The BAFTA nominations were announced, throwing more unexpected turns in this overstretched awards season. What does it all mean for the Oscars?
With the British Academy adopting juries for acting and directing, that’s where the nominees’ makeup was most different. In this final stretch before Oscar voting concludes on March 10, “The Father” and “The Mauritanian” received the biggest boosts of the day, receiving six and five noms, respectively.
The snubs were plentiful.
Carey Mulligan was not nominated days after her Critics Choice win for her performance in “Promising Young Woman,” which also missed out on best director for Emerald Fennell. Also missing from the other acting lineups were Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”), Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”), Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Delroy Lindo (“Da 5 Bloods”), Olivia Colman (“The Father”) and Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”).
In director, four women made the cut, but not the ones we expected. In addition to Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”), she’s joined by Sarah Gavron (“Rocks”), Shannon Murphy (“Babyteeth”) and Jasmila Žbanić (“Quo Vadis, Aida?”), alongside Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”) and Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”). Omissions included the aforementioned Fennell, David Fincher (“Mank”), Paul Greengrass (“News of the World”), Regina King (“One Night in Miami”), Aaron Sorkin (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) and Florian Zeller (“The Father”). I’d expect the Oscars lineup to be very unconventional as well.
Best actor was seemingly the most “Oscar-like” category with the three frontrunners making the cut — Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”). Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”) nabs a spot and has been rising in these final days of Oscar voting, especially after Jodie Foster won the Golden Globe. However, she didn’t make her respective lineup. Mads Mikkelsen’s turn in “Another Round” did make the cut, along with a surprising nomination for director Thomas Vinterberg in original screenplay as well.
The supporting categories had many curveballs, the biggest inclusions being Dominique Fishback (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) and Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”), which may do the last-minute push needed to crack their lineups. Alan S. Kim even managed a nom for “Minari,” and we’d be so lucky to see his name called by AMPAS and his co-star Yuh-Jung Youn, who also made the supporting actress category.
At the end of this, these are the names that remain that have scored noms from BAFTA, Critics Choice, Golden Globes and SAG Awards: Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”), Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”), Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”), Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”) and Leslie Odom Jr (“One Night in Miami”). For the films themselves, only “The Trial of the Chicago 7” has landed with every televised awards group, with “Nomadland” and “Promising Young Woman” missing SAG ensemble.
Oscar voting ends on March 10, and this could yield little impact, or it can turn just slightly to make a difference. Oscar nominations will be announced on March 15.
The BAFTA Awards will take place on April 11.
