Dark comedy One Battle After Another was the big winner at Britain’s top movie awards on Sunday. It picked up six BAFTAs. These include best film and best director for Paul Thomas Anderson.
It beat home favourite, the tearjerker Hamnet. It also surpassed the vampire thriller Sinners, which has a record number of Oscar nominations. This achievement occurred in the big two categories in the ceremony, where Prince William and Princess Kate were guests of honour.
“We have a line from Nina Simone that we stole in our film. She says ‘I know what freedom is, it’s no fear’,” Anderson said.
“So let’s keep making things without fear, it’s a good idea.”
Anderson picked up the award for best adapted screenplay. Sean Penn beat his co-star Benicio del Toro for best supporting actor. He outperformed others as well.
The critical hit also won best cinematography and best editing to total six prizes.
Sinners, which has 16 Oscar nods, won best original screenplay for writer and director Ryan Coogler. It also earned best supporting actress for Wunmi Mosaku. Additionally, it won best original score.
Surprise in best actor category
The biggest surprise was Robert Aramayo beating Timothee Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael B Jordan, Ethan Hawke, and Jesse Plemons. He won best actor for his acclaimed performance as Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson in I Swear.
He accepted the award — his second of the evening after picking up the rising star prize — in tears, saying “I absolutely can’t believe it.”
Asked before the ceremony what it would mean to him to win, Aramayo told Reuters: “I haven’t even engaged with that thought to be honest with you, I just feel really, really lucky to be on that list of names.”
Favourite Jessie Buckley won best actress for playing Agnes, the wife of William Shakespeare, in Hamnet, based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell and directed by previous Oscar winner Chloe Zhao.
The film also won outstanding British film, but it lost out on the two major awards, including best film, where its home advantage had made it a favourite.
The awards, hosted by Alan Cumming, were the first joint engagement for William and Kate since William’s uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday.
William, president of the film academy, presented the BAFTA Fellowship to Donna Langley, studio head at NBCUniversal.
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