The BAFTAS, also known as the British Academy Film Awards, happened on Feb 22, and they did what they often do best: shake up the Oscar race when we all thought we had them figured out.
The night’s biggest surprises were Sean Penn for ‘One Battle After Another’ and Wunmi Mosaku for Sinners. Both headed into the award season as frontrunners, but have lost at previous awards shows. At the Golden Globe Awards, best supporting actor went to Stellan Skarsgard for Sentimental Value and best supporting actress was Teyana Taylor for One Battle After Another. While, for the Critics Choice Awards, it was Jacob Elordi for Frankenstein and Amy Madigan for Weapons. The BAFTAS winners thus continue to throw a wrench into what has already been anyone’s race for the coveted Oscar for best supporting actor/actress.
In the past, BAFTA winners translated strongly to Oscar winners. Nine out of ten supporting actor winners and eight of ten supporting actress winners went on to win at the Academy Awards. But for this year, there’s no one performance that shines above the rest.
For Best Actor, surprisingly ‘Marty Supreme’, went home empty handed. Timothee Chalamet lost to British talent Robert Aramayo for his performance in ‘I Swear.’ However, Chalamet’s loss is most likely not reflective of his Oscar chances, as his primary rivals have been set to be Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays a largely comedic role in One Battle After Another, Micheal B. Jordan who plays twins in ‘Sinners’, and Wagner Moura who has a subtle performance in the Brazilian movie, ‘The Secret Agent’.
For directors, Paul Thomas Anderson has been collecting wins for ‘One Battle After Another’. Meanwhile, Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ made history at BAFTA with three wins for original screenplay, best supporting actress, and original score.
Even though the BAFTA acting winners have created some confusion going into the Oscars, the Craft winners largely mirrored what is expected to happen at the Oscars. Also, international cinema had an important night with ‘Sentimental Value’ becoming the first Norwegian film to win BAFTA’s best non English film award.
For the Oscars, the BAFTAs are usually predictive, but only when there’s consensus. This year, there isn’t one. One thing is for sure, the Oscars will be one of the most unpredictable ceremonies recently.