The Oscars won't be handed out until March, but we usually find out the hot contenders for the golden statuettes in December, when the first rounds of nominations and rankings start, some of which are not at all indicative, and others very.
It is in the latter category that the annual announcement of the best films by the National Board of Review (NBR), a group of American critics, clearly belongs
The winner did not surprise
The critics named One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, the best film of 2025. The film was awarded several times. In addition to the main category, its director Paul Thomas Anderson, lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio, supporting actor Benicio Del Toro and breakthrough actress Chase Infinity also won the award. The film is also currently a frontrunner at the Oscars.
One battle at a time; Source: Warner Bros.But other films have also received recognition. The award for Best Foreign Film went to the Iranian-French drama It Was Just An Accident. The critics chose the French film Arco as the best animated film. Writer-director Ryan Coogler's horror film Sinners won Best Original Screenplay. For a full list of awards, follow this link.
Avatar: Fire and Ashes; Source: 20th Century Studios
Sinners; Source: Warner Bros.Top 10 by American critics
As always, the critics also put together a final Top 10 list of the year's best films, but listed alphabetically. Last year, by the way, the musical Wicked topped their list. Its sequel made the top ten this year, but not with nearly as much pomp. In the end, the list looks like this:
- Avatar: Fire and Ash
- F1
- Frankenstein
- Jay Kelly
- Marty Supreme
- Rental Family
- Sinners
- Train Dreams
- Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
- Wicked: For Good
In addition, the critics then put together a top ten list of independent films, which is also worth mentioning because it includes films like Sorry, Baby, for which director Eva Victor won the award for Best Directorial Debut of the Year. Overall, the top 10 independent films for 2025 look like this:
- 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
Source: mam.cz