BAFTAs 2024: ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Poor Things’ Win Big—But What Does That Mean for the Oscars?

It was Christopher Nolan’s night. The most successful British filmmaker since Alfred Hitchcock finally got some recognition from the British film industry. He’s been personally nominated for BAFTAs five times before (for Inception and Dunkirk) but always left empty-handed. At this year’s BAFTAs, his serious-minded epic Oppenheimer won seven awards—with two for Nolan himself in the form of best director and best film.

It must have felt like a vindication, but his acceptance speech as director was quietly gracious, calling the award “an incredible honor” as he noted that the Royal Festival Hall where the ceremony was held was the place he was dragged to by his parents “to get some culture.”

The same ruminative tone was struck by Cillian Murphy, who took the best actor prize—the first Irish actor to do so—for his uncanny portrayal of the tortured J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the A-bomb. Noting that Oppenheimer was “this colossally knotty, complex character” who meant different things to different people, he added: “That’s why I love movies, because we have space to celebrate and interrogate and investigate that complexity.”

It’s always hard to know how much the BAFTAs operate as predictors for the Oscars; the best film prizes have diverged regularly in recent years. Yet the momentum such BAFTA success gives to Oppenheimer makes it feel like its triumph at next month’s Oscars is nailed on—at least in the best picture category, though Murphy may yet be deprived of best actor by love for Paul Giamatti as a grumpy teacher in Alexander Payne’s wise comedy The Holdovers. The SAG Awards, announced next week, might be a better indicator there, but there’s no doubt the current buzz is with Murphy.

Robert Downey Jr.’s prize for best supporting actor as Oppenheimer’s opponent Lewis Strauss feels like a shoo-in. The unsuccessful nominees barely batted an eyelid when he was announced for his BAFTA and walked to the stage to give another of those elegantly crafted speeches—in this case, a 30-second summary of his career—that have done so much to make him an awards favorite.

Another frontrunner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, whose luminous performance as Mary, the long-suffering cook at an elite New England boarding school, gives The Holdovers its soul, took home the BAFTA for best supporting actress. She fought off strong local opposition from Rosamund Pike for Saltburn, and generally won hearts and minds with an acceptance speech which moved from swooning over presenter Chiwetel Ejiofor—“you are so handsome”—to remembering all the real-life Marys “who have never got a chance to wear a beautiful gown and stand on this stage.”