Oscars Watch: 2025 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

51ST ANNUAL LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS
Cipriani Wall Street, New York City
Sunday, December 7, 2025

BEST FILM

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER •
Warner Bros. Pictures

Paul Thomas Anderson | Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, Adam Somner, Sara Murphy | Producers

—
Runner-Up: “The Secret Agent” • NEON

BEST DIRECTOR

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER •
Warner Bros. Pictures

Paul Thomas Anderson, Adam Somner, Sara Murphy | Producers

—
Runner-Up: Ryan Coogler | “Sinners” • Warner Bros. Pictures

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

ETHAN HAWKE
BLUE MOON • Sony Pictures Classics

Richard Linklater | Director
Mike Blizzard, John Sloss, Richard Linklater | Producers

—
Runner-Up: Wagner Moura | “The Secret Agent” • NEON
Runner-Up: Timothée Chalamet | “Marty Supreme” • A24

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

ROSE BYRNE
IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU • A24

Mary Bronstein | Director
Sara Murphy, Ryan Zacarias, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Eli Bush, Conor Hannon, Richie Doyle | Producers

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

STELLAN SKARSGÅRD
SENTIMENTAL VALUE • NEON

Joachim Trier | Director
Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Maria Ekerhovd | Producers

—
Runner-Up: Andrew Scott | “Blue Moon” • Sony Pictures Classics

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

TEYANA TAYLOR
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER •
Warner Bros. Pictures

Paul Thomas Anderson | Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, Adam Somner, Sara Murphy | Producers

—
Runner-Up: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas | “Sentimental Value” • NEON

BEST SCREENPLAY

IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT • NEON

Written by Jafar Panahi

Jafar Panahi | Director/Producer

—
Runner-Up: “Sorry, Baby” • A24 | Eva Victor

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

TRAIN DREAMS • Netflix

Cinematography by Adolpho Veloso

Clint Bentley| Director
Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer, Michael Heimler | Producers

—
Runner-Up: “Sinners” • Warner Bros. Pictures | Autumn Durald Arkapaw

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

SINNERS • Warner Bros. Pictures

Production Design by Hannah Beachler

Ryan Coogler | Director
Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Ryan Coogler | Producers

—
Runner-Up: “Frankenstein” • Netflix | Tamara Deverell

BEST EDITING

MARTY SUPREME • A24

Editing by Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie

Josh Safdie | Director
Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Anthony Katagas, Timothée Chalamet | Producers

—
Runner-Up: “One Battle After Another” • Warner Bros. Pictures | Andy Jurgensen

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

SIRĀT • NEON

Composed by Kangding Ray

Oliver Laxe | Director
Oliver Laxe, Santiago Fillol | Producers

—
Runner-Up: Ludwig Göransson | “Sinners” • Warner Bros. Pictures

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

THE SECRET AGENT • NEON

Kleber Mendonça Filho | Director
Emilie Lesclaux, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Wagner Moura, Brent Travers | Producers

—
Runner-Up: “It Was Just An Accident” • NEON

BEST DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION FILM

MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART I – LAST AIR IN MOSCOW • Marminchilla

Julia Loktev | Director/Producer

—
Runner-Up: “The Perfect Neighbor” • Netflix

BEST ANIMATED FILM

LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN • GKIDS

Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han | Directors
Henri Magalon, Edwina Liard, Claire La Combe, Nidia Santiago | Producers

—
Runner-Up: “KPop Demon Hunters” • Netflix

NEW GENERATION AWARD

EVA VICTOR
SORRY, BABY • A24

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT

PHILIP KAUFMAN

THE DOUGLAS EDWARDS EXPERIMENTAL FILM AWARD

THOM ANDERSEN

For His Body of Work

THE DOUGLAS EDWARDS EXPERIMENTAL FILM AWARD

AFTERNOONS OF SOLITUDE • Grasshopper Film

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SPECIAL CITATION (FOR BODY OF WORK)

JUDY KIM OF GARDENA CINEMA

A Historic 800-Seat, Single-Screen Movie Palace That Has Operated As An Independent Cinema And Beacon Of Community Since The Kim Family Took Ownership In 1976.

LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCATION

BEST PICTURE:
BEST DIRECTOR:
BEST LEAD PERFORMER:
BEST LEAD PERFORMER:
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER:
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMER:
BEST SCREENPLAY:
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:
BEST EDITING:
BEST MUSIC SCORE:
BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE:
BEST DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION:
BEST ANIMATION:
NEW GENERATION AWARD:
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT:
DOUGLAS EDWARDS EXPERIMENTAL AWARD:
DOUGLAS EDWARDS EXPERIMENTAL AWARD:
SPECIAL AWARD (BODY OF WORK):

“One Battle After Another”
Paul Thomas Anderson – “One Battle After Another”
Ethan Hawke – “Blue Moon”
Rose Byrne – “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
Stellan Skarsgård – “Sentimental Value”
Teyana Taylor – “One Battle After Another”
“It Was Just An Accident” – Jafar Panahi
“Train Dreams” – Adolpho Veloso
“Sinners” – Hannah Beachler
“Marty Supreme” – Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
“Sirāt” – Kangding Ray
“The Secret Agent”
“My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow”
“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”
Eva Victor – “Sorry, Baby”
Philip Kaufman
“Afternoon of Solitudes”
Thom Andersen
Judy Kim of Gardena Cinema

ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

Founded in 1975, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is comprised of Los Angeles-based, professional film critics working in the Los Angeles print and electronic media.

Each December, LAFCA members vote on the year’s Achievement Awards, honoring screen excellence on both sides of the camera. Plaques of recognition are presented to winners during LAFCA’s annual ceremony, held in mid-January.

Aside from honoring each year’s outstanding cinematic achievements, LAFCA has also made it a point to look back and pay tribute to distinguished industry veterans with its annual Career Achievement Award (which is announced in October), as well as to look forward by spotlighting fresh, promising talent with its annual New Generation Award.

Over the years, LAFCA Career Achievement winners have included filmmakers John Huston, Orson Welles and Billy Wilder, actors Robert Mitchum, Barbara Stanwyck, Myrna Loy and Robert Preston, producer Roger Corman, and, more recently, cinematographer Conrad L. Hall and composer Ennio Morricone.

Meanwhile, those New Generation Award-winners who were voted most likely to succeed over the past three decades include Martin Scorsese and Jodie Foster (1976’s recipients), John Carpenter, Sean Penn, Spike Lee, Pedro Almodóvar and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The Association’s formation had been spearheaded by the late Ruth Batchelor, a writer for the L.A. Free Press and a correspondent for KTTV-TV. Opening its membership to L.A.-based film critics whose reviews appeared regularly in newspapers, trade publications and magazines, as well as on radio and television, LAFCA voted in its first batch of awards on Feb. 13, 1976 at the old Cock’n’Bull Restaurant.

While there was no official awards presentation that year, inaugural winners included “Dog Day Afternoon” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” which tied for Best Picture, while Al Pacino was voted Best Actor and Sidney Lumet received the nod for Best Director, both for “Dog Day Afternoon.” Best Actress Honors went to Florinda Bolkan, the star of Vittorio De Sica’s “A Brief Vacation.”

In the years that followed, LAFCA would continue to grow both in ranks and influence to become a respected organization with a reliable eye for excellence.

But LAFCA is not just about handing out awards. Over the past three decades, LAFCA has sponsored and hosted numerous film panels and events and donated funds to various Los Angeles film organizations, especially where film preservation was concerned.

LAFCA members have also collectively been vocal about taking up causes they’ve felt passionate about, from drafting formal protests against censorship and colorization to lending their support to controversial films.