An object of the present invention is to provide a polymerizable liquid crystal composition which has excellent coating properties, is capable of suppressing film thickness unevenness, and has good coating properties for an upper layer coating liquid after being formed as an optically anisotropic layer, an anisotropic layer formed using the same; an optical laminate; a method for producing an optical laminate, and an image display device. The polymerizable liquid crystal composition of the embodiment of the present invention is a polymerizable liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound, a polymerization initiator, and a compound having a monovalent specific group including a cleavage group capable of decomposing by an action of at least one selected from the group consisting of light, heat, an acid, and a base to generate a polar group, in which the specific group has a fluorine atom or a silicon atom on a side closer to a terminal than the cleavage group.