The Bafta Film Awards take place tonight in London, with One Battle After Another leading the nominations with 14 and positioned as the most broadly supported film across the ballot. Its presence stretches from Best Film and Director through to several craft categories, giving it the structural advantage heading into the ceremony.
Yet the top prize may elude its grasp. Hamnet, Chloe Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, secured 11 nominations and has remained firmly in the conversation across major categories, including Best Film, Director and the acting races. Anchored by Jessie Buckley’s widely admired performance, the film's heavy emotionality and strong link to British cultural history is very much in its favour.
Elsewhere, awards are likely to be shared. Marty Supreme holds momentum in Leading Actor, Sentimental Value is well placed in the international and writing categories, and the crafts appear spread across several contenders.
While the Oscars may look different next month, emotional weight and cultural relevance could push Hamnet over the top in several categories.
Here’s our predictions for the top prizes:
Best Film
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners
This is a two-horse race. And while One Battle After Another is still heavily favoured at the Oscars, it's hard not to imagine Hamnet picking up the top prize here – a powerful adaptation of the novel by Northern Irish author O’Farrell, inspired by the life and works of William Shakespeare.
Emotion matters at the Baftas. National pride matters too. Hamnet has both – and it’s one of the most effective tear-jerkers in years.
Prediction: Hamnet
Outstanding British Film
28 Years Later
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy
Die My Love
H Is For Hawk
Hamnet
I Swear
Mr Burton
Pillion
Steve
If Hamnet loses Best Film, it wins here. Even if it wins Best Film, it could win here too. This is consolidation territory.
But there's strong affection for I Swear and Pillion, which are underdogs. And as this category often surprises, I could see Pillion pulling through.
Prediction: Pillion
Leading Actress
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
Emma Stone – Bugonia
This is the least ambiguous acting category of the night. Buckley’s performance has been positioned as the one to beat for months. It’s commanding without showboating, devastating without theatricality. There’s admiration across the board. An upset here would be genuinely surprising.
Prediction: Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Leading Actor
Robert Aramayo – I Swear
Timothee Chalamet – Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
Michael B Jordan – Sinners
Jesse Plemons – Bugonia
Here, the race feels more settled than the discourse suggests. Timothee Chalamet has quietly become the clear favourite – the kind of performance that signals career evolution rather than repetition. There’s strong support behind him.
DiCaprio remains formidable, particularly if One Battle After Another sweeps, but this feels like Chalamet’s moment.
Prediction: Timothee Chalamet – Marty Supreme
Supporting Actress
Odessa A’zion – Marty Supreme
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
Carey Mulligan – The Ballad of Wallis Island
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another
Emily Watson – Hamnet
This is more competitive than it looks on paper, but momentum currently sits with Teyana Taylor. If One Battle After Another performs strongly across the board, she benefits.
Emily Watson would represent the traditional Bafta choice – classical, British, controlled. But the broader industry tide appears to favour Taylor. These prizes tend to favour up-and-comers on the women's side and lifetime achievement on the men's side – the reasons for which are up for speculation – which could also benefit breakout star Odessa A'zion.
Prediction: Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another
Supporting Actor
Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Paul Mescal – Hamnet
Peter Mullan – I Swear
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgard – Sentimental Value
This category has a clear frontrunner in Stellan Skarsgard, whose work in Sentimental Value has been consistently singled out.
Mescal has strong support, particularly if Hamnet overperforms. But at the moment, Skarsgard feels out ahead.
Prediction: Stellan Skarsgard – Sentimental Value
Director
Yorgos Lanthimos – Bugonia
Chloe Zhao – Hamnet
Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
One Battle After Another is the most ambitious film of Paul Thomas Anderson's career, the crystallisation of his talents, and after an all-star career building to this moment, he's likely to sweep directing awards as a result. It's the defining achievement of the season.
Zhao remains a respected contender, but Anderson appears firmly in command.
Prediction: Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
The Ceremony
My Father’s Shadow
Pillion
A Want In Her
Wasteman
My Father's Shadow is another standout in this category, but Pillion has proven such a crowd-pleaser from a director so assured beyond his experience that it's hard to think it won't win.
Prediction: Pillion
Film not in the English Language
It Was Just An Accident
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sirat
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value has built steady respect across festivals and critics’ circles, gaining recognition outside non-English language categories.
The Voice of Hind Rajab is the most important film of the year and carries far more urgency and The Secret Agent has garnered similar acclaim, but this is also an industry that always has a soft spot for films about itself.
Prediction: Sentimental Value
Original Screenplay
I Swear
Marty Supreme
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Sentimental Value is the heavy favourite here, but this could be the spot that the British film industry honours Sinners – which has by far the most Oscar nominations – and is also a vibrant, original creation and is the year's most talked-about hit.
Prediction: Sinners
Adapted Screenplay
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Bugonia
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Pillion
Literary prestige still matters. And Hamnet carries huge weight in both source material and adaptation – a hugely effective one done in part by the book's author herself.
Prediction: Hamnet
Original Score
Bugonia – Jerskin Fendrix
Frankenstein – Alexandre Desplat
Hamnet – Max Richter
One Battle After Another – Jonny Greenwood
Sinners – Ludwig Goransson
Jonny Greenwood's score is one of the most talked-about successes of One Battle After Another, and the Radiohead member is British music royalty.
And while Max Richter's score is a close second, it's hard to pick it when the key musical moment is a work that's been used across near-countless films and shows to date.
Prediction: One Battle After Another – Jonny Greenwood
