A Frontrunner For Oscars Glory

One Battle After Another may be Paul Thomas Anderson’s best chance at winning an award that he’s lost three times in the past. Anderson is one of Hollywood’s most consistent and talented filmmakers. He has several Oscar nominations, including for directing, writing, and producing, but he has never won any, despite his excellent track record.

His latest film is a 2-hour-and-42-minute action thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio as an ex-revolutionary who must rescue his daughter after she’s taken by an old nemesis. DiCaprio is joined by a stellar cast that includes Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and newcomer Chase Infiniti.

While awards season is a few months away, One Battle After Another is emerging as an early frontrunner. The film is receiving incredible praise from critics and is one of 2025’s highest-rated films on Rotten Tomatoes with a 98% critic score. It’s even earned a glowing review from Martin Scorsese. Everything suggests One Battle could be Anderson’s best chance at the top award for a director.

One Battle After Another Is Paul Thomas Anderson’s Best-Reviewed Narrative Feature Film

Anderson made his feature directorial debut in 1996 with Hard Eights. In his nearly 30-year career, he has directed nine more films, with One Battle being his tenth. His consistency is wildly impressive, as he has never made a film that received less than 70% on RT from critics. He may be less consistent with audiences, but his films are typically critical darlings.

One Battle After Another is not only another critical hit for Anderson, but it’s officially the best-reviewed narrative feature-length film in his career with a 98%. He does have two projects with 100% critic scores, but these are a short film titled Anima and a documentary about Indian musicians called Junun.

Paul Thomas Anderson Movie	Rotten Tomatoes Score
One Battle After Another	98%
Boogie Nights	91%
There Will Be Blood	91%
Phantom Thread	91%
Licorice Pizza	90%
The Master	85%
Magnolia	82%
Hard Eight	82%
Punch-Drunk Love	79%
Inherent Vice	73%

When compared to his narrative feature-length films, One Battle has the best score, and the reviews are outstanding. It’s important to note that a review of 6/10 or higher is considered positive on RT, but many critics are calling this film one of the best of the year. There’s plenty of 4/4’s and 10/10’s, indicating that critics don’t just like this film — they love it.

98% is impressive for any director, but this truly demonstrates how consistent Anderson has been in his career. He has three films tied for his second best-reviewed with a 91%: Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, and Phantom Thread. Other films with high ratings are Licorice Pizza with a 90% and The Master with an 85%.

His lowest-rated film is Inherent Vice, which holds a 73%. While it received mixed reactions from audiences, the film did still receive a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the 2014 Academy Awards. His RT scores are often lower with audiences than they are with critics, but that can happen from a director who often takes non-traditional approaches to his films.

Despite his film’s positive reviews, Anderson has never won an Academy Award. He’s received 11 total nominations: three for Best Original Screenplay, two for Best Adapted Screenplay, three for Best Director, and three for Best Picture. One Battle looks like his best chance at winning an Oscar, especially Best Director, but it won’t be an easy path.

PTA Is An Early Frontrunner For Best Director, But Is Facing Tough Competition

Though it’s only just gotten underway with the fall festivals, competition is already strong for the upcoming award season. The biggest contenders range from rising filmmakers to previous Oscar winners who could prevent Anderson from winning Best Director.

His biggest competitor currently is Chloé Zhao, who previously won Best Director and Best Picture for 2020’s Nomadland. Her latest film, Hamnet, stars Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley as his wife, Agnes. It follows the couple after the tragic death of their son and is receiving excellent early reviews, holding an 89% critic score on RT.

Hamnet recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the People’s Choice Award, a feat Zhao previously accomplished with Nomadland. Best Picture winners like Green Book and 12 Years a Slave also won TIFF’s top prize, and many other winners, like The Fabelmans and American Fiction, became big awards players.

Zhao’s victory makes her an immediate frontrunner for Best Director, considering how, the last time her movie earned the People’s Choice Award, she won the Oscar. She and Anderson are the likely favorites at the moment, but there are still several other contenders. Ryan Coogler has momentum for Sinners, and notable filmmakers like Josh Safdie, Noah Baumbach, and James Cameron have movies on the way.

Other contenders include Kathryn Bigelow for her political thriller A House of Dynamite, Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value, Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident, and Kleber Mendonca Filho for The Secret Agent. Yorgos Lanthimos is also a recurring name who could receive a nomination for Bugonia, and Jon M. Chu could sneak in for Wicked: For Good.

Awards season is heating up, and Anderson could either build momentum or lose it before the 2026 Academy Awards. Still, One Battle After Another‘s reviews suggest he’s on the right track to finally earn the recognition he deserves.