The metallic clatter of champagne glasses hitting marble at Cipriani next January already echoes in my head, even though the gala is still six weeks away. That’s the sound of inevitability when a film vacuum‑seals the early season like One Battle After Another just did—Gothams Monday, NYFCC Tuesday, National Board of Review Wednesday. Five prizes today alone: Best Film, Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, Supporting Actor for Benicio del Toro, Breakthrough for Chase Infiniti. It’s the kind of sweep that turns prognosticators into parrots and makes the rest of the field taste metal.
- One Battle After Another’s Brutal Awards Momentum
- Full 2025 National Board of Review Winners
- Why One Battle After Another Feels Unstoppable Right Now
- Key Signals from NBR’s One Battle After Another Sweep
- FAQ
- Why does One Battle After Another’s NBR sweep feel more decisive than usual?
- Has One Battle After Another’s NBR dominance killed the Best Picture race already?
- What does One Battle After Another’s NBR haul mean for PTA’s third Oscar chances?
- Why did One Battle After Another’s NBR wins overshadow every other contender so fast?
I have to confess something that’ll sound blasphemous in certain corners: part of me was rooting for the chaos. For Hamnet to keep its Telluride halo, for the season to stay scrappy. Then PTA’s crime machine rolled in and reminded everyone how seductive precision can be.
One Battle After Another’s Brutal Awards Momentum
Seventy‑two hours. That’s all it took for One Battle After Another to go from presumed contender to presumed coronation. The NBR—93 years old, stuffed with filmmakers and academics who’ve seen every trick—didn’t just tap it for Best Film. They handed Anderson his directing trophy, DiCaprio his first major hardware of the cycle, del Toro the supporting nod everyone saw coming after Venice whispers, and Infiniti the breakthrough prize that usually signals “remember this name.”
Rose Byrne doubled down on her NYFCC win yesterday with NBR Best Actress for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You—two groups in 24 hours calling her work flat‑out mesmerizing.
Full 2025 National Board of Review Winners
| Category | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Original Screenplay | Ryan Coogler | Sinners |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar | Train Dreams |
| Best Animated Feature | Arco | — |
| Best International Film | It Was Just an Accident | — |
| Best Documentary | Cover-Up | — |
| Breakthrough Performance | Chase Infiniti | One Battle After Another |
| Best Directorial Debut | Eva Victor | Sorry, Baby |
| Outstanding Cinematography | Autumn Durald Arkapaw | Sinners |
| Outstanding Stunt Artistry | Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning | — |
Top 10 Films (alphabetical)
Avatar: Fire and Ash • F1 • Frankenstein • Jay Kelly • Marty Supreme • One Battle After Another • Rental Family • Sinners • Train Dreams • Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery • Wicked: For Good
Top 5 International Films
Left‑Handed Girl • The Love That Remains • The Secret Agent • Sentimental Value • Sirāt
Top 10 Independent Films
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
Why One Battle After Another Feels Unstoppable Right Now
Here’s where I start arguing with myself mid‑sentence—because the NBR isn’t the Oscars. It hasn’t predicted Best Picture since Green Book in 2018, and half the time it feels like a polite East Coast hug before the real fight begins. Yet when Gotham, NYFCC, and NBR line up within days, the math gets ugly for everyone else. Hamnet’s early critical glow has already cooled into the low‑80s consensus zone, the kind of quiet bleed that makes distributors sweat.
You know that moment in crime movies when the crew realizes the job was too clean, that someone planned every exit before they even walked in? That’s the vibe One Battle After Another gives off right now. Warner Bros. barely had to campaign; the film just… arrived.
And yet. Part of me wants the chaos again. The other part is already clearing shelf space.
January 13 at Cipriani is going to feel less like a celebration and more like a coronation photo‑op. So tell me—am I drinking the Kool‑Aid too early, or is this the rare season where the train actually reaches the station without derailing? Because right now, resisting feels a lot like standing in front of an oncoming freight.
Key Signals from NBR’s One Battle After Another Sweep
Early lock feeling real
Three groups in three days isn’t momentum—it’s gravity.
DiCaprio–del Toro combo, plus Infiniti, is lethal
Two acting prizes plus breakthrough make this the most decorated ensemble before Christmas.
Rose Byrne double tap
Back‑to‑back actress wins turn her film from sleeper into serious threat.
Sinners refuses to kneel
Coogler’s screenplay and Arkapaw’s cinematography keep the vampire thriller very much alive.
Hamnet bleed starts
Zero NBR love turns the early darling into a cautionary tale fast.
FAQ
Why does One Battle After Another’s NBR sweep feel more decisive than usual?
Because Gotham + NYFCC + five NBR prizes in 72 hours is the fastest consolidation we’ve seen since something like Mad Max: Fury Road locked in the craft races. When three very different voting bodies agree this loudly, it stops feeling like noise and starts feeling like narrative.
Has One Battle After Another’s NBR dominance killed the Best Picture race already?
Not killed—put it on life support. There’s still room for a Critics Choice, SAG, or Globes revolt to shake things up, but every day this run goes unchallenged the oxygen thins for everyone else. At a certain point voters just start checking the box they’ve already heard a hundred times.
What does One Battle After Another’s NBR haul mean for PTA’s third Oscar chances?
It takes him from “of course he’ll be nominated” to “this is the guy you have to beat.” Director + Film + multiple acting prizes in one swoop give Anderson a front‑runner sheen, especially with del Toro and DiCaprio anchoring the campaign trail in every photo.
Why did One Battle After Another’s NBR wins overshadow every other contender so fast?
Because when a crime thriller this controlled grabs critics by the throat across coasts and voting bodies, resistance starts looking like denial. The rest of the field suddenly feels like it’s playing catch‑up to a movie that, in awards terms, seems to have already left the station.
