Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” has been named the best film of 2025 by the National Board of Review, which also gave the movie awards for director Anderson and actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro and Chase Infiniti.
The honors marked the third day in a row that “One Battle” has won a significant award. On Monday, it was named Best Feature at the Gotham Awards; on Tuesday, it took the top prize from the New York Film Critics Circle.
A few films managed to escape the “One Battle” steamroller, with Rose Byrne and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas winning acting awards for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” and “Sentimental Value,” respectively, and writing honors going to Ryan Coogler for “Sinners” and Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar for “Train Dreams.”
The NBR’s list of the top 10 films of the year included “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” “F1,” “Frankenstein,” “Jay Kelly,” “Marty Supreme,” “Rental Family,” “Sinners,” “Train Dreams,” “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” and “Wicked: For Good.”
Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet” was noticeably missing, as was Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite.”
“It Was Just an Accident” won the award as the best international film of the year, while “Arco” won for animated feature and “Cover-Up” for documentary.
Though it is often lumped in with critics awards, the National Board of Review is a New York-based organization made up of what it describes as “film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals and academics of various ages and backgrounds.” In its first 76 years, its winning film went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture 24 times, though the two groups have agreed only three times in this century, with “No Country for Old Men” and “Slumdog Millionaire” in 2007 and 2008 and “Green Book” in 2018.
Most years, the NBR list includes five or six films that go on to receive Best Picture nominations; in the last decade, it has never had more than seven matches or fewer than four.
Last year, though, it hit that low mark again as only four of the NBR’s top 11 films – “Anora,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave” and its winner as best film of 2024, “Wicked” – received Best Picture nominations. (Another Oscar nominee, “I’m Still Here,” was on the NBR’s list of the five best international films.)
It did match the Oscar winners in the supporting actor (Kieran Culkin for “A Real Pain”) and animated feature (“Flow”) categories.
The winners:
Best Film: “One Battle After Another”
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “One Battle After Another”
Best Actress: Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
Best Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, “One Battle After Another”
Best Supporting Actress: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value”
Best Directorial Debut: Eva Victor, “Sorry, Baby”
Breakthrough Performance: Chase Infiniti, “One Battle After Another”
Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, “Train Dreams”
Best Animated Feature: “Arco”
Best International Film: “It Was Just an Accident”
Best Documentary: “Cover-Up”
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, “Sinners”
Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk”
Top Films (in alphabetical order):
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
“F1”
“Frankenstein”
“Jay Kelly”
“Marty Supreme”
“Rental Family”
“Sinners”
“Train Dreams”
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery”
“Wicked: For Good”
Top 5 International Films (in alphabetical order):
“Left-Handed Girl”
“The Love That Remains”
“The Secret Agent”
“Sentimental Value”
“Sirāt”
Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order):
“2000 Meters to Andriivka”
“Come See Me in the Good Light”
“My Mom Jayne”
“Natchez”
“Orwell: 2+2=5”
Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order):
“The Baltimorons”
“Bring Her Back”
“Father Mother Sister Brother”
“Friendship”
“Good Boy”
“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
“The Mastermind”
“Rebuilding”
“Sorry, Baby”
“Urchin”