BAFTAs 2024: Oppenheimer and Poor Creatures Steal the Show

Oppenheimer and Poor Creatures are the big winners at the 2024 BAFTAs. The vibrant British ceremony was hosted by David Tennant, in the presence of Prince William and highlighted by a live performance from Sophie Ellis-Bextor with Murder on the Dance Floor.

The 77th BAFTA (British Academy Film Awards) ceremony took place on February 18, 2024, at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Following the Golden Globes in January, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer scooped seven BAFTAs, while Greta Gerwig’s Barbie went home empty-handed, despite having won two statues at the Golden Globes.

The British ceremony, broadcast on the BBC, was hosted by David Tennant, star of Doctor Who and Good Omens.

The Success of Oppenheimer

Often contrasted with Barbie due to their identical release dates and diametrically opposed aesthetics, Nolan’s film emerged as the grand winner of the 2024 BAFTAs. Nominated 13 times, it won awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Leading Actor (Cillian Murphy), and Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.). Greta Gerwig’s film left empty-handed despite its 5 nominations.

Oppenheimer generated nearly $1 billion at the box office on a $100 million budget. The film is based on the biographical work by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin about Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. “My film ends on a note of despair. But with this trophy, I want to pay tribute to the efforts of these men and women who fight for peace and show how necessary it is. Since 1967, much progress was made before recently starting to move in the wrong direction again,” highlighted Christopher Nolan while holding his very first BAFTA trophy.

Poor Creatures

In second place, Yórgos Lánthimos’s unique work, nominated in 11 categories, won 5 awards for Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costumes, and notably, Best Actress for Emma Stone. The film incorporates elements of the Frankenstein tale, transporting Bella (Emma Stone) on an initiatory adventure that alternates between raw violence and a philosophical search for the relationship between creator and creature.

Emma Stone walked the BAFTA red carpet in a dress by Louis Vuitton.

Sandra Hüller did not manage to win Best Actress for The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer, which, however, won three awards out of its nine nominations, namely Best British Film, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Sound.

From France, Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet won Best Original Screenplay out of its seven nominations.

Celebrities and Showtime

The host, David Tennant, called upon his Good Omens co-star, Michael Sheen, for the opening act. He asked him to take care of his dog, Bark Ruffalo (a nod to Mark Ruffalo who stars in Poor Creatures, with bark meaning to bark in English).

Singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor performed her 2001 single, Murder on the Dance Floor, which made a comeback in the Top 50 thanks to Saltburn, a dark comedy released in November 2023 with 5 BAFTA nominations.

Prince William, honorary president of the Bafta since 2010, attended the ceremony without Princess Kate Middleton, who is currently recuperating after undergoing an abdominal operation last month. The prince was alongside his friend Cate Blanchett during the show.

The BAFTAs have set the tone for the upcoming César Awards ceremony in France, scheduled for February 23, and the Oscars, on March 10.

Nominee List by Category

Best Film

Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet

Winter Break by Alexander Payne

Poor Creatures by Yórgos Lánthimos

Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan

Killers Of The Flower Moon by Martin Scorsese

Best British Film

Without Ever Knowing Us by Andrew Haigh

How To Have Sex by Molly Manning Walker

Napoleon by Ridley Scott

The Old Oak by Ken Loach

Poor Creatures by Yórgos Lánthimos

You and Me? by Raine Allen Miller

Saltburn by Emerald Fennell

Scrapper by Charlotte Regan

Wonka by Paul King

The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer

Best Direction

Andrew Haigh, Without Ever Knowing Us

Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall

Alexander Payne, Winter Break

Bradley Cooper, Maestro

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

Best Actress

Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple

Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall

Carey Mulligan, Maestro

Vivian Oparah, You and Me?

Margot Robbie, Barbie

Emma Stone, Poor Creatures

Best Actor

Colman Domingo, Bayard Rustin

Bradley Cooper, Maestro

Paul Giamatti, Winter Break

Barry Keoghan, Saltburn

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Teo Yoo, Past Lives

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer

Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple

Claire Foy, Without Ever Knowing Us

Sandra Hüller, The Zone of Interest

Rosamund Pike, Saltburn

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Winter Break

Best Supporting Actor

Robert De Niro, Killers Of The Flower Moon

Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer

Jacob Elordi, Saltburn

Ryan Gosling, Barbie

Paul Mescal, Without Ever Knowing Us

Dominic Sessa, Winter Break

Best Animated Film

The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki

Elemental by Peter Sohn

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin Thompson

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget by Sam Fell

Best Original Screenplay

Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet and Arthur Harari

Barbie, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach

Winter Break, David Hemingson

Maestro, Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer

Past Lives, Celine Song

Best Adapted Screenplay

Without Ever Knowing Us, Andrew Haigh

Poor Creatures, Tony McNamara

The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer

American Fiction, Cord Jefferson

Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan

Best Original Score

Killers Of The Flower Moon, Robbie Robertson

Oppenheimer, Ludwig Göransson

Poor Creatures, Jerskin Fendrix

Saltburn, Anthony Willis

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Daniel Pemberton