2022 Baftas nominations: The biggest snubs and surprises

The nominations for the 2022 Baftas have been announced, with Denis Villeneuve's Dune leading the way with 11 nominations in total.

All the big awards season contenders are present and correct with Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog and Sir Kenneth Branagh's Belfast all heavily represented across all categories.

However, as always, the nominations come laden with surprises, and many filmmakers will be disappointed to have not made the cut.

Biggest snubs

Spencer

Directed by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain, Spencer is set over three days at Christmas at Sandringham after her marriage to the Prince of Wales had collapsed. Despite being an Oscar favourite, it was completely shut out by the Baftas.

Read more: How does Spencer stack up?

Kristen Stewart is notably absent from the leading actress nominations for her performance as Diana, Princess of Wales.

The feature divided critics, with some giving it rave reviews and others criticising its writing as “heavy-handed”.

Olivia Colman - The Lost Daughter

Bafta favourite Olivia Colman missed out on a nomination for her performance in Netflix's The Lost Daughter.

The 48-year-old stars as literature professor Leda, who is on a solo beach holiday in Greece when she becomes fascinated by a young mother, played by Dakota Johnson.

She has been recognised for the role at major awards ceremonies this season, so far including the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards and Critics’ Choice Awards – and was also on the longlist for the Bafta nominations.

Colman previously won both the Bafta and Oscar for best actress in 2019 for her performance as Queen Anne in Yorgos Lanthimos’ period black comedy The Favourite.

Denzel Washington - The Tragedy of Macbeth

Joel Coen's black and white Shakespeare adaptation seems tailor-made to catch the attention of Bafta voters, but alas it only earned one nod for its stunning monochrome cinematography.

One person who deserves to feel particularly aggrieved is its star Denzel Washington who plays the title role. Incredibly, despite being the most nominated Black actor in Oscar history with eight in total, Washington has never been nominated by Bafta. Not even once.

Sir Kenneth Branagh - Belfast

Sir Kenneth Branagh’s coming-of-age drama Belfast earns six nominations but is snubbed in one of the biggest categories – best director.

The narrative – partly inspired by his own upbringing in the Northern Irish capital – has been described as “50 years in the making”.

Denis Villeneuve - Dune

Despite Dune leading the Bafta nominations pack with 11 in total — including Best Picture — its director Denis Villeneuve failed to earn himself a Best Director nod. Previously nominated for Best Director twice (Arrival and Blade Runner 2049) and Best Film Not in the English Language (Incendies), Villeneuve was shut out.

Aleem Khan (After Love), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car), Audrey Diwan (Happening), Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza), Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) and Julia Ducournau (Titane) will compete instead.

Surprises

West Side Story

Widely considered a genuine awards contender among the cognoscenti, Steven Spielberg's West Side Story picked up five awards nominations (plus one for star Ariana DeBose in EE Bafta's Rising Star) but was overlooked in the big ones.

The period musical missed out on Best Director and Best Picture, but was recognised in Casting, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Production Design, and Sound.

tick, tick...BOOM!

Man of the moment Lin-Manuel Miranda is part of the team behind Best Animation contender Encanto, but finds his directorial debut tick, tick...BOOM! shut out by Bafta in all other categories, including Best Actor for Andrew Garfield.

The Spider-Man star won a Golden Globe and a SAG nomination, but missed out on his home turf.