Christopher Nolan will finally win at the BAFTAs

Jacob Sarkisian
·4 min read
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“Oppenheimer” has been the Oscar Best Picture frontrunner since the dawn of this awards season and that has not changed in the last few weeks when Christopher Nolan‘s film reaped 13 Oscar bids and the same number of BAFTA bids, too. But while the film is set for a big night at the Academy Awards, Nolan first needs to set sail back to Blighty to contend for those aforementioned BAFTAs on home soil.

But will it even have to contend? The historical epic, which depicts J. Robert Oppenheimer creating the atomic bomb, is the clear frontrunner for Best Picture at the BAFTAs. The other nominees in this category are “Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and “Poor Things.”

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“Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Poor Things” both garnered multiple BAFTA bids (nine and 11, respectively), however, they both missed out on Best Director bids for Martin Scorsese and Yorgos Lanthimos. Plus, “Killers of the Flower Moon” star Lily Gladstone was snubbed for Best Actress. This shows that while both films are respected, they don’t have the overreaching, absolute support that other films do.

“Oppenheimer” (Nolan), “Anatomy of a Fall” (Justine Triet), and “The Holdovers” (Alexander Payne) were all nominated for Best Director. But “The Holdovers” missed out on a Best Editing nomination, another key category a typical Best Film winner needs.

“Anatomy of a Fall” picked up seven bids, which is a respectable amount but you simply cannot look past the 13 nominations of “Oppenheimer.” In the last 10 years, only one film has earned more than that — that was “All Quiet on the Western Front” in 2023, which racked up 14 nominations. That movie also went on to win Best Picture here, even over eventual Oscar champ “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” This shows how much BAFTA voters love “Oppenheimer” across the board.

Plus, we are also predicting the film to win seven other BAFTAs: Best Director for Nolan, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr., Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Sound. It would be even stranger if the film won those seven awards as expected but then didn’t take home Best Picture, too. The only film in the last 10 years to win seven BAFTAs but not bag the big prize was “The Favourite” in 2019.

We don’t expect that to happen here, particularly as “Roma” and “Green Book” were strong rivals to “The Favourite” throughout awards season. This awards season, “Oppenheimer” has been the overwhelming frontrunner. It won Best Drama Picture at the Golden Globes, Best Picture at the Critics Choice Awards, and is also predicted to win the top prize at SAG, PGA, and DGA. “Oppenheimer” has been the number one favorite throughout and BAFTA will follow suit.

And, if all that wasn’t enough, Nolan is well overdue a BAFTA. Before “Oppenheimer,” Nolan had five BAFTA bids to this name but zero wins. In 2011, he was nominated for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for “Inception.” He then picked up Best Film and Best Director bids in 2018 for “Dunkirk.”

The fact that he has only been nominated for two films when he’s helmed the likes of “Mememto,” “The Prestige,” “The Dark Knight,” and “Interstellar” on top of that is crazy. “Oppenheimer” has earned him three more bids — Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. We think he will take home both Best Picture and Best Director and will finally win his first BAFTA awards after years of being overlooked. Everything points to an “Oppenheimer” victory lap at the BAFTAs.

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