BAFTA Awards: 'Conclave,' 'The Brutalist,' and 'Anora' Lead Tight Race

Papal selection thriller "Conclave" leads nominations for Sunday's BAFTAs but faces stiff competition from the epic period drama "The Brutalist" and new awards season frontrunner "Anora," about an exotic dancer who marries a Russian oligarch's son.

Unlike last year, when "Oppenheimer" dominated, the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards have no clear frontrunner. Odds currently favor "The Brutalist" to win best film, the top night prize at Britain's top movie honors.

The British film Conclave, which has 12 nominations overall, follows and boosts its chances. It is director Edward Berger's 2023 BAFTA success when his German remake of "All Quiet on the Western Front" won seven historic prizes.

“This year, it’s a bit more open ... it felt like for a while that ‘The Brutalist’ was the frontrunner, but now it seems like ‘Anora’ is coming out there as well," Digital Spy movies editor Ian Sandwell told Reuters. "So it could be them or a local surprise with ‘Conclave’."

Many consider "Anora" a strong awards season contender after it and director Sean Baker triumphed at last week's Critics Choice Awards and the Producers and Directors Guild of America Awards.

The Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown" and the musical crime movie "Emilia Perez" complete the best film list.

Actor Adrien Brody attends the premiere of the film "The Brutalist" at Vista Theatre in Los Angeles, California, U.S., December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Etienne Laurent

Adrien Brody tipped for Best Actor

Many consider the best director race between Berger, Baker, and Brady Corbet for "The Brutalist," a three-and-a-half-hour drama in which Adrien Brody plays a Hungarian immigrant trying to rebuild his life in the United States post-World War Two.

Brody has won multiple awards and is expected to win the BAFTA's leading actor category.

“I'd be surprised if Adrien Brody did not win...it's an extraordinary performance," Tim Richards, founder and CEO of cinema operator Vue, said.

While Demi Moore has been repeatedly honored for her performance in the body horror "The Substance," she could face upset in the leading actress category from Briton Marianne Jean-Baptiste for her critically acclaimed portrayal of a woman struggling with depression in "Hard Truths."

"Demi Moore is probably going to win at the Oscars, so she'll get her moment, but it'd be great to see some local talent win,” Sandwell said.

A Real Pain poster Instagram

Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldana are also favored to continue their winning streaks in the supporting actor/actress categories for "A Real Pain" and "Emilia Perez," respectively.

The Spanish-language film stars Saldana as a lawyer who helps a Mexican cartel leader, played by Karla Sofia Gascon, fake his death and transition from a man to a woman.

It had been an early awards frontrunner, but its campaign lost steam following the controversy surrounding Gascon, who last week apologized for past social media posts denigrating Muslims and other groups and said she would go silent to help the movie ahead of the Oscars.

“Because of what we've seen, what's happened with some unfortunate messages that have surfaced... it seems to have slipped back a little bit and lost its momentum," Richards said of "Emilia Perez," released on streaming platform Netflix. "It might still come back because it's a fantastic movie."