{"id":186048,"date":"2025-12-15T16:42:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T16:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/186048\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T16:42:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T16:42:12","slug":"critics-poll-picks-best-films-performances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/186048\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics Poll Picks Best Films, Performances"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sometimes film<\/a> critics just know what they like. And when you have a consensus fave like the #1 film of the 2025 IndieWire Year-End Critics, they can\u2019t hold back. In fact, the #1 film of the critics survey is the very same as the #1 on IndieWire\u2019s own in-house Best Movies of 2025<\/a>: \u201cOne Battle After Another<\/a>,\u201d with 101 of the 148 critics who voted in this year\u2019s survey having it somewhere on their Top 10 ballots. Not to mention that 43 of those 101 mentions were #1 picks.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a far higher percentage of overall mentions and #1 placements than even last year\u2019s winner, \u201cAnora,<\/a>\u201d received. And while there was a split decision last year, with Brady Corbet topping our survey for Best Director for his extraordinary work on \u201cThe Brutalist,\u201d this year \u201cOne Battle\u201d director Paul Thomas Anderson took Best Director honors as well.<\/p>\n

\"Janus<\/a> \"Jafar<\/a> <\/p>\n

What\u2019s remarkable about such praise for one film is how far-flung the critics who voted in our poll really are: Yes, the majority by far is still from the U.S. or Canada, but six continents are again represented this year \u2014\u00a0even if the number of voters in this survey continues to decline each year as more and more critics leave the industry. <\/p>\n

Participants included writers for IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter, Filmmaker Magazine, Film Comment, Screen International, Reverse Shot, The Irish Times, Der Spiegel, BBC Culture, The Boston Globe, Vulture, Rolling Stone, The Film Stage, Toronto Star, and many more, as well as freelance and staff journalists for newspapers, magazines, and websites from across Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Australia \u2014\u00a0in addition to all over the U.S. and Canada. <\/p>\n

About 76 percent of all the voters hailed from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico (with a full two-thirds from the U.S. itself), but among the other countries represented are Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, India, Japan, Poland, Serbia, South Korea, and Turkey. All participants were required to vote only for films that received theatrical, streaming, or VOD releases in the U.S. over the past calendar year. You can see a full list of the critics who voted on the second page of this article.<\/p>\n

\"RESURRECTION,\u2018Resurrection\u2019Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

As always, IndieWire employs a ranked-choice ballot of 10 films from each voter to determine the overall list: First-place votes receive 10 points, second-place votes receive nine, third-place votes eight, and so on. Best Director was determined by a ranked-choice ballot of three directors from each voter, using the same points scale system but awarding three points to first-place votes, and so on.<\/p>\n

Read the full results of the 2025 IndieWire Critics Survey below.<\/p>\n

Best Film\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ONE\u2018One Battle After Another\u2019\u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

1. \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d \u2014 573\u00a0
2. \u201cIt Was Just an Accident<\/a>\u201d \u2014 501\u00a0
3. \u201cSinners<\/a>\u201d \u2014 479\u00a0
4. \u201cSentimental Value\u201d \u2014 391\u00a0
5. \u201cThe Secret Agent\u201d \u2014 336\u00a0
6. \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d \u2014 259 (7 first place votes)\u00a0
7. \u201cTrain Dreams\u201d \u2014 259 (5 first place votes)\u00a0
8. \u201cSirat\u201d \u2014 206\u00a0
9. \u201cHamnet\u201d \u2014 183\u00a0
10. \u201cSorry, Baby\u201d \u2014 177\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best Director\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ONE\u2018One Battle After Another\u2019\u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

1. Paul Thomas Anderson, \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d \u2014 199\u00a0
2. Ryan Coogler, \u201cSinners\u201d \u2014 68\u00a0
3. Kleber Mendonca Filho, \u201cThe Secret Agent\u201d \u2014 58\u00a0
4. Jafar Panahi, \u201cIt Was Just an Accident\u201d \u2014 56\u00a0
5. Josh Safdie, \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d \u2014 47\u00a0
6. Oliver Laxe, \u201cSirat\u201d \u2014 28\u00a0
7. Joachim Trier, \u201cSentimental Value\u201d \u2014 25\u00a0
8. Mascha Schilinski, \u201cThe Sound of Falling\u201d \u2014 24 (more first place votes)\u00a0
9. Clint Bentley, \u201cTrain Dreams\u201d\u00a0
10. Guillermo del Toro, \u201cFrankenstein\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best Performance\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"IF\u2018If I Had Legs I\u2019d Kick You\u2019Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

1. Rose Byrne, \u201cIf I Had Legs I\u2019d Kick You\u201d\u00a0
2. Ethan Hawke, \u201cBlue Moon\u201d\u00a0
3. Wagner Moura, \u201cThe Secret Agent\u201d\u00a0
4. Jessie Buckley, \u201cHamnet\u201d\u00a0
5. Timothee Chalamet, \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d\u00a0
6. Michael B. Jordan, \u201cSinners\u201d\u00a0
7. TIE: Benicio Del Toro\/Sean Penn, \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d\u00a0
9. Amanda Seyfried, \u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee\u201d\u00a0
10. Renate Reinsve, \u201cSentimental Value\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best Documentary\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"THE\u2018The Perfect Neighbor\u2019\u00a9Netflix\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

1. \u201cThe Perfect Neighbor\u201d\u00a0
2. \u201cPredators\u201d\u00a0
3. \u201cOrwell 2+2=5\u201d\u00a0
4. \u201cMy Undesirable Friends: Part 1 \u2014\u00a0Last Air in Moscow\u201d\u00a0
5. \u201cAfternoons of Solitude\u201d\u00a0
6. \u201cPut Your Soul on My Hand and Walk\u201d\u00a0
7. \u201cCome See Me in the Good Light\u201d\u00a0
8. \u201cCover-Up\u201d\u00a0
9. \u201c2,000 Meters to Andriivka\u201d\u00a0
10. \u201cThe Tale of Silyan\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best Cinematography\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TRAIN\u2018Train Dreams\u2019\u00a9Netflix\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

1. \u201cTrain Dreams\u201d\u00a0
2. \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d\u00a0
3. \u201cSinners\u201d\u00a0
4. \u201cFrankenstein\u201d\u00a0
5. \u201cResurrection\u201d\u00a0
6. \u201cThe Secret Agent\u201d\u00a0
7. \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d\u00a0
8. \u201cThe Sound of Falling\u201d\u00a0
9. \u201cNo Other Choice\u201d\u00a0
10. \u201cSirat\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best Screenplay\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ONE\u2018One Battle After Another\u2019\u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

1. \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d\u00a0
2. \u201cIt Was Just an Accident\u201d\u00a0
3. \u201cBlue Moon\u201d\u00a0
4. \u201cSentimental Value\u201d\u00a0
5. \u201cThe Secret Agent\u201d\u00a0
6. \u201cSorry, Baby\u201d\u00a0
7. \u201cSinners\u201d\u00a0
8. \u201cWeapons\u201d\u00a0
9. \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d\u00a0
10. \u201cTrain Dreams\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best International Film\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"IT\u2018It Was Just an Accident\u2019Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

1. \u201cIt Was Just an Accident\u201d\u00a0
2. \u201cSentimental Value\u201d\u00a0
3. \u201cThe Secret Agent\u201d\u00a0
4. \u201cSirat\u201d\u00a0
5. \u201cThe Sound of Falling\u201d\u00a0
6. \u201cMisericordia\u201d\u00a0
7. \u201cNo Other Choice\u201d\u00a0
8. \u201cMy Undesirable Friends: Part 1 \u2014 Last Air in Moscow\u201d\u00a0
9. \u201cCaught by the Tides\u201d\u00a0
10. \u201cResurrection\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best First Feature\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SORRY,\u2018Sorry, Baby\u2019Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

1. \u201cSorry, Baby\u201d\u00a0
2. \u201cEephus\u201d\u00a0
3. \u201cPillion\u201d\u00a0
4. \u201cFriendship\u201d\u00a0
5. \u201cFamiliar Touch\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best Films Opening in 2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DEAD\u2018Dead Man\u2019s Wire\u2019Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

1. \u201cDead Man\u2019s Wire\u201d\u00a0
2. TIE: \u201cCurrents\u201d\/\u201dBlue Heron\u201d\u00a0
3. \u201cMiroirs\u201d\u00a0
4. \u201cPillion\u201d\u00a0
5. \u201cThe President\u2019s Cake\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Continue Reading: 2025 Critics Poll: The Best Movies of the Year, According to 148 Critics
Next &raquo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometimes film critics just know what they like. And when you have a consensus fave like the #1…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[146,878,107661,85,46,53080,397,5434,68617],"class_list":["post-186048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-film","tag-film-critics","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-it-was-just-an-accident","tag-movies","tag-one-battle-after-another","tag-sinners"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}