The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) has named Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another as the Best Picture of the Year. SEFCA’s 99 members, located across nine Southeastern states, also recognized Anderson for Best Adapted Screenplay and Benicio del Toro as Best Supporting Actor.
The other big winner was Sinners, which won Ryan Coogler the Best Director award and Michael B. Jordan Best Actor. Its large cast also received the award for Best Ensemble.
Jesse Buckley was named Best Actress for her work in Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet while Amy Madigan triumphed as Best Supporting Actress for Zach Cregger’s Atlanta-filmed Weapons.
Many races were decided by only a few votes, most notably Best Foreign Language Film, where Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident narrowly beat Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value.
“It’s been an exceptional year for film, both blockbusters and smaller independent works,” says Jim Farmer, Vice President of SEFCA. “As film critics throughout the South, it’s our honor to recognize the best of a truly memorable season.”
“It was really satisfying to see a genre film like Sinners performing so well with critics across the country while also being a sensation at the box office,” says Scott Phillips, President of SEFCA. “I’ve always been a big supporter of horror films, and three of our Top 10 films fall into that genre.”
The Southeastern Film Critics Association is one of the oldest regional film critics associations in the country. Its mission is to represent – as an impartial, organized working unit – the profession of film criticism, to recognize the highest creative achievements in the field of motion pictures and uphold the integrity and significance of film criticism.
SEFCA’s full list of 2025 are winners below. Visit SEFCA on the web at SEFCA.net to learn more about its members as well as past winners. You can also follow SEFCA on Twitter at @SEFilmCritics.
Top 10 Films of 2025
1. One Battle After Another
2. Sinners
3. Marty Supreme
4. It Was Just an Accident
5. Sentimental Value
6. Hamnet
7. Train Dreams
8. Weapons
9. Frankenstein
10. The Secret Agent
Best Actor
Winner: Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Runner-Up: Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Best Actress
Winner: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Runner-Up: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Best Supporting Actor:
Winner: Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another
Runner-Up: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Best Supporting Actress:
Winner: Amy Madigan, Weapons
Runner-up: Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
Best Ensemble:
Winner: Sinners
Runner-Up: One Battle After Another
Best Director
Winner: Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Runner-Up: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Runner-Up: Joaquim Trier and Eskil Vogt, Sentimental Value
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Runner-Up: Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, Train Dreams
Best Documentary
Winner: The Perfect Neighbor
Runner-Up: Predators
Best Animated Film
Winner: KPOp Demon Hunters
Runner-Up: Zootopia 2
Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: It Was Just an Accident
Runner-Up: Sentimental Value
Best Cinematography
Winner: Autumn Arkapaw (Sinners)
Runner-Up: Michael Bauman (One Battle After Another)
Best Score
Winner: Ludwig Goransson (Sinners)
Runner-Up: Jonny Greenwood (One Battle)
Article by Jim Farmer
Vice President of the Southeastern Film Critic’s Association
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com