Buckle up, awards nuts: it’s going to be a long afternoon.
Throughout the day on Dec. 7, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) slowly rolled out the winners for its 51st annual kudos. What sort of timetable were we looking at here? Last year, the first winner was announced on social media at 10:30 a.m. PT, while the final winner (Anora for Best Picture) was revealed at 3:42 p.m. PT.
The group’s lead acting prizes went to Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You) and Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), while Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value) and Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another) took home the supporting trophies. None of these were considered surprises, as all four champions are in Gold Derby’s Top 5 for their respective Oscar categories.
Ethan Hawke in Blue MoonSony Pictures Classics / Everett Collection
Meditative drama Train Dreams won the first award on Sunday, for Best Cinematography. Next up was Best Music Score, which went to Sirāt, Spain’s official selection for the Best International Feature Oscar. The craft categories continued with horror-musical Sinners winning Best Production Design, and sports dramedy Marty Supreme taking Best Film Editing.
Other awards were doled out to Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another (Best Director) Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident (Best Screenplay), My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow (Best Documentary/Nonfiction Film), and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (Best Animated Film).
LAFCA’s categories mostly match up with the Oscars, though there are a few exceptions. In 2022, the L.A. critics eliminated the four traditional lead actor/actress and supporting actor/actress races. They now hand out two trophies for Best Lead Performance, and two for Best Supporting Performance, regardless of gender. The organization also has a single Best Screenplay category, whereas the Oscars honor both original and adapted scripts.
Over the past 50 years, LAFCA’s Best Picture winner has matched with the Academy Awards 13 times: Anora (2024), Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), Parasite (2019), Moonlight (2016), Spotlight (2015), The Hurt Locker (2009), Schindler’s List (1993), Unforgiven (1992), Amadeus (1984), Terms of Endearment (1983), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Rocky (1976), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975).
Los Angeles Film Critics Association logoLos Angeles Film Critics Association
Here is the full list of 2025 Los Angeles Film Critics Association winners and runners-up (keep refreshing this page for new updates):
BEST PICTURE
Winner:
Runner-up:
BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another
Runner-up: Ryan Coogler for Sinners
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCES
Winners: Rose Byrne for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon
Runners-up: Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme, and Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCES
Winners: Stellan Skarsgård for Sentimental Value, and Teyana Taylor for One Battle After Another
Runners-up: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas for Sentimental Value, and Andrew Scott for Blue Moon
BEST SCREENPLAY
Winner: Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident
Runner-up: Eva Victor for Sorry, Baby
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: Adolpho Veloso for Train Dreams
Runner-up: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners
BEST FILM EDITING
Winner: Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme
Runner-up: Andy Jurgensen, One Battle After Another
BEST MUSIC SCORE
Winner: Kangding Ray for Sirāt
Runner-up: Ludwig Göransson, Sinners
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Winner: Hannah Beachler for Sinners
Runner-up: Tamara Deverell, Frankenstein
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Winner: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Runner-up: KPop Demon Hunters
BEST DOCUMENTARY/NONFICTION FILM
Winner: My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow
Runner-up: The Perfect Neighbor
BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Winner:
Runner-up:
In addition, LAFCA bestowed the Douglas Edwards Experimental Film Awards to Albert Serra’s Afternoons of Solitude, and to Thom Andersen for his body of work.
This group of about 60 California reviewers were preceded in announcing their newest honorees by the New York Film Critics Circle, who chose One Battle After Another as Best Picture on Dec. 2. That movie also prevailed last week at the Gotham Awards and the National Board of Review, making it the rare contender to impress all three awards organizations. See what’s next on the road to the Oscars.
Founded in 1975, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association is comprised of L.A.-based, professional film critics working in local media. Among those brand-name critics are The New Yorker’s Justin Chang, Variety’s Peter Debruge, Los Angeles Times’ Amy Nicholson, and legendary critic Leonard Maltin. All told, there are 60 members in the group, with Robert Abele serving as president, Katie Walsh as vice president, Chang as secretary, and Annlee Ellingson as treasurer.