How Adam Somner’s loss changed Paul Thomas Anderson’s Bafta night and shifted the film’s awards narrative

What mattered first at the Baftas was the human cost behind a headline sweep: adam somner’s death framed both Paul Thomas Anderson’s acceptance and the evening’s tone, altering how the film and its team were talked about during the ceremony. The tribute underscored the night’s emotional currency and put the film’s awards momentum in the context of a long professional partnership.

Adam Somner’s absence was felt by collaborators and the awards conversation

Paul Thomas Anderson used his best director prize to single out Adam Somner, noting Somner had been his assistant director and producer for about 20 years and had become widely sought after because he improved the work of those around him. The context behind that tribute: Somner was British, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and he died in November 2024, having fallen ill a few weeks into production on One Battle After Another. Anderson also referenced how Somner continued through production after his diagnosis, which reframed the director’s acceptance speech and the evening’s tone.

It’s easy to overlook, but the provenance of a film’s behind-the-scenes personnel can reshape awards narratives as much as box-office or reviews.

How the wins and recognitions stacked up on the night

• Paul Thomas Anderson collected the Bafta for best director and also won for best adapted screenplay.
• One Battle After Another received recognition for editing and cinematography.
• Sean Penn was named best supporting actor for his role in One Battle After Another but was not present on Sunday to accept the award.
• Avatar: Fire And Ash took the first award of the night for best visual effects.

Other standout winners and ceremony moments

Wunmi Mosaku won best supporting actress, beating nominees that included Teyana Taylor for One Battle After Another and Emily Watson for Hamnet. In her remarks she thanked the awarding body, addressed her daughter and reflected on finding elements of herself in a vampire role called Annie, mentioning ancestral power and connection; she also addressed director Ryan Coogler, noting a daily sense of ancestors’ pride on his set.

Ryan Coogler won best original screenplay, and his film also received the prize for score. Robert Aramayo won the EE Rising Star award for I Swear and referenced John Davidson, the Tourette syndrome campaigner on whom that film is based, urging support and understanding for the condition. Another ceremony flashpoint came when the host opened the awards by saying that watching films this year felt like taking part in a collective nervous breakdown, and there was a moment involving a Tourette syndrome campaigner that prompted the host to ask for understanding.

There was also a musical moment that got the crowd singing, delivered by performers billed as KPop Demon Hunters, featuring EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami.

Why the film’s awards performance now matters for next steps

One Battle After Another went into the Baftas leading the nominations with 14 nods, two shy of the record set by Gandhi. For the upcoming Academy Awards the film carries 13 nominations. For Anderson, this Bafta completes a category-gap in his awards record: the win marked his first Bafta best director prize after earlier nominations in the same category for We Will Be Blood and Licorice Pizza, and it arrives alongside a history of festival recognition that includes top director honors at Cannes and awards at Venice and Berlin.

Short notes and miscellany from the wider roundup

• Cast names associated with One Battle After Another mentioned across coverage include Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor, Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn and Regina Hall.
• Alan Cumming served as host for the 2026 film awards ceremony.
• Outside the ceremony’s film coverage, there were separate notes that Showtime-era Lakers figures attended a statue ceremony, that the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics are officially over, and that Wall Street had been affected by tariff news tied to the president alongside a quickly refuted Supreme Court ruling; those items appeared in the same roundup coverage.

Here’s the part that matters for audiences and industry watchers: the evening combined high recognition for One Battle After Another with repeated reminders of the personal loss behind the film. The real question now is whether the awards momentum will consolidate at the Academy Awards where the film carries a strong nomination count.

• Adam Somner was British, diagnosed with thyroid cancer and died in November 2024 after becoming ill a few weeks into production.
• Somner had served as Anderson’s assistant director and producer for about 20 years and was described as a figure who made collaborators better.
• Sean Penn won best supporting actor but was not present to accept the Bafta on Sunday.
• One Battle After Another led Bafta nominations with 14 and held 13 nominations going into the Academy Awards.

Timeline note: Somner fell ill a few weeks into production; he died in November 2024; the Bafta ceremony took place on a Sunday in 2026.