BFI BAFTA Film Awards 2025 Winners: The British Films Rewriting This Year’s Awards Race
- Merna Atef
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Why the BFI BAFTA Film Awards 2025 Winners Matter This Year
The BFI BAFTA Film Awards 2025 winners list says a lot about where British cinema is heading next – and it’s more confident, more international and more auteur-driven than it’s been in years.
Held at London’s Royal Festival Hall and hosted by David Tennant, the 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards crowned Conclave and The Brutalist as the night’s big success stories, while Anora, A Real Pain and Emilia Pérez signalled a bolder, more global taste among voters.
Below, a human-first guide to the key British-linked films shaping this year’s awards race.
The big winner: Conclave and the new British prestige
If you remember one title from the BFI BAFTA Film Awards 2025 winners, make it Conclave. The papal thriller, adapted from Robert Harris’ novel and set almost entirely within the walls of the Vatican during the election of a new Pope, walked away with Best Film, Outstanding British Film and Best Adapted Screenplay, among other prizes.
Why it matters:
It shows BAFTA voters still love a classic, dialogue-heavy British drama – but with international scale.
The story of cardinals locked in a room debating faith, power and secrecy hits differently in a year obsessed with institutions and transparency.
With its strong showing at BAFTA, Conclave instantly jumps near the front of the Oscars conversation, reinforcing BAFTA’s role as a key awards-season barometer.
Visually, it’s a film of shadows, stone corridors and whispered alliances – the kind of slow-burn thriller that reminds you British cinema can still do old-school prestige without feeling dusty.
The Brutalist: art, trauma and a career-best Adrien Brody
If Conclave was the establishment choice, The Brutalist was the dark, stylish counterpoint. The film – about a Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor who emigrates to the US after the Second World War – matched Conclave’s haul with major wins including Best Director for Brady Corbet and Best Actor for Adrien Brody, plus key craft awards.
Why everyone is talking about it:
Brody’s performance has been described as one of his most complex since The Pianist, layering ambition, grief and quiet rage.
Corbet’s direction and the film’s meticulous period design make it catnip for cinematography and production-design branches later in the season.
For UK audiences, it continues Britain’s fascination with European stories of exile and rebuilding – only this time told with an almost operatic visual language.
This is not an easy Friday-night watch, but it’s the BAFTA-backed film you’ll see referenced all awards season.
Anora and A Real Pain: messy, modern and emotionally raw
Two of the most human wins of the night came from American indies with strong UK festival buzz.
Mikey Madison won Leading Actress for Anora, a New York-set story about a young sex worker who impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch.
Kieran Culkin took Supporting Actor and A Real Pain won *Original Screenplay, for its tale of two cousins travelling to Poland to reconnect with their family’s Holocaust history.
Why they fit the 2025 mood:
Both films are small in budget but huge in feeling – the kind of intimate, character-led cinema people discover at festivals and then evangelise to friends.
They speak directly to younger audiences: immigration, identity, found family, the chaos of trying to grow up without a safety net.
Their BAFTA success proves the academy isn’t only looking at big studio campaigns; it’s rewarding sharp writing and emotionally honest performances.
For Niche readers, these are the movies you watch on a rainy Sunday then can’t stop thinking about for days.
Emilia Pérez: BAFTA’s boldest choice
On paper, a Spanish-language musical-crime drama about a Mexican cartel boss and a life-changing transition doesn’t sound like traditional BAFTA territory. Yet Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez won Best Film Not in the English Language, while Zoe Saldana took Supporting Actress for her role.
Why it’s a statement win:
It shows BAFTA voters are rewarding risk: genre-blending, big musical numbers, and a story centred on identity and reinvention.
Casting Saldana, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón brings together Hollywood visibility and European arthouse sensibility in one project.
For London’s film ecosystem, it underlines how international the BAFTA conversation has become – and how the city’s festivals, critics and cinemas now champion non-English-language titles as loudly as English ones.
Expect Emilia Pérez to be one of the most-streamed BAFTA winners once it hits UK platforms.
Red carpet, flowers and the road to the Oscars
The BAFTA Film Awards 2025 red carpet felt like a soft relaunch of London as a global awards-season capital. Stars including Zoe Saldana, Demi Moore, Selena Gomez and Gwendoline Christie made fashion headlines, while the ceremony itself leaned into large-scale stage design and live orchestral performances.
Two takeaways for awards-watchers:
London is back in the prediction game. With Conclave, The Brutalist, Anora and Emilia Pérez all likely to appear on Academy ballots, the BFI BAFTA Film Awards 2025 winners list looks increasingly like an early Oscars cheat sheet.
British stories are going global. Even when the films aren’t strictly UK-set, British talent is everywhere – writing, directing, producing, acting – and BAFTA is comfortable championing that outward-looking version of “British cinema”.
Why this year matters for British film
For UK readers wondering what to watch next – or for anyone planning their cinema trips and streaming nights – 2025’s BAFTA crop offers a clear roadmap:
Watch Conclave for prestige drama and razor-sharp dialogue.
Watch The Brutalist for bold visuals and a towering Adrien Brody performance.
Watch Anora and A Real Pain if you want messy, modern stories that feel painfully real.
Watch Emilia Pérez if you’re ready for something genuinely different.
Taken together, the BFI BAFTA Film Awards 2025 winners suggest a British-led film culture that’s less interested in safe period pieces and far more excited by moral complexity, international collaboration and directors with a strong point of view.
And that’s good news – not just for London’s red carpets, but for anyone who cares about where cinema goes next.
