"Conclave" leads the BAFTA nominations

by Cláudio Alves

Isabella Rossellini and Ralph Fiennes are both nominated for CONCLAVE. | © Focus Features

The BAFTAs are upon us, and this year's nominations are a return to the institution's 2000s penchant for precursor-ism. By that I mean that its choices are keeping in tune with the Oscar favorites in most races. That's unsurprising considering that, for the first time since 2020, the British Academy did away with juries and committees in the acting and directing categories. Many may rejoice at this populist comeback, but I miss the more unexpected choices we enjoyed during those years. In any case, Conclave leads the nomination tally with 12 mentions, while Emilia Pérez is a close runner-up with 11, including a Supporting Actress double dip. Next comes The Brutalist with nine nods, Dune: Part Two, Wicked and Anora have seven, A Complete Unknown six, while The Substance and Nosferatu each nab five…

Best Film

• ANORA
• THE BRUTALIST
• A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
• CONCLAVE
• EMILIA PÉREZ 

As A Complete Unknown rises to the top, Wicked gets the short end of the stick. When discussing the Best Picture category in the Oscar volleys, Ben Miller and I posited that Anora, The Brutalist, Conclave, Emilia Pérez, and Wicked would likely be nominees in the year of a five-wide lineup. We should rethink that since the Bob Dylan biopic keeps receiving love from the industry. Indeed, after only getting the Box Office Achievement Globe, it feels as if the mega musical's momentum has lost steam. And at the most critical time of all.

Best Director

• Jacques Audiard, EMILIA PÉREZ
• Sean Baker, ANORA
• Edward Berger, CONCLAVE
• Brady Corbet, THE BRUTALIST
• Coralie Fargeat, THE SUBSTANCE
• Denis Villeneuve, DUNE: PART TWO

Interestingly, while this category still has one more nominee than Film, two of its nominees were absent from that most important category. One wonders how close Dune: Part Two and The Substance came to the top honor. As it stands, this almost feels like a three-way race between Audiard, Berger, and Corbet.

Best Actress 

• Cynthia Erivo, WICKED
• Karla Sofía Gascon, EMILIA PÉREZ
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste, HARD TRUTHS
• Mikey Madison, ANORA
• Demi Moore, THE SUBSTANCE
• Saoirse Ronan, THE OUTRUN 

So, we arrive at a sad predicament – it's time to put Nicole Kidman's Oscar hopes to rest. If she couldn't make it here with Babygirl, the Oscar nomination is probably out of reach. Nevertheless, one should acknowledge that Jean-Baptiste and Ronan have some home advantage. Even with the juries out, that factor must have surely helped. Then again, did Jean-Baptiste need that boost, or would she have been in anyway? Currently, she feels like the biggest contender for the BAFTA victory besides the season frontrunner – Demi Moore.

Best Actor

• Adrien Brody, THE BRUTALIST
• Timothée Chalamet, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
• Colman Domingo, SING SING
• Ralph Fiennes, CONCLAVE
• Hugh Grant, HERETIC
• Sebastian Stan, THE APPRENTICE

Speaking of home advantage, it seems that did not affect Daniel Craig. The Queer star is snubbed by BAFTA, a strong signal of vulnerability in his bid for an Oscar nod. For a long time, I've suspected he'd be left out of the race at the last minute, and this absence seems to prove it. Moreover, he lost his spot to Grant and Stan, who've been doing remarkably well with precursors. At this point, the latter might have pulled ahead of the erstwhile James Bond, with The Apprentice consolidated as his best bet over the Golden Globe-winning turn in A Different Man.

Best Supporting Actress

• Jamie Lee Curtis, THE LAST SHOWGIRL
• Selena Gomez, EMILIA PÉREZ
• Ariana Grande, WICKED
• Felicity Jones, THE BRUTALIST
• Isabella Rossellini, CONCLAVE
• Zoë Saldaña, EMILIA PÉREZ 

The season's most volatile race keeps surprising. This time, it's with Curtis and the Gomez resurgence, hitting at just the right time to remind Oscar voters of their competitiveness. The former seems better poised to get an afterglow nod from the Academy, keeping strong even in the absence of her leading lady in the other category. As weird as it might sound, Jamie Lee Curtis wouldn't be riding the coattails of Pamela Anderson in the case of an Oscar nomination. Indeed, the reverse might be true.

Best Supporting Actor

• Yura Borisov, ANORA
• Kieran Culkin, A REAL PAIN
• Clarence Maclin, SING SING
• Edward Norton, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
• Guy Pearce, THE BRUTALIST
• Jeremy Strong, THE APPRENTICE

Sure, the BAFTAs hate Denzel Washington for some reason, but his absence here still feels critical after he also missed SAG. It seems he's done with this race, having been surpassed by Jeremy Strong and Clarence Maclin. Both The Apprentice and Sing Sing did well with the British Academy, but their nominations still mean a lot, especially when some folks were predicting a surprise showing by Stanley Tucci. But if even the most Conclave-loving awards body won't go for him, does he stand a chance with AMPAS? Time will tell, but the battle for the final slot doesn't involve him. In the meantime, Borisov, Culkin, Norton, and Pearce seem solid. Though, I wouldn't call the Brutalist's actor a shoo-in yet. That SAG snub was an ill omen if I ever saw one.

Best Casting  

• ANORA, Sean Baker & Samantha Quan
• THE APPRENTICE, Stephanie Gorin & Carmen Cuba
• A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, Yesi Ramirez
• CONCLAVE, Nina Gold & Martin Ware
• KNEECAP, Carla Stronge

Curious that neither The Brutalist nor Emilia Pérez made it here, considering they each got three individual acting nominations. If anything, it shows how much BAFTAs liked The Apprentice despite leaving it out of their Best Film lineup. The same could be said for Kneecap, which already proved a hit with the British film industry at the BIFAs.

Best Original Screenplay  

• Sean Baker, ANORA
• Naoise Ó Cairealláin, JJ Ó Dochartaigh, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh & Rich Peppiatt, KNEECAP
• Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold, THE BRUTALIST
• Jesse Eisenberg, A REAL PAIN
• Coralie Fargeat, THE SUBSTANCE 

Though the BAFTAs lost a lot of the edge and identity they built over the past few years by dismissing the juries, it's nice to see some remnants of their individuality like this Kneecap nomination.

Best Adapted Screenplay 

• Jacques Audiard, EMILIA PÉREZ
• Joslyn Barnes & RaMell Ross, NICKEL BOYS
• Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin & John Whitfield, SING SING
• Jay Cocks & James Mangold, A COMPLETE UNKNOW
• Peter Straughan, CONCLAVE 

Though it was only longlisted here, Nickel Boys still made it. I'm starting to think Ross' narrative feature debut might end the season with a Screenplay Oscar nomination and nothing else. In other news, Wicked keeps getting trumped by A Complete Unknown, while Sing Sing performs better with the British Academy than expected. Considering Villneuve's nomination, Dune's absence is also worth considering.

Best Editing

• Sean Baker, ANORA
• Nick Emerson, CONCLAVE
• Chris Gill & Julian Ulrichs, KNEECAP
• Joe Walker, DUNE: PART TWO
• Juliette Welfling, EMILIA PÉREZ  

That nomination for Kneecap is so well-deserved that it makes me giddy. Indeed, apart from a particular musical, this is a solid lineup. Now, the question is – who will replace Ireland's Oscar submission in the AMPAS ballot? The Brutalist has been campaigning hard lately, but the wave of love for A Complete Unknown may just land it here.

Best Cinematography 

• Jarin Blaschke, NOSFERATU
• Lol Crawley, THE BRUTALIST
• Stéphane Fontaine, CONCLAVE
• Greig Fraser, DUNE: PART TWO
• Paul Guilhaume, EMILIA PÉREZ

Can Robert Eggers' vampire flick translate its critical acclaim to actual industry support? That's what I've been asking myself all season. In this case, whatever concern I had wasn't warranted. As things are, if Blaschke misses the Oscar lineup, it'll be a Top Gun: Maverick-size snub.

Best Production Design 

• Judy Becker & Patricia Cuccia, THE BRUTALIST
• Nathan Crowley & Lee Sandales, WICKED
• Suzie Davies & Cynthia Sleiter, CONCLAVE
• Craig Lathrop, NOSFERATU
• Patrice Vermette & Shane Vieau, DUNE: PART TWO

Is this our Oscar lineup, or will AMPAS go to bat for Gladiator II? The "eye candy" branches responded very positively to Ridley Scott's Napoleon last season, so it might be wise to presume a similar thing this year. But in that case, who's dropped from this quintet? It's hard to imagine any of them missing out at this point.

Best Costume Design

• Lisy Christl, CONCLAVE
• Jacqueline Durran, BLITZ
• Linda Muir, NOSFERATU
• Arianne Phillips, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
• Paul Tazewell, WICKED 

Don't count on Durran repeating this feat with AMPAS, though it's true the Costume branch loves her like few other voting bodies. I am also skeptical about Christl's chances, though she's a previous Oscar nominee for Anonymous. At the end of the day, though the catholic finery may mislead, this is a contemporary-set narrative, and we all know how rare those are in this particular race. The Beetlejuice and Dune sequels are still in the running.

Best Make Up & Hair  

• DUNE: PART TWO, Love Larson & Eva Von Bahr
• EMILIA PÉREZ, Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier, Jean-Christophe Spadaccini & Romain Marietti
• NOSFERATU, David White, Traci Loader & Suzanne Stokes-Munton
• THE SUBSTANCE, Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, Frédérique Arguello & Marilyne Scarselli
• WICKED, Frances Hannon, Laura Blount & Sarah Nuth 

Karla Sofía Gascón's pre-transition male drag and Zoë Saldaña's pre-riches brows are really doing it for these voters, uh? It's also good to note that Dune's submission in this category is rather bizarre. This season, the desert epic's team is represented solely by the team that worked on Stellan Skarsgård and Austin Butler. None of the other work in the film, including Ferguson's face tattoos, the wounds, wear and tear, are technically up for consideration. In a normal year, when VFX and Make Up would have formal presentations for Academy members, that would mean a disadvantage. But I'm not sure if it'll matter in such an atypical race like the one we're living through.

Best Special Visual Effects

• BETTER MAN
• DUNE: PART TWO
• GLADIATOR II
• KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
• WICKED

This is neither here nor there, but it would be hilarious if Dune: Part Two, the only film that doesn't include digital apes, was the runaway winner. What an odd simian trend. Anyway, it's nice to see Better Man get some flowers even as it bombs at the American box office.

Best Original Score 

• Volker Bertelmann, CONCLAVE
• Daniel Blumberg, THE BRUTALIST
• Kris Bowers, THE WILD ROBOT
• Camille & Clément Ducol, EMILIA PÉREZ
• Robin Carolan, NOSFERATU

Nosferatu's inclusion is a smidge surprising, but not by much. Could the bloodsucker triumph over the bisexual tennis players when it comes to the Oscars? Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been dominating the Best Original Score critics awards but we know the press and the industry are two very different things.

Best Sound 

• BLITZ
• DUNE: PART TWO
• GLADIATOR II
• THE SUBSTANCE
• WICKED

It's so nice seeing The Substance get Sound honors even though it didn't make it into the Academy's shortlist. Also, congratulations to Blitz for securing this well-deserved honor. Despite a lukewarm reception, it should be impossible to deny the quality of its sonic landscapes.

Best Animated Film 

• FLOW
• INSIDE OUT 2
• WALLACE AND GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL
• THE WILD ROBOT 

Unlike AMPAS, BAFTA only has four nominees in this category. What's curious is that Inside Out 2 manages to sneak into this lineup but failed to the same with the near identical Children's & Family Film category. As far as the Brits are concerned, the Pixar movie is more vulnerable than most folks imagined.

Best Documentary

• BLACK BOX DIARIES
• DAUGHTERS
• NO OTHER LAND
• SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY
• WILL & HARPER 

At this point, AMPAS not acknowledging No Other Land would be the shocker to end all shockers, a seismic upset. Especially when the Documentary branch already had their big snub of the year when they left Super/Man outside their shortlist.

Best Film Not in the English Language 

• ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT
• EMILIA PÉREZ
• I'M STILL HERE
• KNEECAP
• THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG 

Once again, the choice for India to submit Lost Ladies is the season's most outrageous own goal. Had they gone with All We Imagine As Light, they would likely be a lock for the Oscar nomination – the first for India since 2001.

Best Children's & Family Film

• FLOW
• KENSUKE'S KINGDOM
• WALLACE AND GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL
• THE WILD ROBOT

In the collective Team Experience predictions, Nathaniel was the only one to bring up Kensuke's Kingdom in the Best Animated Feature race. I guess he was on to something, judging from these results. Also, if this new category is going to be exclusively populated with animation, wouldn't it have been better to expand the animation race and leave it at that? Right now, the prize feels extraneous and more than a little bit redundant.

Outstanding British Film 

• BIRD
• BLITZ
• CONCLAVE
• GLADIATOR II
• HARD TRUTHS
• KNEECAP
• LEE
• LOVE LIES BLEEDING
• THE OUTRUN
• WALLACE AND GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL

Damn, Better Man can't catch a break. Still, it's hard to mourn its absence when it made space for something like that lovely Bird nomination or the ongoing celebration of Hard Truths. It's still wild to me that Cannes, Venice, and Telluride all passed on Mike Leigh's new triumph.

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer 

• Luna Carmoon, HOARD
• Karan Kandhari, SISTER MIDNIGHT
• Dev Patel, MONKEY MAN
• Rich Peppiatt, KNEECAP
• Sandhya Suri, James Bowsher & Balthazar de Ganay, SANTOSH 

Despite the category's name opening itself to lone writer or producer honors, it continues to privilege directors to the point one must ask if they should change the name to Debut Director or Breakthrough Director. Anyway, this is Dev Patel's third BAFTA nomination. He won the Best Supporting Actor award in for Lion.

Outstanding British Short Animation  

• ADIÓS
• MOG'S CHRISTMAS
• WANDER TO WONDER 

Nina Gantz's Wander to Wonder is also shortlisted for the Oscar and is the frontrunner here, having already won the BIFA for short animation.

Outstanding British Short Film 

• THE FLOWERS STAND SILENTLY, WITNESSING
• MARION
• MILK
• ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS
• STOMACH BUG

It's slightly shocking that Clodagh failed to secure a BAFTA nomination since it was the only contender to be included in the Oscar shortlist. Can the Irish drama still make it into the Academy Award quintet?

EE Rising Star Award 

• Marisa Abela
• Jharrel Jerome
• David Jonsson
• Mikey Madison
• Nabhaan Rizwan 

This is the only category where the public votes for the winner rather than the British film industry. One wonders who'll come out triumphant, though perhaps Mikey Madison has the advantage of also being nominated in one of the main acting categories. As ever, I'm baffled by the criteria they use to select their rising stars. Jharrel Jerome starred in a Best Picture Oscar winner eight years ago, which he followed with an Emmy-winning lead role in a prestige miniseries. He was also recently the lead in Boots Riley's first big TV production. How is he a rising star? Is Unstoppable that major in comparison to all those previous projects?

Looking at these nominees, who do you think will win at the BAFTAs this year? And how will that affect the Oscar race?

Comments

[Gallavich]

The amount of nominations for Conclave give me the same stomach-ache that the certain musical gives to a big part of the internet.

Generally surprised. Maybe a little disappointed. Usually I'm very satisfied from Baftas original choices, especially in directing.
I suspect that probably The Substance was 6th place for best film and I'm happy with it.

I said it before but the thing that thrills me more of this amazing year of beautiful movies is that two horror movies will have multiple oscar nominations (I hope). This will (finally!) open the doors for the next years.

[Gallavich]

The amount of nominations for Conclave give me the same stomach-ache that the certain musical gives to a big part of the internet.

Generally surprised. Maybe a little disappointed. Usually I'm very satisfied from Baftas original choices, especially in directing.
I suspect that probably The Substance was 6th place for best film and I'm happy with it.

I said it before but the thing that thrills me more of this amazing year of beautiful movies is that two horror movies will have multiple oscar nominations (I hope). This will (finally!) open the doors for the next years.

[Joe G.]

I think the season is coming into focus. I do think Conclave is still a strong contender, and could easily emerge as the film most voters rally behind. It's easy to see it winning picture, as Emilia Perez and The Brutalist split votes. I think it's between those three, but the constiuency for EP and the Brutalist overlap so much, that it's easy to see them pull votes from each other. All three are very much in.

Even with Wicked's poor showing Erivo has stuck around. I do wonder if she's actually in the hunt for this award. Maybe she'll be snubbed on Oscar morning, but I get the sense that she could be a strong alternative to Moore. I do think Moore going comedy has blunted Erivo's momentum (since she was likely second at the Globes). I'm not sold on the BAFTAs going for Moore, but she's still a strong frontrunner for the Oscar.

I find the JLC nod so odd. I'll admit, I've never been impressed by JLC. I think she's a fine actress, but I don't always find her resonant. That's more of my problem than it is hers. I still wish she'd been nominated for True Lies, as her comedy and pathos there works really well. But good for her for having this moment.

[Joe G.]

I'm very happy for Hugh. He's an odd movie star, but a great one, and it's been really fun seeing him turn in really great character turns this past decade. His film is all wrong for Oscar, but I do hope he surprises on Oscar morning. He should have at least 3 nominations at this point.

[Sr. Dan]

So I guess All we imagine as light chances are dead now....

@Joe Erivo is still in, her closest competitor Baptiste doesnt look strong. Hard Truths had a really poor showing at the BAFTA, no screenplay, no supp. actress...

[Frank Zappa]

Clearly, BAFTA is not a fan of the Guadagnino offerings this year. Ouch.

[Mr Ripley79]

I think that Best Film would be right in a Top 5 field,everyone who has seen Wicked who I know didn't like it at all.

Actor I think Oscar will want to award Stan for his great year and so I think he keeps Craig out,I thought Hugh was his usual grumpy self in Heretic and nothing Oscar worthy.

Actress minus Ronan I have a feeling this is your Oscar line up unless Torres's Globe win meant more,Jolie the surest of sure things going into this season has emereged as an also ran,Kidman is probably out too and Winslet,Swinton and Adams will have to wait till another year,Ronan's on home turf but deserves it.

Supp Actor The Washington nod was all internet hype,he's not going to get in for a film no-one is excited for,who loses out though probably Maclin or Strong.

Supp Actress is Curtis that good in The Last Showgirl she seems to be doing a LOT in the trailer,hope Gomez is snubbed woefully amateur,Saldana has this in the bag as everyone thought since the season began,she kind of stole Gascons thunder,still think they will surprise us with one of the Bod Dylan ladies.

Make Up is The Substances to lose.

VFX Who thought it was a good idea to spend 100 mill on a Robbie Williams biopic when his popularity has waned in the Uk for about 10 years and he was never US star.

[Erick Obregon]

Is this REALLY happening! 🫣 Is Jamie Lee taking Qualley's OSCAR spot?