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BAFTAS 2024: Who are the Favourites?
The BAFTAS return for the 77th time this Sunday, with plenty of nominations hoping to pick up the prestigious prize which celebrates film and television from the past year.
We preview the favourites from the biggest categories below.
Find odds for the BAFTAs 2024 here
Best Film
One of the leading directors in the film industry, Christopher Nolan, seems to be the shoo-in for the Best Film category at 1/10 with Oppenheimer, the 12th addition to his filmography. Oppenheimer is tipped to be the atomic bomb of the ceremony, with nominations across 13 of the 25 film categories. Second to Nolan’s masterpiece is Yorgos Lanthimos’s fantastical tale Poor Things, which stars Emma Stone and is 10/1 alongside French film Anatomy of a Fall for the big prize. The other nominations are Killers of the Flower Moon (12/1) and The Holdovers (20/1).
Best Director
Christopher Nolan also appears to be the top candidate to take the cake for the Best Director category, with Oppenheimer as the odds-on favourite at 1/8. It would be the first time Nolan was to win the award, having missed out with previous nominations Dunkirk and Inception. Jonathan Glazer is the next best bet at 5/1 for The Zone of Interest, narrowly in front of Justine Triet and Anatomy of a Fall at 7/1. The other two nominations are Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers (28/1) and Alexander Payne for The Holdovers (28/1).
Best Leading Actor
Cillian Murphy is the current favourite and is a convincing nomination at 1/6 to take home the BAFTA for the Best Leading Actor category for his performance in Oppenheimer. Should there be an upset, it’ll be Paul Giamatti for his stellar performance in The Holdovers (4/1). These are debut nominations for both Murphy and Giamatti in this category at the BAFTAS, so regardless of the result, it’ll be a night to remember for the both of them. The other nominations include Bradley Cooper in Maestro (10/1), Barry Keoghan in Saltburn (22/1), Colman Domingo in Rustin (40/1), and Teo Yoo in Past Lives (66/1).
Best Leading Actress
Given Lily Gladstone, the main contender to Emma Stone in the Best Leading Actress category, is absent from nominations at the BAFTAS, Stone is the strong favourite to take home the award at 1/4 for her performance in the dystopian Poor Things. However, Sandra Hüller has been recognised for her fantastic performance in French legal-drama Anatomy of a Fall and is 6/4 to walk away with the coveted BAFTA. Carey Mulligan is next in the shortlist for her role in Maestro at 12/1, in front of the final three nominations Margot Robbie in Barbie (14/1), Vivian Oparah in Rye Lane (22/1), and Fantasia Barrino in The Colour Purple (33/1).
Best Supporting Actor
Amongst all the fabulous supporting role performances across cinema this year, Robert Downey Jr. is our favourite to top them all at 1/10, in none other than…Oppenheimer! Although looking to be a certainty, there are some other performances that have been recognised to rival that of RDJ, most notably Paul Mescal for his role in All of Us Strangers (8/1), in which he starred alongside Andrew Scott. One of the most famous supporting roles in cinema this year was that of Ryan Gosling in Barbie which took the world by storm, as he embodied his innermost ‘Ken’ and has been given a chance at 9/1. The other nominations for this category include Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower MoonI (16/1), Jacob Elordi in Saltburn (20/1), and Dominic Sessa in The Holdovers (33/1).
Best Supporting Actress
The final category we analyse is the Best Supporting Actress, which has six solid nominations, namely Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who is the overwhelming favourite at 1/7 to sweep the category with ease for her performance alongside Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers. There doesn’t seem to be anyone remotely close to challenging her for this award with Sandra Hüller at 8/1 as the next best bet for another film she’s been nominated for as well as Anatomy of a Fall, which is The Zone of Interest. A nomination from Oppenheimer is of course expected, and Emily Blunt is at 8/1 alongside Hüller for her role as Katherine Oppenheimer. Three other nominations appear in the shortlist consisting of Danielle Brooks in The Colour Purple (20/1), Rosamund Pike in Saltburn (20/1), and Claire Foy in All of Us Strangers (25/1).
