2025 WAFCA Award Winners

The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), of which I am a member, just released its best-of-the-year list for 2025. Below is the official tally of nominees and winners, with Ryan Coogler’s Sinners receiving the most awards (10). Where a movie has been reviewed for this site, I link to that review in the title (the first time the film is mentioned).

BEST FILM

• WINNER: Sinners
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sentimental Value

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• WINNER: The Perfect Neighbor
• Come See Me in the Good Light
• Orwell: 2+2=5
• Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
• The Librarians

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• WINNER: Sentimental Value
• It Was Just an Accident
• Left-Handed Girl
• No Other Choice
• The Secret Agent

BEST DIRECTOR

• WINNER: Ryan Coogler – Sinners
• Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
• Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident
• Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
• Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

BEST ACTOR

• WINNER: Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
• Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
• Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
• Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams
• Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

BEST ACTRESS

• WINNER: Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
• Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
• Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good
• Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
• Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• WINNER: Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
• Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
• Delroy Lindo – Sinners
• Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
• Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• WINNER: Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another
• Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
• Amy Madigan – Weapons
• Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners

BEST YOUTH PERFORMANCE (up to 21 years of age)

• WINNER: Miles Caton – Sinners
• Cary Christopher – Weapons
• Shannon Mahina Gorman – Rental Family
• Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet
• Mason Thames – How to Train Your Dragon
• Nina Ye – Left-Handed Girl

BEST VOICE PERFORMANCE

• WINNER: Arden Cho – KPop Demon Hunters
• Jason Bateman – Zootopia 2
• Ginnifer Goodwin – Zootopia 2
• Yonas Kibreab – Elio
• Ke Huy Quan – Zootopia 2

BEST MOTION CAPTURE PERFORMANCE

• WINNER: Zoe Saldaña – Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Oona Chaplin – Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Stephen Lang – Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Sigourney Weaver – Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Sam Worthington – Avatar: Fire and Ash

BEST ENSEMBLE

• WINNER: Sinners
• Hamnet
• It Was Just an Accident
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sentimental Value
• Wake Up Dead Man

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• WINNER: Sinners
• It Was Just an Accident
• Marty Supreme
• Sentimental Value
• Weapons

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• WINNER: One Battle After Another
• Bugonia
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Train Dreams

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• WINNER: KPop Demon Hunters
• Arco
• Elio
• Little Amélie or the Character of the Rain
• Zootopia 2

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• WINNER: Sinners
• The Fantastic Four: First Steps
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Wicked: For Good

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• WINNER: Sinners
• Frankenstein
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Train Dreams

BEST EDITING

• WINNERS (tie): F1: The Movie and Sinners
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another

BEST SCORE

• WINNER: Sinners
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another

BEST STUNTS

• WINNER: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
• F1: The Movie
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners
• Superman

JOE BARBER AWARD FOR BEST PORTRAYAL OF WASHINGTON, DC

• WINNER: A House of Dynamite
• Anniversary
• Captain America: Brave New World
• Nuremberg
• Thunderbolts*