Baftas 2026: One Battle After Another dominates as Hull’s Robert Aramayo upsets Timothée Chalamet
One Battle After Another led the Baftas 2026 haul, taking six awards, while I Swear’s Robert Aramayo upset a field of established names to win best actor. The results reshuffled expectations on a night that also saw Jessie Buckley become the first Irish performer to win the leading actress Bafta and Sinners, Frankenstein and Hamnet collect multiple prizes.
One Battle After Another’s six awards and wide nomination haul
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another emerged as the biggest winner, taking home six trophies after entering the ceremony with 14 nominations, the most of any contender. The film won major categories that night including best film, best director, best cinematography, best editing, best supporting actor and best adapted screenplay. The production attracted nominations for its cast and crew, with names linked to the film across the ceremony: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor and Paul Thomas Anderson himself were all associated with One Battle After Another on the night. Jonny Greenwood’s name was also listed with the film.
Robert Aramayo and I Swear
Robert Aramayo, identified in coverage as Hull’s Robert Aramayo, won best actor for I Swear, the British Tourette syndrome biopic about writer and campaigner John Davidson. Aramayo beat favourites including Timothée Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ethan Hawke and Michael B Jordan. He had earlier taken the EE Bafta rising star award and, overwhelmed in his best actor moment, said he could hardly believe he was standing in the category with those names. I Swear had been nominated in five categories and also won the prize for casting.
Baftas 2026: Jessie Buckley and Hamnet
Hamnet won two awards, including outstanding British film and the leading actress prize for Jessie Buckley. Buckley’s portrayal of a mother grieving the loss of her 11-year-old son was widely praised by critics for its raw, intimate quality. Her win marks the first time an Irish performer has taken the leading actress Bafta. Buckley said the honour was profound, paid tribute to Chloé Zhao’s storytelling and to Maggie O’Farrell for the role, and shared the moment with her daughter, who has been with her on the road since she was six weeks old. She described motherhood as the best role of her life and promised to continue being disobedient so her daughter can belong to a world in all its complexity. Buckley is also in the running for a best actress award at the Oscars this March.
Sinners, Frankenstein and other winners
Other films also took multiple prizes. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, a vampire thriller exploring racial and cultural erasure, won three awards: best original screenplay, best original score and best supporting actress. Frankenstein likewise collected three awards. Hamnet’s two wins and the three-award hauls for I Swear, Sinners and Frankenstein came behind One Battle After Another’s six, placing a cluster of films high on the evening’s winners list.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s remarks and the producer tribute
Accepting the best director prize, Paul Thomas Anderson said the year demonstrated that movies are thriving and invoked a line from Nina Simone used in the film: “I know what freedom is, it’s no fear, ” urging continued fearless storytelling. Anderson also paid tribute to the film’s late producer Adam Somner, who died in 2024. He said Somner learned he was sick three weeks into production yet made it through the work, and that experience made the shoot feel miraculous and underscored the privilege of the filmmaking craft.
Red carpet and individual names at the ceremony
The ceremony brought a broad cast of names to the red carpet and the ceremony itself. Timothée Chalamet, Jessie Buckley and Leonardo DiCaprio were among the stars present. Other individuals associated with films and listings that night included Chase Infiniti, Sara Murphy, Claire Binns, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Carey Mulligan, Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro. Claire Binns, identified as the creative director of Picturehouse Cinemas and Picturehouse Entertainment, was named as a winner in one of the ceremony’s announcements. The Rising Star Award was noted as distinct from the other golden Bafta trophies.
What makes this notable is how the ceremony balanced mainstream recognition and unexpected outcomes: a heavily nominated counterculture comedy converted breadth of attention into six wins, while a less-favoured British biopic and its actor overturned pre-ceremony expectations.
