‘One Battle After Another’ Named Best Film by the National Board of Review

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Dec 8

A decisive awards-season surge as Paul Thomas Anderson’s World War II epic claims NBR’s top honor — and instantly reshapes the Best Picture race.

The National Board of Review has officially spoken — and it has placed Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another squarely at the center of the 2026 awards conversation. In a season where several presumptive frontrunners are still finding their footing, this victory lands with the force of a seismic shift. For a film already considered one of the year’s most formidable artistic achievements, NBR’s endorsement is not just a boost; it is a reorientation of the race.

Anderson’s film has been a critical darling since its summer premiere, but NBR has a history of identifying films that resonate with both critics and the industry at large. Their Best Film pick often signals momentum that translates into Oscars visibility, setting the tone for the months ahead. This year, they’ve chosen the film that critics, guild members, and cinephiles have been discussing in increasingly urgent tones: a sprawling, emotionally raw character study set against the disintegration and reconstruction of a world at war.

One Battle After Another is, in many ways, PTA at his most commanding — a work defined not by the operatic flourishes that sometimes dominate his films, but by a muscular restraint and emotional precision that allow the performances at its core to deepen with every scene. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a towering turn, but it is Chase Infiniti and the ensemble surrounding them who give the film its heartbeat. The film’s title gestures toward global conflict, but Anderson’s interest lies in the quieter, more devastating emotional terrain: the spiritual battles, moral fractures, and private reckonings that shape a life long after the war has ended.

NBR’s recognition comes at a moment when the Best Picture field is beginning to crystallize. Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet has surged following its release weekend, and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners continues to build passionate support. Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme is fast emerging as the season’s cultural lightning rod, and Frankenstein has broken into the race with force after Venice. But One Battle After Another carries something different — an aura of inevitability. It is the kind of film that feels both locked into the tradition of American prestige cinema and essential to the evolving sensibilities of younger Academy voters.

The significance of this win extends beyond Best Picture. Anderson’s placement in the Best Director landscape was already strong, but this victory moves him closer to the top of the field. DiCaprio remains firmly within the Best Actor race, though the current frontrunner remains Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme. And Chase Infiniti continues to rise, with many calling their performance one of the most arresting breakout turns of the decade. NBR’s recognition will only intensify that narrative.

What makes this moment especially compelling is how the film positions itself against the broader cultural and industrial climate. Hollywood is navigating audience fragmentation, a shifting theatrical ecosystem, and a volatile awards race where nothing resembles business as usual. Yet One Battle After Another feels like the rare film that cuts through the noise — a work big enough, human enough, and emotionally rooted enough to unite disparate corners of the industry.

Its win today suggests the Academy may be in a mood that favors ambition grounded in character, scale balanced by intimacy, and filmmaking where every craft discipline feels unified in purpose. PTA’s film embodies that balance. NBR has made that clear. And with the critics’ groups now accelerating into full swing, the question is no longer whether One Battle After Another will be a major player — it’s how far this momentum will carry it.

Awards season has officially entered its next phase. And with this win, One Battle After Another hasn’t just joined the front of the pack. It may have become the film to beat.