One Battle After Another prevented late fracture pressure of They are sinners to win Best Picture at the Oscars.
A dynamic comedy beat Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value again Train for Dreams and Warner Bros. to its peers Sinners to get the win.
It marked the first best picture win for one of Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies that the producer had ever seen of his own. There Will Be Blood again Phantom Thread the nominee.
The award went to Anderson, Sara Murphy and Adam Somner, a well-known cinematographer, who died in 2024.
“Making this film with the cast and crew has already been a great filmmaking experience,” Murphy said.
Anderson said, “In 1975, they were nominated for an Oscar for best picture On Dog Day Afternoon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jaws, Nashville again Barry Lyndon. There is nothing better among them. There is only what that attitude can be that day. But we are happy to be a part of this wonderful and amazing journey with our fellow nominees, our fellow filmmakers, and other filmmakers who were not even recognized by the Academy, there are so many great films this year.”
He joked that he “really blew it” when he won his Best Directing Oscar and forgot to thank the actors, which he did with the Best Picture win, especially focusing on Chase Infiniti, whom he called “his American girl” and “the heart of this movie”.
One War was widely considered a lock for the multi-award season prize with speculation markets including Polymarket and Kalshi suggesting that before the show it had an 80% chance of toppling the vampire contender.
The film follows Leonardo DiCaprio’s washed-up, stony-faced mutant who lives off the grid with his spirited, confident daughter, Willa, played by Chase Infiniti. When his nemesis, played by Sean Penn, reappears after 16 years and disappears, the former actor sets out to find him, father and daughter both struggle with the effects of his past. Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor also star.
It was one of the many awards for this film. The wins included Best Casting for Cassandra Kulukunds, who joked that it was crazy that she won the Oscar before Anderson, Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, Best Adapted Screenplay for Anderson (his first Oscar), Best Film Editing for Andy Jurgensen and Best Directing for Anderson (his second).
Based on Thomas Pynchon’s Vinelandthe film received 13 Oscar nominations and only Infiniti lost in the category of Lead Actress, possibly to Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue.
From the Gotham Awards in December, One War he’s been on a roll this awards season, where he nearly swept the Sinners to win Outstanding Cast at the Actors Awards (aka the SAG Awards).
The win made some think back to 2006 there Brokeback Mountain got most of the precursor wins but lost The crashwhich has increased after the SAG Cast wins, which They are sinners and he did.
Leading up to the Oscars, One Battle After Another won Best Picture at the Critics Choice Awards, Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes and Best Film at the BAFTAs as well as wins at the PGAs and DGAs.
One War it also grossed over $200M at the global box office after its September premiere.
