The Atlanta Film Critics Circle, of which I am a voting member, has announced the winners of its annual AFCC Awards for the top cinematic achievements of 2025. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another was the big winner this year, securing the Best Film Award along with six others including, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Ensemble, Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, Best Support Actor for Benicio del Toro, and Best Breakthrough Performance for Chase Infiniti.
This year’s voting was notably competitive, with several categories decided by 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 of international 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.”
See below for a complete list of winners.
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
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 film critics group in Atlanta and fosters a vibrant film culture in Atlanta, already home to a robust film industry production presence.
