Earlier this year, I was honored to join the Southeastern Film Critics Association critics group. It is my third critics group to vote in, and was the second that needed my ballot this year. Unfortunately, I had no real time to get to anything between AFCC and SEFCA, so it was basically the same ballot. Hopefully, next year I’ll have more time.
Here are this year’s winners. If anything, it reinforces some of the films I really need to catch up with the rest of the year, and awards season.
Thanks for listening,
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
Southeastern Film Critics Association Names ‘One Battle After Another’ as the Best Film of 2025
Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s topical comedy-drama also takes home awards for Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor
Monday, December 15, 2025 – 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 After Another”)
Jim Farmer
Festival Director, Out On Film/Atlanta
Freelance Arts Writer/Critic
farmanilla8@aol.com
jim.farmer@outonfilm.org
www.outonfilm.org
