One Battle After Another voted best film of the year by Sight And Sound

American filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another has beaten films including Sinners and The Mastermind to snag the top spot as Sight and Sound’s number one film of 2025.

The British Film Institute’s (BFI) international film magazine has crowned the acclaimed action comedy best film of the year, describing it as a “worthy winner” of the top spot.

One Battle After Another is based on Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, and follows former revolutionary Bob Ferguson, who must protect his daughter from his old nemesis, the white supremacist Colonel Lockjaw, who resurfaces after 16 years

The film, starring American actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn, was released in September this year.

Anderson, also known for There Will Be Blood (2007) and Boogie Nights (1997) said being crowned best film of the year was “amazing”.

Anderson, 55, said: “It takes my breath away a bit, honestly.

“I remember reading Sight and Sound, as we all do, from when I was so young, and now to have a film that they called the best film of the year… it’s amazing.”

The multi-Academy Award winner added: “I can’t wait to see what it looks like in print. My first response was ‘f*** yeah’, and I stand by that.”

Anderson has been on the Best Film list before, for the first time in 2005. He came in second place in 2018 for Phantom Thread.

Sight and Sound editor-in-chief Mike Williams said: “Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the greatest American filmmakers of his generation, and One Battle After Another is his most prescient, urgent film yet.

“It’s a worthy winner in a strong year for film.”

American filmmaker and two-time Academy Award nominee Ryan Coogler took the second spot, for his American period drama horror film, Sinners.

In third place was The Mastermind by American director and screenwriter Kelly Reichardt – a crime film set in the 1970s.

Sirat, by French-Spanish film director and screenwriter Oliver Laxe, won the Jury Prize at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

The drama came fourth on the NFI’s list, and The Secret Agent by Kleber Mendonca Filho came fifth.

Iranian film director and screenwriter took sixth place with his thriller It Was Just An Accident, followed by French-American actor and writer Eva Victor’s comedy drama, Sorry, Baby.

American filmmaker Zach Cregger’s horror mystery Weapons came in eighth, and Dry Leaf, an experimental road movie by Georgian filmmaker and screenwriter Alexandre Koberidze took the ninth spot.

Chinese film director and screenwriter Bi Gan rounded off the top 10 with Resurrection, a sci-fi drama film.

The list had 10 British films in the top 50 list, including four supported by the BFI Filmmaking Fund awarded National Lottery Funding: Pillion, Rose of Nevada, My Father’s Shadow and On Falling.

This year’s top 50 list also features 15 films by female and non-binary filmmakers.

Sight and Sound’s Winter 25/26 Issue will be available digitally on December 8 and on newsstands from December 11.

The top 10 list in full is:

1. One Battle After Another, by Paul Thomas Anderson

2. Sinners, by Ryan Coogler

3. The Mastermind, by Kelly Reichardt

4. Sirat by Oliver Laxe

5. The Secret Agent, by Kleber Mendonca Filho

6. It Was Just An Accident, by Jafar Panahi

7. Sorry, Baby, by Eva Victor

8. Weapons, by Zach Cregger

9. Dry Leaf, by Alexandre Koberidze

10. Resurrection, by Bi Gan