(Washington, DC – December 7, 2025) – The Washington Area Film Critics Association is delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 WAFCA Awards. honoring the best in film over the past year. Recognized for their critical insight and dedication to excellence, WAFCA members selected this year’s honorees from an outstanding field of nominees that showcase the depth, innovation, and creativity of contemporary cinema.

Ryan Coogler Achieves a Rare Sweep of Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay

One Battle After Another earns Warner Bros. another Three Wins

This year’s achievements represent an incredible array of stories and voices, with Sinners (Warner Bros.) emerging as 2025’s and the WAFCA Awards’ biggest winner. Triumphing in 10 categories, the film not only took home Best Film but also dominated key categories, including Best Director for Ryan Coogler and Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan. Sinners continued its reign with awards for Best Ensemble, Best Original Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Editing (tie), Best Score, and Best Youth Performance for Miles Caton—proving original stories still win hearts as well as awards.

Sinners led all films with the most wins ever earned by a single title in the organization’s 23-year history. Ryan Coogler also achieved a rare sweep of Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, becoming the first filmmaker to claim “The Big Three” since Slumdog Millionaire in 2009.

Another notable winner, One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.), took 3 honors, including Benicio del Toro for Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. While Teyana Taylor claimed the Best Supporting Actress win for her OBAA role as Perfidia Beverly Hills, and Jessie Buckley was celebrated as Best Actress for her moving performance in Hamnet (Focus Features).

The animated category saw a win for the surprise hit of the year, KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix), and Zoe Saldaña was honored for her performance capture work in Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios). Sentimental Value (Neon) received the Best Foreign Language Film award, and The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix) was awarded Best Documentary.

Presenting the Complete List of 2025 WAFCA Award Winners:

Film
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.) Hamnet (Focus Features) Marty Supreme (A24) One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) Sentimental Value (Neon)

Director
WINNER: Ryan Coogler – Sinners (Warner Bros.) Chloé Zhao – Hamnet (Focus Features) Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident (Neon) Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme (A24) Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Actor
WINNER: Michael B. Jordan – Sinners (Warner Bros.) Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics) Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams (Netflix) Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme (A24)

Actress
WINNER: Jessie Buckley – Hamnet (Focus Features) Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) Cynthia Erivo – Wicked (Universal Pictures) Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value (Neon) Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)

Supporting Actor
WINNER: Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) Delroy Lindo – Sinners (Warner Bros.) Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein (Netflix) Sean Penn – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value (Neon)

Supporting Actress
WINNER: Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) Amy Madigan – Weapons (Warner Bros.) Ariana Grande – Wicked (Universal Pictures) Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value (Neon) Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Youth Performance
WINNER: Miles Caton – Sinners (Warner Bros.) Cary Christopher – Weapons (Warner Bros.) Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Voice Performance
WINNER: Arden Cho – KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix) Ginnifer Goodwin – Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios) Jason Bateman – Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios) Ke Huy Quan – Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios) Yonas Kibreab – Elio (Walt Disney Studios)

Performance Capture Performance
WINNER: Zoe Saldaña – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios) Oona Chaplin – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios) Sam Worthington – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios) Sigourney Weaver – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios) Stephen Lang – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios)

Ensemble
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.) Hamnet (Focus Features) It Was Just an Accident (Neon) Marty Supreme (A24) One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) Sentimental Value (Neon) Wake Up Dead Man (Netflix)

Original Screenplay
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.) It Was Just an Accident (Neon) Marty Supreme (A24) Sentimental Value (Neon) Weapons (Warner Bros.)
Mason Thames – How to Train Your Dragon (Universal Pictures) Nina Ye – Left-Handed Girl (Netflix) Shannon Mahina Gorman – Rental Family (Searchlight Pictures)

Adapted Screenplay
WINNER: One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) Bugonia (Focus Features) Frankenstein (Netflix) Hamnet (Focus Features) Train Dreams (Netflix)

Animated Feature
WINNER: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix) Arco (Neon) Elio (Walt Disney Studios) Little Amélie or the Character of the Rain (GKIDS) Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios)

Production Design
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.) Frankenstein (Netflix) Hamnet (Focus Features) The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Walt Disney Studios) Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Cinematography
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.) Frankenstein (Netflix) Marty Supreme (A24) One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) Train Dreams (Netflix)

Editing
WINNERS: Sinners (Warner Bros.) [tie] WINNERS: F1: The Movie (Apple Original Films) [tie] Hamnet (Focus Features)

Score
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.) Frankenstein (Netflix) Hamnet (Focus Features) Marty Supreme (A24) One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
-WAFCA ALSO HONORS-

Joe Barber Award for Portrayal of Washington, DC
WINNER: A House of Dynamite (Netflix) Anniversary (Lionsgate) Captain America: Brave New World (Walt Disney Studios) Nuremberg (Sony Pictures Classics) Thunderbolts (Walt Disney Studios)

Stunts
WINNER: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Paramount Pictures) F1: The Movie (Apple Original Films) One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) Sinners (Warner Bros.) Superman (Warner Bros.)

Documentary
WINNER: The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix) Come See Me in the Good Light (Netflix) Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon) Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk (Kino Lorber) The Librarians (HBO Documentary Films)

Marty Supreme (A24) One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Foreign Language Film
WINNER: Sentimental Value (Neon) It Was Just an Accident (Neon) Left-Handed Girl (Netflix) No Other Choice (Neon) The Secret Agent (Neon)

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