With the UK’s most prestigious film awards taking place later today (10 February), it’s time to enter into a round of foolproof – or is that foolhardy? – predictions on who will win at the 72nd Baftas. To add an extra level of frisson, the Baftas are historically seen as an indicator of Oscar winners, so the outcome on Sunday night will surely be seen as a predictor for the Academy Awards in two weeks time.
BEST FILM – NOMINEES
BlacKkKlansman
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
A Star Is Born
Baftas’ top award has been very much a two-horse race since the nominations were first announced. Netflix’s Roma has a huge marketing campaign behind it, but with more of a British skew we expect The Favourite to be, well, the favourite here.
Winner: The Favourite
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM – NOMINEES
Beast
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
McQueen
Stan & Ollie
You Were Never Really Here
Should The Favourite miss out on Best Film expect it to waltz its way towards Outstanding British Film. However, don’t discount Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody which should run it close despite the controversy surround director Bryan Singer.
Winner: Bohemian Rhapsody
LEADING ACTRESS – NOMINEES
Glenn Close (The Wife)
Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)
Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
Olivia Colman (The Favourite)
Viola Davis (Widows)
The Wife star Glenn Close has the Oscar in the bag already if leading trades are to be believed, but thanks to a home crowd we expect The Favourite’s Olivia Colman to pick up the coveted Best Actress Bafta for her turn as an eccentric, damaged Queen Anne.
Winner: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)
LEADING ACTOR – NOMINEES
Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born)
Christian Bale (Vice)
Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)
Steve Coogan (Stan & Ollie)
Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)
Rami Malek looks like a dead certainty to pick up Best Actor for his performance as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. A hit with global audiences but both a film and performance that has received substantial criticism since its release last year, don’t expect this particular juggernaut to be derailed just yet.
Winner: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS – NOMINEES
Amy Adams (Vice)
Claire Foy (First Man)
Emma Stone (The Favourite)
Margot Robbie (Mary Queen of Scots)
Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)
Rachel Weisz looks set to battle her The Favourite nemesis Emma Stone for the Best Supporting Actress award, with Weisz ultimately coming out on top. If you’re looking for a dark horse in this category, you could do worse than Amy Adams for her turn in Vice.
Winner: Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)
SUPPORTING ACTOR – NOMINEES
Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)
Mahershala Ali (Green Book)
Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
Sam Rockwell (Vice)
Timothée Chalamet (Beautiful Boy)
Mahershala Ali will likely run him close for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar but when it comes to the Bafta, Richard E. Grant looks nailed on to win for his wonderful double act with Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me?. Watch out for his Instagram posts later in the evening.
Winner: Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – NOMINEES
BlacKkKlansman – Spike Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel, Kevin Wilmott
Can You Ever Forgive Me? – Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty
First Man – Josh Singer
If Beale Street Could Talk – Barry Jenkins
A Star Is Born – Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters, Eric Roth
A one-horse race, seemingly, for the adapted screenplay behind Spike Lee’s timely, rallying film on a black police officer’s infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan – once again proving that fact can be stranger than fiction.
Winner: BlacKkKlansman
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – NOMINEES
Cold War – Janusz Glowacki, Pawel Pawlikowski
The Favourite – Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
Green Book – Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga
Roma – Alfonso Cuarón
Vice – Adam McKay
Another category and another likely win for Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite, this time for its acerbic, venomous screenplay courtesy of Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara. Roma could be a good outside bet, as could Green Book.
Winner: The Favourite
RISING STAR – NOMINEES
Letitia Wright
Jessie Buckley
Cynthia Erivo
Lakeith Stanfield
Barry Keoghan
As with any award voted for by the public, expect the actor in the most widely seen film to come out on-top here – in this case, Black Panther and Black Mirror star Letitia Wright.
Winner: Letitia Wright
ANIMATED FILM – NOMINEES
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Three very different animations this year, each utilising different techniques. However, despite the presence of the latest Disney Pixar blockbuster and Wes Anderson’s stop-motion offering Isle of Dogs, expect your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man to snag the Bafta here.
Winner: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
DIRECTOR – NOMINEES
Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)
Paweł Pawlikowski (Cold War)
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)
Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)
Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)
Roma’s time to shine at last in the Best Director category, with Alfonso Cuarón widely expected to win for his Netflix passion project Roma. If there is to be an upset here, it’s likely to be Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos for The Favourite.
Winner: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER – NOMINEES
Apostasy – Daniel Kokotajlo (Writer/Director)
Beast – Michael Pearce (Writer/Director), Lauren Dark (Producer)
A Cambodian Spring – Chris Kelly (Writer/Director/Producer)
Pili – Leanne Welham (Writer/Director), Sophie Harman (Producer)
Ray & Liz – Richard Billingham (Writer/Director), Jacqui Davies (Producer)
One of the strongest categories as always, with Apostasy and Beast the two films most likely to duke it out for the Outstanding Debut Bafta. Michael Pearce’s Beast to win it by a nose.
Winner: Beast
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE – NOMINEES
Capernaum
Cold War
Dogman
Roma
Shoplifters
Five fantastic films will battle it out here from Lebanon, Poland, Italy, Mexico and Japan. However, despite the presence of 2018 Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters, expect Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma to come away with the Bafta.
Winner: Roma
DOCUMENTARY – NOMINEES
Free Solo
McQueen
RBG
They Shall Not Grow Old
Three Identical Strangers
Another extremely strong category, with three of the four highest grossing docs at the US box office in the running (only Fred Rodgers biodoc Won’t You Be My Neighbour misses out). Peter Jackson’s World War I restoration project They Shall Not Grow Old would be a logical winner, although 2018’s highest grossing doc at the UK box office, Free Solo, may just shade it at the death.
Winner: Free Solo
ORIGINAL MUSIC – NOMINEES
BlacKkKlansman
If Beale Street Could Talk
Isle of Dogs
Mary Poppins Returns
A Star Is Born
Winner: If Beale Street Could Talk
CINEMATOGRAPHY – NOMINEES
Bohemian Rhapsody
Cold War
The Favourite
First Man
Roma
Winner: Roma
EDITING – NOMINEES
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
First Man
Roma
Vice
Winner: First Man
PRODUCTION DESIGN – NOMINEES
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
The Favourite
First Man
Mary Poppins Returns
Roma
Winner: The Favourite
COSTUME DESIGN – NOMINEES
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Queen of Scots
Winner: The Favourite
MAKE UP & HAIR – NOMINEES
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Mary Queen of Scots
Stan & Ollie
Vice
Winner: Vice
SOUND – NOMINEES
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
Mission: Impossible – Fallout
A Quiet Place
A Star Is Born
Winner: First Man
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS – NOMINEES
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
First Man
Ready Player One
Winner: Avengers: Infinity War
The 72nd British Academy Film Awards will take place at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 10 February.
