There’s no shortage of snubs and surprises in the British Academy’s 2026 film award nominations. “One Battle After Another,” “The Sinners,” “Hamnet” and “Marty Supreme” all fared as expected, dominating the list, but there was more than enough work below them to raise eyebrows among awards watchers.
With only five slots remaining in the Best Picture race, there were many films that didn’t make it. But in the acting category, a name snuck into the sixth space (one more than Oscar) that wasn’t on most front-runner predictions. And, as ever, there was love for the British (and Irish — hello, Paul Mescal!) star that went unrequited across the Atlantic.
Below, we detail the biggest developments from this morning’s announcement.
SNUB: ‘Wicked: For Good’ misses major categories
Wicked: For Good also received little support from the BAFTAs after being completely shut out of Oscar nominations last week. The sequel received praise in the costume and hair and makeup categories, but Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande missed out on acting nominations, and it didn’t make it onto the Best Picture, Best Director, or Best Original Screenplay lists. What a shame!
Surprise: Paul Mescal wins Best Supporting Actor
Perhaps not so surprisingly, Paul Mescal missed out on his second Oscar nomination for Hamnet, but he did receive a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. After all, he was playing William Shakespeare. This is Mescal’s third BAFTA Film Award win in four years, following Aftersun and All of Us Strangers. He’s currently on hiatus to film a Beatles biopic, but his role as Paul McCartney makes him a solid candidate for lead actor (but not until 2029).
SNUB: Guillermo del Toro is not cut out to be a director
The film received a lot of love in the craft category, with Frankenstein’s Jacob Elordi nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but del Toro missed out on Best Director, as he did at this year’s Oscars. The film was not recognized in the Best Film or Adapted Screenplay category, but was selected for both categories in the Oscar race.
Surprise: Chase Infinity makes an elbow in lead actress race
Leave it to BAFTA voters to decide whether to celebrate one of the year’s biggest breakthroughs. Chase Infinity failed to get an Oscar nomination on home soil, but the One Battle After Another star is currently on the shortlist for Best Actress at the BAFTAs (and Rising Star Awards).
SNUB: Foreign language films that don’t have “sentimental value” get overlooked
The British Academy is generally very good at rating foreign language films. In 2023, All Quiet on the Western Front set a record. But this year, other than Sentimental Value, all the movies were, well, quiet. “It was Just an Accident” and “Sirat” were only able to appear in non-English movies despite the Palme d’Or and critical acclaim, and “The Secret Agent” was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay, but it’s a huge disservice that Oscar nominee Wagner Moura failed to make it past the first round of BAFTA voting.
Surprise: ‘I Swear’ gets 5 nods
‘I Swear’ was always destined to have some presence at the BAFTAs as one of the year’s biggest British indie hits in the UK. But few would have predicted its five nominations, especially two in the performance category. Lead actor Robert Aramayo was nominated for Rising Star and is currently a Best Actor nominee (in the same group as Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet), and Peter Mullan is a Supporting Actor nominee (in the same group as Sean Penn and Jacob Elordi).
