‘All of Us Strangers’: From BIFAs to BAFTAs?

At the British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) on Dec. 3,  Andrew Haigh‘s “All of Us Strangers” domainted, winning seven races including Picture, Director, and Screenplay. Meanwhile, Mia McKenna-Bruce won Best Lead Performance for “How to Have Sex” while her co-star, Shaun Thomas, tied for Best Supporting Performance along with “All of Us Strangers” scene stealer Paul Mescal. But what do these little independent awards mean for the larger awards season?  Let’s take a look.

Firstly, “All of Us Strangers” had a great night. The fantasy film also won Music Supervision, Cinematographer, and Editing. This overwhelming response from British voters could indicate that the same will happen at the BAFTAs. “All of Us Strangers” could be in line for nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor for Mescal, and Best Actor for Andrew Scott. There are some big names, of course, that these creatives will have to compete with including “Oppenheimer,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and “Barbie.”

More from GoldDerby

• Ayo Edebiri ('The Bear',' 'Bottoms'): 'It's very comforting that my parents know what I do' [Exclusive Video Interview]

• 'Oppenheimer' exclusive featurette: Visual and special effects teams on creating the 'mesmerizing' but 'horrifying' Trinity Test [WATCH]

• How Chris Messina mastered the art of phone acting in 'Air' [Exclusive Video Interview]

But BAFTA loves to reward their own. Last year, Bill Nighy (“Living”) and Mescal (“Aftersun”) were both nominated for Best Actor while two Irish actors were nominated for British movies, too: Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) and Daryl McCormack (“Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”). Eddie Redmayne (“The Good Nurse”) and Michael Ward (“Empire of Light”) also picked up nominations for Best Supporting Actor.

Plus, “Aftersun” earned 16 BIFA awards and took home the same number of gongs as “All of Us Strangers”: a lucky seven. Those wins were for Film, Director, Screenplay, Debut Director, Cinematography, Editing, and Music Supervision, so six out of those seven match up with the “All of Us Strangers” wins. “Aftersun” went on to reap four BAFTA bids: Best British Film, Best Director/Writer/Producer Debut, Best Casting, and Best Actor for Mescal. This suggests that “All of Us Strangers” could be in for an equally successful translation to the BAFTAs. A Best British Film nomination, at the very, very least, seems an absolute certain.

McKenna-Bruce’s win for “How to Have Sex” was a notable one. She edged out Jodie Comer (“The End We Start From”), Tia Nomore (“Earth Mama”), Nabhaan Rizwan (“In Camera”), Scott (“All of Us Strangers”), and Tilda Swinton (“The Eternal Daughter”). McKenna-Bruce’s triumph over these A-listers is something to take notice of. It’s also telling that after her win, well-known actors such as Fiona Shaw and Scott went out of their way to approach McKenna-Bruce and congratulate her on her win, telling her how much they loved her work. If those two stars are representative of the thoughts of the British voting academy, McKenna-Bruce could be in line to secure a Best Actress bid at the BAFTAs.

BAFTA is always open to including lesser-known British actresses (lesser known to the wider, American-focused film industry, that is) in their Best Actress lineups, too. Joanna Scanlon won in 2022 for “After Love” while Emilia Jones was also nominated for “CODA” that same year. Bukky Bakray was nominated in 2021 for “Rocks” and Irish actress Jessie Buckley was nominated in 2020 for “Wild Rose.” What is telling out of those names, however, is that Scanlon won Best Actress at the 2021 BIFAs on her way to that BAFTA win. McKenna-Bruce could tread that same path.

Lastly, Vivian Oparah won Best Breakthrough Performance for her role in “Rye Lane,” the hit romance film that is available to watch on Disney+. This isn’t the only “breakthrough performance” category that Oparah could receive this awards season, however. She could be in line for a BAFTA nomination for the Rising Star Award, which recognizes actors who are set to be future A-list performers. Past winners include Tom Hardy, Tom Holland, and Daniel Kaluuya.

Buckley won Best Breakthrough Performance in 2018 for “Beast.” Months later, in 2019, she then went on to win the BAFTA for Rising Star. Plus, Bakray was nominated for Breakthrough Performance in 2020 before she, too, won Rising Star at the BAFTAs in 2021. Oparah could be the next performer to use Breakthrough Performance as a take-off platform to launch a bid for Rising Star at the BAFTAs.

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

Best of GoldDerby

• ‘Creed III’ editors Tyler Nelson and Jessica Baclesse on finding their ‘fresh perspective’ in the editing room [Exclusive Video Interview]

• Sterling K. Brown on the ‘genius concept’ of ‘American Fiction’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

• Ayo Edebiri ('The Bear',' 'Bottoms'): 'It's very comforting that my parents know what I do' [Exclusive Video Interview]

Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.