Another year of the BAFTAs means another evening of internet chaos as viewers put their two cents into the shocks, surprises and snubs that took place during Britain’s biggest night of film.
This year’s ceremony saw Conclave and The Brutalist take home four gongs each out of 12 and nine nominations, respectively. Other films with multiple nominations but fewer wins included the ever-so-controversial Emilia Pérez, The Substance and Wicked, all of which boasted a dedicated fanbase and, therefore, their share of disappointed fans.
Ariana Grande’s fans were quick to leap to the actress and singer’s defence when she lost the Best Supporting Actress Award to Emilia Pérez’s Zoe Saldana, who also picked up the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award in the same category. “Sorry but Ariana Grande has been robbed AGAIN. if she doesn’t win this Oscar I'm gonna go crazy,” one fan fumed on X.
Although voters clearly disagree that Grande’s performance was worthy of an award, there were some undeniable snubs at this year’s Baftas. Keep reading for our take on who went home empty-handed, but shouldn’t have.
A Complete Unknown for literally anything
This year’s award season has been packed with box office and critical triumphs, which has made competition feel incredibly stiff. For Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, the BAFTAs were another evening of losses following an unfortunate pattern of multiple nominations and zero wins at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards (leaving its chances at clinching an Oscar in a few weeks in doubt).
Despite glowing reviews, especially for Timothee Chalemet’s portrayal of the folk legend, A Complete Unknown lost out on Best Film (to Conclave) and Best Costume Design (to Wicked), while Adrian Brody took home Best Actor for his leading role in The Brutalist over Chalamet. If anything, Kylie Jenner – Chalamet’s girlfriend who appeared alongside him on the night – made more noise at the awards than the film her boyfriend starred in.
Ralph Fiennes for Best Actor
Out of all of the films nominated this awards season, Vatican thriller Conclave and drama The Brutalist have emerged as the favourites. While Conclave picked up the awards for Best Picture and Outstanding British Film, its star, Ralph Fiennes, lost out on Best Actor to The Brutalist’s star Adrien Brody – with the film (which controversially employed AI to finetune the Hungarian accents of its stars) also winning Best Director and Best Original Score. With Conclave’s prominent wins, it feels amiss that Fiennes lost out on the Best Actor prize, especially considering that he’s pretty much in every scene of the film.
Demi Moore for Best Actress
Listen, we are in no way saying that Mikey Madison didn’t deserve this award for her performance as sex worker Anora in the comedy-drama of the same name. Madison herself was shocked at her win, claiming in her acceptance speech that should’ve listened to her publicist and prepared something to say if she won the award. But we can’t help but think this was Demi Moore’s moment – especially as Madison, who has also appeared in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, is relatively new to the industry. Moore’s comeback to international prominence via her incredible performance in The Substance feels like a triumph after a tumultuous career (spanning over 40 years) and a director brandishing her as a “popcorn actress”. It feels a shame that she missed out.
David Tennant’s hosting
How can the host of an award show be one of the night’s biggest snubs? A lively Tennant proved to be a brilliant BAFTA host for the second year in a row, but a number of his jokes – especially one comparing President Donald Trump to Beetlejuice – were cut from the broadcast, which airs two hours after the awards take place. The BBC told Variety that edits “have to be made due to time constraints” regarding the broadcast, so it’s not surprising that some of Tennant’s quips were left out, however some have questioned why a joke about the world’s most controversial, headline-making figures was cut.
