Critics' Circle announces film awards

One Battle After Another fights off competition

by Amber Wilkinson

One Battle After Another
One Battle After Another
The UK’s leading film writers and broadcasters honoured Paul Thomas Anderson’s darkly comedic thriller One Battle After Another with four prizes at the 46th annual London Critics’ Circle Film Award. Alongside Film of the Year, Anderson won Director of the Year and Screenwriter of the Year, while Sean Penn was named Supporting Actor of the Year for his role in the film.

Jessie Buckley won Actress of the Year for her role in Chloé Zhao’s Shakespearean drama Hamnet, while Timothée Chalamet took Actor of the Year for Josh Safdie’s riotous sports film Marty Supreme. Ryan Coogler’s genre-bending vampire film Sinners earned the Technical Achievement Award for Ludwig Göransson’s music, and Amy Madigan won Supporting Actress of the Year for her villainous turn in another horror film, Weapons.

Joachim Trier’s father-daughter drama Sentimental Value won the award for Foreign Language Film of the Year, Documentary of the Year went to Geeta Gandbhir’s harrowing The Perfect Neighbor, and musical sensation KPop Demon Hunters took Animated Film of the Year.

British performer Cynthia Erivo received the Derek Malcolm Award for Innovation, while the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film, went to Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.

Jane Crowther, chair of the Critics’ Circle Film section, said: “The winners of the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards show the passion of our voting membership for fresh intriguing stories, committed performances and exemplary craft. We congratulate each and every one of them.”

The 46th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards were voted for by the 207 members of the Film Section of the Critics’ Circle. The awards took place at London's May Fair Hotela and were hosted by Mark Kermode.

Full List of Winners:

- Film of the Year - One Battle After Another

- Director of the Year - Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another

- Screenwriter of the Year - Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another

- British/Irish Film of the Year - Pillion

- Animated Film of the Year - KPop Demon Hunters

- Documentary of the Year -The Perfect Neighbor

- Foreign-Language Film of the Year - Sentimental Value

- Actor of the Year - Timothée Chalamet - Marty Supreme

- Actress of the Year - Jessie Buckley - Hamnet

- Supporting Actor of the Year Sean Penn - One Battle After Another

- Supporting Actress of the Year - Amy Madigan - Weapons

- Breakthrough British/Irish Filmmaker - Harry Lighton - Pillion

- British/Irish Performer of the Year - Josh O’Connor - The Mastermind/The History of Sound/Wake Up Dead Man

- Breakthrough Performer of the Year - I Swear/Palestine 36

- Young British/Irish Performer of the Year - Alfie Williams - 28 Years Later

- Technical Achievement Award - Sinners - Music, Ludwig Göransson

- British/Irish Short Film of the Year - Neil Armstrong And The Langholmites - Directed by Duncan Cowles

- Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film - Guillermo del Toro

- Derek Malcolm Award for Innovation - Cynthia Erivo

Share this with others on...
News

The dream of what could be David Kittredge on Exorcist 2: The Heretic, Excalibur and Boorman And The Devil

Indomitable spirit Marc Evans and Leisa Gwenllian on landscape, Welsh pride and Effi O Blaenau

Trial by fire David Kittredge on Exorcist 2: The Heretic and making Boorman And The Devil

Age old questions Lance Hammer, Tom Courtenay, Juliette Binoche & Anna Calder-Marshall on Queen At Sea

Locking it down Raymond Friel on prison life, keeping scripts tight, and Frightfest opener Jailbroken

Mining for truth Warwick Thornton on survivors and storytelling in Wolfram

Peter Jackson to receive Honorary Palme d'Or Lord Of The Rings director 'privileged' to receive accolade

More news and features

We're currently bringing you news, reviews and more direct from the Glasgow Film Festival and the NY Rendezvous with French Cinema.



We're looking forward to Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival and SXSW and BFI Flare.



We've recently brought you coverage of the Berlinale, Sundance, Palm Springs, the French Film Festival UK, Thessaloniki Film Festival, DOC NYC, and the Leeds International Film Festival.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.

Interact

As we move into 2026, don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon and Bluesky.

With awards season in full flow, you can keep track of the latest news on that here:

Fidos Dixie of Dragonfly is top dog

Golden Eddies Sinners praised by editors' society

Césars All the winners from the French equivalent of the Oscars

Oscars Sinners dominates the nominations