The 79th British Academy Film Awards took over London’s Royal Festival Hall on February 22 in a ceremony that celebrated unique talents, with some getting recognition for the first time. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another led the night with six wins, but it was a young British actor in a low-budget biopic, a Manchester-born supporting actress, and a first-time Irish Best Actress winner who gave the evening its real texture.
Hosted by Alan Cumming, the BAFTAs brought together some of the biggest names in film for an evening that was as much about surprises as it was about frontrunners. Going in, One Battle After Another led all nominations with 14, just behind the record of 16 set by Gandhi in 1982, and the film largely delivered on that promise.
The Biggest Surprise of the Night
The nominees for Best Actor included Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, and Michael B. Jordan, but the prize went to 33-year-old Robert Aramayo, the British star of I Swear, a biopic about real-life Tourette Syndrome campaigner John Davidson. Aramayo had already picked up the publicly voted EE Rising Star Award earlier in the evening, but this was the moment the room audibly gasped.
“Absolute madness,” he said onstage as his parents stood and roared their approval. He then turned to fellow nominee Ethan Hawke to share that a talk Hawke once gave at Juilliard had changed how he thought about acting as a student. Hawke, visibly moved, covered his face with his hand.
Davidson himself was in attendance, and his presence shaped the entire evening. Host Alan Cumming addressed the crowd twice to ask for understanding, explaining that the strong language that could be heard in the background was part of how Tourette’s syndrome shows up for some people, and thanking the audience for helping create a respectful space.
The Films That Defined the Night
One Battle After Another won six BAFTAs in total, including Best Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, and Editing. Collecting the biggest award of the night, Anderson said it was a “tremendous honour,” adding a line from Nina Simone that featured in the film, saying, “I know what freedom is, it’s no fear.”
Sean Penn, who was not in attendance and had been considered an outsider in his category, took home Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film, marking a first-time BAFTA win for the veteran actor.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners had a night of its own. The film made history with three wins, becoming the most-decorated film from a Black director in BAFTA history, taking Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress for Wunmi Mosaku, and Best Original Score for Ludwig Göransson.
Coogler also became the first Black winner in the original screenplay category at BAFTA. One of the biggest cheers in the room came for Manchester-native Mosaku’s win, a shocking win over the widely expected Teyana Taylor.
On the red carpet, Coogler spoke to the press about what the film’s BAFTA success meant to him personally. “This story was always meant to travel,” he said. “The fact that it’s landing with people here, in this country, tells me something about how universal the wound is.”
Hamnet, Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel about Shakespeare’s family, claimed Outstanding British Film. Its star, Jessie Buckley, won Best Leading Actress, making her the first Irish performer to win the Best Actress prize at BAFTA.
She came onstage without notes and gave what many called the speech of the night.
“This really does belong to the women past, present, and future that have taught me and continue to teach me how to do it differently,” she said, at one point forgetting fellow nominees’ names and asking the audience to remind her.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein had a strong showing in the craft categories, claiming three awards for Costume Design, Make Up & Hair, and Production Design. The wins cemented the film’s presence on the night even without any acting or directing recognition, which is a testament to the scale and visual ambition of del Toro’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic. Jacob Elordi, who starred in the title role, was nominated for Supporting Actor but lost to Sean Penn.
Sentimental Value walked away with Best Film Not in the English language, beating four other titles to become the first Norwegian film to win a BAFTA. Its star, Renate Reinsve, had also been nominated for Leading Actress, making it a strong night overall for the Scandinavian production.
Honors Beyond the Main Categories
The BAFTA Fellowship, the academy’s highest honor, was presented to Dame Donna Langley, Chair of NBCUniversal Studio Group and the first British woman to run a major Hollywood studio, in recognition of her transformative leadership and commitment to inclusion.
She told the audience that “decency is a superpower.” Clare Binns, creative director of Picturehouse Cinemas, received the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award.
The ceremony was attended by BAFTA president Prince William and Princess Catherine. With the Oscars on March 15, One Battle After Another heads into Hollywood’s biggest night as the clear frontrunner, with Sinners close behind.
