coming down to just a few points. Best International Feature Film saw the closest margin in AFCC history, with only four points separating the top three films. Four of the group's top 10 films hail from international filmmakers, underscoring the strength of global cinema in 2025.

"2025 was another stellar year for film, including two horror sensations in Sinners and Weapons, Chloé Zhao's heartbreaking excavation of the grief process in Hamnet, and one of the strongest crops ofinternational films in recent memory," said AFCC advisory board member Kyle Pinion. "But it was Paul Thomas Anderson's crafting of a generational masterpiece in One Battle After Another that ruled the day in AFCC voters' ballots, and rightfully so. It's the kind of film that will last."

Complete AFCC Award List

BEST FILM:

One Battle After Another

TOP 10 FILMS (ranked):

1.  One Battle After Another

2.  Sinners

3.  Weapons

4.  Hamnet

5.  Marty Supreme

6.  It Was Just an Accident

7.  No Other Choice

8.  Sentimental Value

9.  Train Dreams

10.  The Secret Agent

BEST LEAD ACTOR:

Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another

Runner-up: Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

BEST LEAD ACTRESS:

Jessie Buckley, Hamnet

Runner-up: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another

Runner-up: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Amy Madigan, Weapons

Runner-up: Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST:

One Battle After Another

Runner-up: Sinners

BEST DIRECTOR:

Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Runner-up: Ryan Coogler, Sinners

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Sinners

Runner-up: Weapons

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

One Battle After Another

Runner-up: Hamnet

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

The Perfect Neighbor

Runner-up: The Alabama Solution

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE:

It Was Just an Accident

Runner-up: No Other Choice

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

KPop Demon Hunters

Runner-up: Arco

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

One Battle After Another

Runner-up: Sinners

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

Sinners

Runner-up: One Battle After Another

BEST STUNT WORK:

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Runner-up: F1

BEST VOICE PERFORMANCE:

Arden Cho, KPop Demon Hunters

Runner-up: Jason Bateman, Zootopia 2

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE:

Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another

BEST FIRST FEATURE:

Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby

About the AFCC

Founded in 2017, the Atlanta Film Critics Circle is a dynamic mix of 39 Atlanta-based critics working in newspaper, magazine, and online journalism. The AFCC's mission establishes a national presence for a filmcritics group in Atlanta and fosters a vibrant film culture in Atlanta, already home to a robust film industry production presence.