One Battle After Another and Hamnet lead the nominations at the 46th London Critics' Circle Awards as Leonardo DiCaprio and Jessie Buckley vie for Actor and Actress of the Year
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Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another has continued its march towards a hugely successful awards season by securing nine nominations at the 46th annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards.
The thriller, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as an ex-revolutionary who is forced back into his confrontational former lifestyle after being pursued by a crooked military officer, led the nominations as they were announced on Monday afternoon.
Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet - a fictional rendering of William Shakespeare's attempt to overcome the tragic death of his son, with Paul Mescal playing the Bard - closely follows with a total of eight nominations.
Both films were nominated for Film of the Year, with leads Leonardo DiCaprio and Jessie Buckley - who plays Shakespeare's bereaved Agnes - also nominated for Actor and Actress of the Year, respectively.
Elsewhere, Ryan Coogler’s deep-South horror Sinners was nominated in seven categories, including Film of the Year.
Also nominated in that category are Josh Safdie’s sports comedy Marty Supreme, with six nominations, while the dark comedy-drama Sorry, Baby landed five, four of them for first-time writer-director-star Eva Victor.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another has continued its march towards a hugely successful awards season by securing nine nominations at the 46th annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards
Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet - a fictional rendering of William Shakespeare's attempt to overcome the tragic death of his son, with Paul Mescal playing the Bard - closely follows with a total of eight nominations
Oliver Laxe’s Sirāt, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value and Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind, after all three earned warm receptions at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
Rounding out the critics’ top ten are Zach Cregger’s summer hit Weapons, with three nominations, and Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams, with two.
Harry Lighton’s queer drama Pillion was nominated for three awards, including British/Irish Film of the Year, where it will compete alongside Hamnet, Tom Basden and Tim Key’s musically-driven comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island, Yorgos Lanthimos’ sci-fi satire Bugonia, and Kirk Jones’ crowdpleaser I Swear.
Jane Crowther, London Critics’ Circle film section chair, said: ‘At a time when A.I. and homogeneity seems to be the shorthand answer to everything, it’s encouraging to see the films that our members voted for are teeming with human life, creativity and unique perspectives.
'Boasting bold, vital stories, real experiences and artistry, these movies and their creative teams are evidence that not everything can be made by an algorithm.
'The LFCC is delighted to be inviting such a diverse group of artists to our awards in February to celebrate their achievements.’
The winners in all categories will be announced at The May Fair in London on 1 February 2026 during a ceremony hosted by acclaimed film critic Mark Kermode.
The London Film Critics’ Circle is one of the oldest and most distinguished critical bodies in the UK, and is part of the wider Critics’ Circle, which was established in 1913.
One Battle After Another stars Leonardo DiCaprio as an ex-revolutionary who is forced back into his confrontational former lifestyle after being pursued by a crooked military officer
The film's director Paul Thomas Anderson has been named in the Director Of The Year category
Jessie Buckley - who plays Shakespeare's bereaved Agnes in Hamnet (pictured,centre) - is nominated for Actress of the Year
Josh Safdie’s sports comedy Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet (pictured), has been nominated for Film of the Year
Tim Key’s musically-driven comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island (pictured) has been named in the category for British/Irish Film of the Year
The awards are voted on by 207 members of the Film section, who represent print, digital, broadcast and social outlets.
Films are eligible if they are released in UK cinemas or on premiere streaming services between mid-February 2024 and mid-February 2025.
The awards have been presented annually since 1980. The film section is chaired by Jane Crowther, editor of Hollywood Authentic.
The 45th annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, held in February 2025, awarded Film of the Year to The Brutalist, while Ralph Fiennes won Actor of the Year for his role in Conclave, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste won Actress of the Year for Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths.
American actor Zoe Saldaña was honoured twice, first with the Derek Malcolm Award for Innovation and for Supporting Actress of the Year for her Spanish-language turn in Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez.
James Bond star Daniel Craig was awarded the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film.
