Hollywood stars descend on London on Sunday for the BAFTAs, Britain’s top movie honours, where the papal thriller Conclave and period drama The Brutalist look set to face competition from Anora, which is emerging as an awards season favourite.
Conclave leads the nominations for the awards, with 12 nods, while The Brutalist, a three-and-a-half hour tale about a Hungarian immigrant trying to rebuild his life in the United States post-World War Two, leads the betting to win best film.
But many now consider Anora, about an exotic dancer who gets involved with a Russian oligarch’s son, a strong contender after it and director Sean Baker triumphed at the Critics Choice Awards, as well as the Producers and Directors Guild of America Awards ahead of next month’s Academy Awards.
“Everyone just assumed The Brutalist … was going to win everywhere but … (now) it feels like the momentum is behind Anora and in awards season, it’s all about momentum,” Digital Spy movies editor Ian Sandwell told Reuters.
Completing the best film list are Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown and Spanish-language musical crime movie Emilia Perez.
“There’s certainly no frontrunner this year like there has been (before) and it’s also been moving around a lot,” Tim Richards, founder and CEO of cinema operator Vue, said.
“I actually think that The Brutalist will most likely win best film but it’s a hard call between … The Brutalist and Conclave.”
Many pundits consider the best director race to be between Baker; Edward Berger, for Conclave, who made history at the 2023 awards when his German remake of All Quiet on the Western Front won seven prizes; and Brady Corbet for The Brutalist.
Its star Adrien Brody is favourite to win leading actor after picking up awards elsewhere.
