The Brutalist and Conclave Win Big at 78th BAFTA Awards

Image Courtesy of CNN

By Luis Zonenberg 

With the SAG Awards on the way and the Oscars closing in, we have come to another awards show with many notable highlights. Presented by the ever-talented David Tennant for the second year in a row, audiences tuned in to see who would take the biggest awards that night. Conclave led with twelve nominations, followed by Emilia Perez with eleven. With the introduction of the Best Children’s & Family Film Award and several jokes or awards omitted from the broadcast, it was certainly a massive event worth analyzing. 

The biggest takeaway was that The Brutalist and Conclave won the most awards, with the latter winning Best Film at the ceremony. Another notable win for Conclave was the award for Outstanding British Film. It is also worth mentioning that the movie Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story received the award for Best Documentary, a well-deserved win considering the topic of the film. 

While it was not surprising that Emilia Perez won the award for Best Film Not in the English Language, it was a surprise to see the award was presented off-screen and ultimately omitted from the broadcast. This was probably due to director Jacques Audiard’s choice to praise Karla Sofía Gascón despite the controversy surrounding her social media presence. 

Audiard’s controversial speech regarding Emilia Perez was only the tip of the iceberg, as several jokes and segments were also omitted from the broadcast due to a time constraint. One omitted joke included Tennant comparing Trump to Beetlejuice. Considering that the actual event was pre-recorded and originally ran three and a half hours, it certainly made sense that some of the content was trimmed down for the live broadcast. 

There were certainly some big surprises, such as Alien: Romulus breakout star David Jonsson winning the EE Rising Star Award. Others included Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl winning both Best Family Film and Best Animated Film, with The Wild Robot being a clear snub in the competition. Another notable surprise was Mickey Madison winning Best Actress, especially since she was competing against Demi Moore and Cynthia Erivo. 

With that said, there were also some wins that were almost guaranteed considering the consistent wins for some nominees. Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldana winning their best supporting lead awards tracks with their consistent wins across the numerous award shows, and is highly deserved for their great performances. Another big–but still assured–win was Adrien Brody winning Best Actor for The Brutalist, and his humble yet heartfelt speeches always move me every time he wins. 

The technical awards played out fairly well, with Wicked winning both Best Costume Design and Production Design. Dune: Part Two had some wins as well, receiving the awards for Best Sound and Best VFX. Conclave and The Brutalist also received some technical recognition as well, with the former winning best editing while the latter secured the award for Best Music. It was certainly a shame that Nosferatu did not win any awards, especially for Best Costume & Makeup. 

There were certainly many surprises at the 78th BAFTA Awards show, with several snubs and wins leaving many in awe. This event helps to set the stage for what surprises may lie in store for us when the Oscars arrive.