In an awards season increasingly shaped by bold political statements and genre reinvention, One Battle After Another has emerged as the film to beat. Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest provocation shattered expectations by earning a record seven nominations from the Screen Actors Guild, now officially rebranded as the Actor Awards. For an industry often cautious about overtly political cinema, the embrace of Anderson’s furious, confrontational film signals a notable shift.
Set against a volatile American backdrop, One Battle After Another follows an aging revolutionary, played with ferocious restraint by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his teenage daughter, portrayed by breakout performer Chase Infiniti. The film’s world is one of ideological exhaustion and inherited rage, populated by white supremacists, and the ever present machinery of state power. Anderson does not seek balance or comfort; instead, he pushes viewers into moral quicksand, daring them to sit with contradiction.
The SAG’s recognition spans nearly every major performance category, including a coveted ensemble nomination, often considered the guild’s equivalent of Best Picture. Supporting turns by Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, and Teyana Taylor further cement the film’s acting pedigree, while its stunt ensemble nod underscores Anderson’s unusually kinetic approach. Having already dominated the Critics Awards with wins for Best Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay, the film now appears firmly positioned as the Oscars’ political lightning rod.
Yet the race is far from a solo march. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners stands as a formidable counterweight. A period horror film set in 1930s Mississippi, Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan in dual roles as twin brothers navigating crime, racism, and a supernatural menace. The film’s five Actor Award nominations reflect a growing appetite for socially conscious genre cinema. Coogler’s victory for Best Original Screenplay at the Critics Awards only strengthens its standing.
What makes this showdown compelling is not just the numbers, but what they represent. Actors, the largest voting branch of the Academy, are signaling enthusiasm for ambitious, risk-taking storytelling. The absence of non-English-language contenders, however, raises questions about the limits of that openness, is there a message being sent limiting the voices of the contenders ? .
With the Actor Awards set to stream live on Netflix from Los Angeles on March 1, the stage is set. Whether voters ultimately reward Anderson’s incendiary realism or Coogler’s mythic horror, this season confirms one thing: safe cinema is no longer leading the conversation
