Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another was named best picture of 2025 by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle on Monday night, while Sean Penn won best supporting male actor for his role in the politically-charged thriller.
One Battle After Another earlier received seven nominations from the Vancouver critics.
The film about an ex-revolutionary group was nominated for best picture, best director and best screenplay and received acting nominations for star Leonardo DiCaprio and supporting castmembers Benicio Del Toro, Teyana Taylor and Penn.
Other winners from the Vancouver film critics include Sinners writer-director Ryan Coogler, who won best director and best screenplay for his slick vampire film.
Both One Battle and Sinners are Oscars front runners, with the latest accolades continuing to build their momentum ahead of the 2026 Academy Awards.
In other acting categories, the best male actor crown went to Timothée Chalamet for his star turn in Josh Safdie’s ping-pong caper Marty Supreme, while Jessie Buckley was named best female actor for her role in Hamnet, Chloé Zhao’s Shakespearean heartbreaker.
And the best supporting female actor honor went to Amy Madigan for her performance as a creepily clownish aunt in Zach Cregger’s Weapons.
In other prize-giving on Monday evening in Vancouver, local film critics gave the best documentary prize to Geeta Gandbhir for The Perfect Neighbor, about the consequences of Stand Your Ground laws as shown through a deadly 2023 shooting, and the best international film in a language other than English went to Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident.
