The steamroller that is “One Battle After Another” is not slowing down. In fact, it’s picking up speed.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of the Thomas Pynchon novel “Vineland” was the darling of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, taking home three prizes for best picture, director and supporting performance for Teyana Taylor.
Marking their 51st annual meeting to determine the year’s best achievements in filmmaking, “One Battle After Another” joins a lineage of Oscar success stories such as “The Hurt Locker” (2009), “Spotlight” (2015), “Moonlight” (2016) and “Parasite” (2019) and last year’s “Anora,” all of which went on to capture the Academy Award for best picture.
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While the group is known for its adventurous taste, its instincts often align with Hollywood’s most coveted accolades. Since 2009, six LAFCA-winning filmmakers have gone on to win the Oscar for best director, including Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker,” Alfonso Cuarón for “Gravity,” Guillermo del Toro for “The Shape of Water,” Bong Joon Ho for “Parasite,” Chloé Zhao for “Nomadland” and Jane Campion for “The Power of the Dog.”
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This year also marked LAFCA’s fourth iteration of gender-neutral acting categories.
The leading performance prizes were shared between Ethan Hawke’s revelatory work as Broadway legend Lorenz Hart in Richard Linklater’s “Blue Moon” and Rose Byrne’s brave turn as a mother and therapist whose life comes crashing down in Mary Bronstein’s dramedy “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.”
This marks Hawke’s second acting win at LAFCA (following “First Reformed” in 2018) and third overall (he won screenplay for “Before Midnight” in 2013 alongside Linklater and Julie Delpy). Hawke is quickly becoming a viable force in the best actor race, where it’s a cutthroat match between “One Battle After Another” and “Marty Supreme” stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet, the latter of whom was the runner-up, along with Wagner Moura from “The Secret Agent.”
Speaking of Moura, his Brazilian thriller “The Secret Agent” scored a significant win for best film not in the English language, edging out “It Was Just an Accident,” which represents France at the Oscars. The film also finished as the runner-up to “One Battle After Another” for the best picture prize. In Variety’s most recent Oscar predictions, the Kleber Mendonça Filho stunner is projected to be among the 10 best picture nominees. Were we on to something?
Byrne has now clinched the National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle and LAFCA prizes for best actress. Her bid for her first career Oscar nomination is moving in the right direction considerably. There have been seven women to win all four major critics’ awards, including the National Society of Film Critics (set to announce in January). The last one was Helen Mirren for “The Queen” (2006), who followed Holly Hunter (“The Piano”), Emma Thompson (“Howards End”), Michelle Pfeiffer (“The Fabulous Baker Boys”), Meryl Streep (“Sophie’s Choice”), Sissy Spacek (“Coal Miner’s Daughter”) and Sally Field (“Norma Rae”). Pfeiffer was the only one who didn’t go on to win the Oscar.
The previous women to duplicate what Byrne has achieved with NBR, NYFCC and LAFCA (and without winning NSFC): Julie Christie (“Away From Her”), Holly Hunter (“Broadcast News”), Shirley MacLaine (“Terms of Endearment”) and Liv Ullmann (“Face to Face”). All became eventual Oscar nominees, with only MacLaine going on to win.
The only statistic that would make Byrne’s camp a bit nervous is the last two people to win LAFCA and NYFCC and fail to garner an Oscar nomination: Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”) and Sally Hawkins (“Happy-Go-Lucky”), both of which were films that weren’t considered viable best picture contenders. Notably, neither of them won NBR. Nonetheless, Byrne’s spot is looking nearly secured.
In the supporting performance category, the prize was shared between Stellan Skarsgård’s turn as a film director in the Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value” and the aforementioned Taylor for her work as a revolutionary in the PTA epic. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas from “Sentimental Value” and Andrew Scott from “Blue Moon” were the runners-up, and both remain worthy and potential candidates in their respective supporting acting races.
Regarding Anderson adding another director trophy to his mantle for “One Battle After Another,” which follows his National Board of Review win, he currently mirrors Ang Lee’s run for “Brokeback Mountain” (2005) with NBR and LAFCA wins. Interestingly, if he does manage to win NSFC, he’ll be the first director to have that exact makeup of the four prominent critics’ wins going into Oscar nominations. There have been five directors in history to win from all four groups — Quentin Tarantino (“Pulp Fiction”), Curtis Hanson (“L.A. Confidential”), Steven Soderbergh (“Erin Brockovich” and “Traffic”), David Fincher (“The Social Network”) and Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”). Only Soderbergh won the Oscar.
While he didn’t ultimately win, it was a nice boost for Ryan Coogler’s campaign, who was named runner-up in the best director category for his work on the vampire film “Sinners.”
With best picture wins from LAFCA, NBR and NYFCC, the Warner Bros. sensation is currently identical only to best picture winner “Terms of Endearment” (1983) with that specific makeup of prizes. If it manages to pull off NSFC, it would join a list occupied by only three films as the only ones to win all four groups: “Schindler’s List” (1993), “L.A. Confidential” (1997) and “The Social Network” (2010). Only “Schindler” ultimately won the Academy’s top prize.
After winning at the Gotham Awards on Dec. 1, Jafar Panahi received another screenplay prize for his Iranian thriller “It Was Just an Accident,” edging out Eva Victor’s tender “Sorry, Baby,” which was named the New Generation recipient.
Screenplay winners have proved to be another reliable bellwether. Over the past decade, five LAFCA-honored scripts have translated those victories into Academy Award wins, among them Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” and Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman.” Only one LAFCA winner since 2009 has failed to earn an Oscar nomination: “All of Us Strangers” (2023).
In the LAFCA-selected artisan categories, Adolpho Veloso’s gorgeous cinematography for Netflix’s “Train Dreams” edged out Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s work on “Sinners.” Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie won the editing award for “Marty Supreme,” while Hannah Beachler won production design for “Sinners.” Beachler made history with Coogler’s “Black Panther” (2018), becoming the first Black person to win the category. The raving tunes of Kangding Ray’s score for “Sirāt” triumphed over Ludwig Göransson’s “Sinners” soundtrack.
GKids’ delightful “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” captured the animation prize over Netflix’s musical hit “KPop Demon Hunters.” The little non-fiction engine that could, “My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 — Last Air in Moscow,” pulled off another victory for best documentary, following Gotham and NYFCC prizes, over Netflix’s “The Perfect Neighbor.” A considerable feat for the film, given its self-distribution.
Albert Serra’s “Afternoons of Solitude” was bestowed with the Douglas Edwards Experimental Film Prize, while Thom Andersen received the Douglas Edwards Special Award for his body of work.
As previously announced, LAFCA will honor Philip Kaufman with its Career Achievement Award. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker earned his sole Academy nod for adapted screenplay for “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” co-written with Jean-Claude Carrière, and has left a lasting imprint through films such as “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” “The Right Stuff” and “Quills.”
The annual banquet, scheduled for January, will celebrate all winners and mark another year of evolution for the organization. Founded in 1975, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association has long maintained a reputation for championing bold, uncompromising filmmaking and broadening the industry’s understanding of what constitutes excellence.
The complete list of winners is below.
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Best Picture: “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)
Runner-up: “The Secret Agent” (Neon)
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)
Runner-up: Ryan Coogler, “Sinners” (Warner Bros.)
Leading Performances: Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (A24) and Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Runners-up: Timothée Chalamet, “Marty Supreme” (A24) and Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent” (Neon)
Supporting Performances: Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value” (Neon) and Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)
Runners-up: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value” (Neon) and Andrew Scott, “Blue Moon” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Screenplay: “It Was Just an Accident” (Neon) — Jafar Panahi
Runner-up: “Sorry, Baby” (A24) — Eva Victor
Animation: “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” (GKids)
Runner-up: “KPop Demon Hunters” (Netflix)
Cinematography: “Train Dreams” (Netflix) — Adolpho Veloso
Runner-up: “Sinners” (Warner Bros.) — Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Editing: “Marty Supreme” (A24) — Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
Runner-up: “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.) — Andy Jurgensen
Production Design: “Sinners” (Warner Bros.) — Hannah Beachler
Runner-up: “Frankenstein” (Netflix) — Tamara Deverell
Music Score: “Sirāt” (Neon) — Kangding Ray
Runner-up: “Sinners” (Warner Bros.) — Ludwig Göransson
Film Not in the English-Language: “The Secret Agent” (Neon)
Runner-up: “It Was Just an Accident” (Neon)
Documentary/Non-Fiction Film: “My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 — Last Air in Moscow” (Self-Distributed)
Runner-up: “The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix)
New Generation Award: Eva Victor, “Sorry, Baby” (A24)
Douglas Edwards Experimental Film Prize: Albert Serra, “Afternoons of Solititude” (Grasshopper Films)
Douglas Edwards Special Award: Thom Andersen for his body of work
Career Achievement Award: Philip Kaufman
Special Citation: Judy Kim of Gardena Cinema, a historic 800-seat, single-screen movie palace that has operated as an independent cinema and beacon of community since the Kim family took ownership in 1976.