Sinners: Wunmi Mosaku Wins BAFTA as One Battle After Another Sweeps Major Awards
Wunmi Mosaku captured the BAFTA for best supporting actress for her role in sinners, a night that also saw Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another claim best film and several other top prizes. The outcomes reshaped expectations from an evening that produced surprises, personal milestones and a broadly discussed ceremony.
Wunmi Mosaku and Sinners
Mosaku, 39, won the best supporting actress prize for portraying Hoodoo priestess Annie in the musical horror film Sinners. She said she was "really shocked" on stage and at the winners' press conference described finding "a part of myself"—including ancestral power and connections—that she had tried to dim as an immigrant trying to fit in. Mosaku, who moved with her family from the historic Nigerian city of Zaria to Manchester when she was a one-year-old baby, said the response to her performance made black women feel seen, loved, valued and treasured, creating an unexpected kinship with strangers.
One Battle After Another's Best Film Victory
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another won best film, topping the field that included Hamnet and Sinners. The film had entered the evening with 14 BAFTA nominations and emerged as the night’s major winner. Sara Murphy accepted the best film award and paid tribute to Adam Somner; Glenn Close presented the prize.
Sean Penn and Supporting Actor Outcome
Sean Penn was named best supporting actor for his portrayal of Steven J. Lockjaw in One Battle After Another. Penn was not in London to collect the award. The prize marked his first ever BAFTA win, described in coverage as "third time lucky" after prior nominations in 2003—when he was nominated for Mystic River and 21 Grams—and in 2008 for Milk.
Other Acting Awards: Robert Aramayo and Jessie Buckley
Robert Aramayo picked up best actor for his performance in I Swear, a surprise victory that drew an emotional speech. Jessie Buckley won best actress for her role in Hamnet. Cillian Murphy presented the best actress category. Observers noted the ceremony included moments of genuine surprise and strong audience reaction to the winners.
Ceremony, Hosts and Broadcast
The BAFTA Film Awards were hosted by Alan Cumming. The ceremony aired on BBC1 in the UK at 7 p. m. local time and on E! in the U. S. at 8 p. m. ET. Commentary on the night described it as "weird" in places, with long monologues and heavy montage sequences; one unusual incident cited a spectator with Tourette syndrome shouting an expletive at Paddington Bear in the audience. The crowd also whooped during the announcement of a Peaky Blinders film.
Mosaku's Past Work and Industry Impact
Mosaku’s win follows a previous BAFTA success: her film award comes nine years after she won the same category at the television BAFTAs for the drama Damilola, Our Loved Boy, a dramatization about the death of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor, who was stabbed while walking home from a library in London. When that programme aired in 2016 she reflected on growing up on an estate in Manchester, saying people she knew from school had died in gang trouble and that she always thought, "If I'd been on a different estate at a different time, it could have been me. "
Mosaku, who is pregnant, said she lost her breath at the announcement and later thanked her daughter, calling her "my greatest teacher. " Her career includes roles in Luther and Black Mirror as well as appearances in Marvel movies. Wunmi Mosaku and Jack O'Connell have drawn praise for their performances in Sinners, which also won a BAFTA for best original screenplay. Mosaku has been tipped for an Oscar for her portrayal of Annie.
What makes this notable is how individual performances reshaped the evening: Mosaku’s embodiment of Annie translated into historic recognition as the first black British winner of the best supporting actress film category, while One Battle After Another’s pre-ceremony tally of 14 nominations translated into multiple wins that defined the night’s storylines.
