State of the Race: So about those BAFTA longlists...
Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 10:00PM 
Is I SWEAR this year's little British film that could? Maybe.
The Oscar nominations are ever closer, so it’s time to start finalizing those predictions. And since this year, BAFTA will reveal their lineups after AMPAS, pundits everywhere must make do with the British Academy’s longlists. In the past, they’ve been a good indicator of what the industry’s feeling, and how it differs from the critics who’ve been dominating the awards conversations so far in the season. As expected, One Battle After Another has the most mentions, at 16, closely followed by Hamnet and Sinners with 14 each, Marty Supreme at 13, and both Bugonia and Frankenstein with 12. Still, what’s most surprising and enticing is how BAFTA can go its own way and zig when we expect a zag. Consider their love for Nuremberg, and such local success stories as I Swear and The Ballad of Wallis Island…