Who will win at the 2025 Baftas and who should win

It's almost that time of year, the Baftas are coming which means the best of British talent will be celebrated in force come Sunday, 16 February.

The prestigious awards show is the British equivalent to the Oscars, and will go a long way to pointing out which films will go on to win big come March. Looking back at Bafta history it is possible to try and predict which movies and actors will come out on top on Sunday night.

Here's what the awards show is shaping up to be like.

What will win Outstanding British Film at the 2025 Baftas?

The Baftas have multiple best film categories, one of best film, one for best international feature, and another for outstanding British film. This ensures that the awards show is able to celebrate the best of British and Irish cinema that may have been overlooked by American ceremonies like the Oscars.

Nominees for the category are Bird, Blitz, Conclave, Gladiator II, Hard Truths, Kneecap, Lee, Love Lies Bleeding, The Outrun, and Wallace and Gromit: Murder Most Fowl. The question is who will go on to win the award? There are two movies that stand out from the list: Kneecap and Conclave.

Now Kneecap is the film that should win. The Irish drama giving a fictional origin story to the rap group it's named after, and it is a raucous, fun and unexpected music biopic that stands above the rest. The film that could well win instead is Conclave, which is not to say it's any less deserving of the award than Kneecap but it has a higher chance of getting it.

Conclave is an exquisitely crafted film full incredible performances from Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow amongst its ensemble cast, and is the most nominated at the Baftas with 12 nods in total. The film is also a frontrunner in the best film category too but it is possible that if it doesn't win there then it will instead be rewarded in the outstanding British film category. But, of course, everyone loves an underdog story.

What will win Best Film at the 2025 Baftas?

As mentioned, Conclave is nominated for best film at the Baftas this year and as a British movie it could well come out on top over Oscars favourites The Brutalist and Anora. The three films are shortlisted for the prize alongside A Complete Unknown and Emilia Perez.

The film that is most likely to win is The Brutalist, the 3 hours 38 minute epic from Brady Corbet has been sweeping awards season thus far and is primed to take the big prize at the Baftas too. It features stunning cinematography and a gripping, if bleak, story which is brought beautifully to life by Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce.

The Brutalist is well on its way to earning the top prize at the Oscars. That said, Anora's success at the Directors Guild Awards and Producers Guild Awards suggest that it could well come out on top too. Both have strong standing to win at the Baftas, but the film that should win in this category is The Brutalist.

Who will win Leading Actor at the 2025 Baftas?

Much like the Oscars it seems that the Best Actor category is almost certainly going to be won by Adrien Brody, who has so far been the undisputed winner of the prize across this awards season. He is up against Fiennes, Timothee Chalamet, Hugh Grant and Sebastian Stan.

There is a chance of an upset at the Baftas, however, as Ralph Fiennes could instead win the award instead of Brody. Why is that you may ask? Well Bafta members have a tendency to celebrate British talent which means that Fiennes could well win the award instead.

The actor gives a phenomenal performance in Conclave and is equally as impressive as Brody is in The Brutalist, so he'd certainly deserve it too.

Who will win Leading Actress at the 2025 Baftas?

Again, similar to the Oscars it seems that Demi Moore winning Leading Actress is almost a certainty at the Baftas this year. She is currently the frontrunner with Hard Truths' actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste coming a close second, and other nominees in the category including Cynthia Erivo, Saoirse Ronan, Mikey Madison and Karla Sofía Gascón.

Much like the Leading Actor category it is likely for Moore to get the award thanks to her heart-breaking performance in The Substance. 2025 certainly feels like it'll be her year, though there is a chance that Jean-Baptiste could emerge victorious as the outstanding British talent in the category in the same way Fiennes could win over Brody.

Who will win Supporting Actor at the 2025 Baftas?

Kieran Culkin is most likely to win in the Supporting Actor category for A Real Pain, and he is likely to win by a country mile because where other categories have frontrunners but could go either way this one seems set in stone.

Culkin uses his signature dead-pan delivery to make his character Benji an absolute force in Jesse Eisenberg's film, it's hard to tear your eyes away from him in the film which tells the story of cousins Benji and David (Eisenberg) as they travel across Poland to find their Jewish grandmother's home that she was forced out of during the Second World War.

The actor is nominated alongside other standout stars like Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown, Yura Borisov for Anora, Clarence Maclin for Sing Sing, Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice and Guy Pearce for The Brutalist. Bookies place Pearce as the next closest to Culkin to win, but again it seems almost certain that the Succession star will come out victorious.

Who will win Supporting Actress at the 2025 Baftas?

Emilia Pérez may be in the middle of a downward spiral after much controversy, but that doesn't mean that Zoe Saldaña won't win in the Supporting Actress category at the 2025 Baftas. The star, much like Culkin, has been sweeping the board this awards season for her role in the Netflix musical and she is sure to continue this trend at the Baftas.

The actor is nominated alongside her co-star Selena Gomez, Conclave's Isabella Rossellini, Wicked's Ariana Grande, The Brutalist's Felicity Jones, and The Last Showgirl's Jaime Lee Curtis. Of those other contenders only Grande seems primed to oust Saldana, and even then bookies favour the latter to win.

Who will win Best Director at the 2025 Baftas?

The Best Director category at the Baftas seems to be the tightest race, with The Brutalist's Brady Corbet and Conclave's Edward Berger both with a chance of winning. They are nominated alongside Anora's Sean Baker, The Substance's Coralie Fargeat, Emilia Pérez's Jacques Audiard, and Dune's Denis Villeneuve.

Both movies are marvels because of their stunning cinematography and intriguing story brought to life through the vision of their respective directors, so both are deserving of the top prize. Baker comes in a close third thanks to his recent win at the Directors Guild Awards, but Corbet is the top choice after winning the award for most of awards season.

The 2025 Baftas take place on Sunday, 16 February and will air on BBC One at 7pm.