• Hamnet, Sinners and One Battle After Another are the leading contenders on Bafta’s longlists.
  • KPop Demon Hunters is ineligible for Bafta because it opened on Netflix in the UK without a prior theatrical release.
  • Bafta’s longlists show stronger UK representation and allow up to six nominees in many categories.
  • Nominations are due Tuesday; Alan Cumming will host the awards on 22 February.

What to expect from the Bafta nominations

Bafta’s longlists point to a familiar awards-season field but with a stronger British presence. Films such as Hamnet, Sinners and One Battle After Another appear frequently across categories and are expected to feature heavily when the final nominations are announced on Tuesday.

Frontrunners and likely nominees

Hamnet — the screen adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel — and Sinners, a vampire-horror set against 1930s Mississippi blues, top the lists. One Battle After Another, a drama about a former revolutionary reuniting with his crew, is also widely mentioned. Other titles with multiple longlist mentions include Marty Supreme, Bugonia, Frankenstein, Sentimental Value and Wicked: For Good.

Among actors who could receive nominations are international names picked up in the longlist rumours: Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone, Jessie Buckley and Jacob Elordi. British and Irish performers with strong chances include Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo, Cillian Murphy, Carey Mulligan, Harry Melling, Emily Watson, Robert Aramayo, Pete Mullan, Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn.

More room for British films

Bafta traditionally gives more opportunities to homegrown talent with dedicated categories for outstanding British film and outstanding debut. Titles like I Swear, The Ballad of Wallis Island, Pillion and H is for Hawk feature on the British longlists, alongside Hamnet, The Choral, 28 Years Later and Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy.

This domestic focus — plus Bafta’s allowance of six nominees in many categories (compared with the Oscars’ five) — increases the chances for British and Irish films and actors to be represented even if they have been overlooked elsewhere in awards season.

Why KPop Demon Hunters won’t appear on Bafta ballots

KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix’s viral animated hit, is a notable absence from Bafta contention. Although it is a frontrunner at the Oscars in animated and original song races, Bafta judged it ineligible because it did not have a theatrical release in the UK prior to streaming. A later singalong cinema event did not change that determination.

Baftas as an Oscar indicator

Bafta can be a bellwether for the Academy Awards: in recent years many Bafta acting winners have gone on to win Oscars. The ceremony this year is on 22 February in London with Alan Cumming hosting; the Oscars follow on 15 March. Still, Bafta and Oscar choices do not always match — Best Picture splits have happened — so Bafta offers a valuable but not definitive read on the final Oscar landscape.

Watch for the full Bafta nomination list on Tuesday and for further shifts in the awards race as producers and campaigns react to the longlists.

Image Referance: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjrz09lx91vo