The 2023 BAFTA nominations have been announced and it's another strong showing for Martin McDonagh's critically acclaimed The Banshees of Inisherin. The darkly comic and poignant dramedy has landed an impressive 10 nominations including Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay (the last of which is also credited to McDonagh).
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson's stunning performances as warring Irish BFFs turned enemies have yielded a pair of nominations for both actors. Farrell has been recognised in the Leading Actor category and Gleeson in the Supporting Actor field.
Recognition has also gone to the terrific Kerry Condon, who plays Farrell's pragmatic yet despairing on-screen sister, in the Supporting Actress realm while scene-stealer Barry Keoghan has also been nominated for Supporting Actor.
Despite Banshees' trailblazing potential, it has BAFTA competition from the dazzling Everything Everywhere All At Once. The engrossing and imaginative multiversal comedy-drama has also scored 10 nominations in many of the same categories as Banshees, potentially making this a two-horse race.
Everything Everywhere has been recognised for Best Film, Best Director (for directorial duo Daniels), Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh, Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan and Best Supporting Actress for Jamie Lee Curtis.
That said, the pack leader this year is All Quiet on the Western Front. It's the first-ever German-language adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's landmark World War I novel and has picked up 14 nominations. It's been picked up for Best Film and Director, as well as Supporting Actor for Albrecht Schuch, Film Not In The English Language and Best Adapted Screenplay.
New Cineworld release TÁR has also performed strongly with five nominations including Best Film and a predictable Best Actress nomination for Cate Blanchett. The latter is electrifying as the imperious and arrogant Berlin conductor on a spectacular freefall from grace. The movie is marshalled with cold elan by writer-director Todd Field who has also been nominated in the Best Director category.
The King will surely be smiling from up on high at Elvis' success in the nominations. The Elvis Presley biopic has been recognised for Best Film and Best Actor, the latter for the truly transformative and mesmerising Austin Butler.
Surprisingly, director Baz Luhrmann has been shut out – his style is so singular and insistent that one might have thought that was in the bag.
Angela Bassett is poised to capitalise on her Golden Globe-winning turn in Marvel's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Her powerful performance as Queen Ramonda has yielded a nom for Best Supporting Actress.
The Woman King, shut out of the Golden Globes, has performed relatively well for Gina Prince-Bythewood (Best Director) and Viola Davis (Best Actress).
The latter has competition not just from Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett but also Emma Thompson for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Thompson's co-star Darryl McCormack has been recognised in the EE BAFTA Rising Star category.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Wells' beautiful and rippling Aftersun has generated recognition in the Best British Film Field. It's also been nominated for Outstanding Debut, for writer-director Charlotte Wells, and Best Actor for the talented Paul Mescal.
Surprises? It wouldn't be an awards ceremony without them. Steven Spielberg's autobiographical drama The Fabelmans (released at Cineworld on January 27th) has landed just one nomination, surely not the best way to treat such a revered filmmaker.
James Cameron's blockbusting Avatar: The Way of Water has only picked up recognition in two fields, for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. Surely that's in the bag given the filmmaker's visually splendrous presentation of the planet Pandora.
To compensate for those disappointments, the stirring Top Gun: Maverick has made up for its underwhelming presence at the Golden Globes. The spectacular Tom Cruise sequel has rightly been recognised in its technical fields, getting nominations for Best Cinematography (Claudio Miranda), Best Editing (Eddie Hamilton), Best Special Visual Effects and Best Sound.
Still, no recognition for director Joseph Kosinski for pulling one of 2022's best blockbusters together? And no recognition for Cruise as Best Actor for getting the whole thing off the ground?
The 2023 BAFTAs get underway on February 19th and the full list of nominations can be found here.
Which of these movies will prove triumphant? And how will this point toward future success at the Oscars? Don't forget to check out our 2023 Oscar coverage for more details.
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