It was a vibrant night at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday as the world of film descended on the British capital for the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards.
It wasn’t just A-listers like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jessie Buckley, Kate Hudson, Chloe Zhao, Paul Thomas Anderson, Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner waiting with bated breath to see who’d get pulled up onto stage and thrusted a shiny gold BAFTA mask — the Prince and Princess of Wales were also in the house (William is BAFTA president, after all).
The host for the evening was The Traitors U.S. star Alan Cumming, who loosened guests up by asking the entire room to let out a primal scream on the count of three. He soon struck up a reliably humorous bit with Paul Mescal, red-faced next to partner Gracie Abrams, as Cumming repeatedly asked the Hamnet star if he’d heard of various industry professionals. “No,” was usually Mescal’s answer, bar one time when Cumming caught him on his phone.
Behind the scenes, it was quite literally a rotating door of talent as award winners made their way on and off the stage, up and down the stalls. Ryan Coogler and Joachim Trier were particularly drawn to each other throughout the evening, routinely going out of their way to give one another a celebratory hug (Sinners made BAFTA history with three wins, while Sentimental Value nabbed best film not in the English language). Coogler even thanked his “mentor” Trier in his best original screenplay acceptance speech.
Things got slightly hairy when Cumming was made to repeatedly read out Tourette’s disclaimers. John Davidson, a Tourette’s campaigner and inspiration behind the BAFTA-nominated I Swear, was heard shouting and cursing at presenters through the opening 20 minutes of the ceremony. “Tourette’s Syndrome is a disability, and the tics you’ve heard tonight are involuntary,” said Cumming, “which means the person who has Tourette’s Syndrome has no control over their language. We apologize if you are offended tonight.” Davidson eventually left the room, which The Hollywood Reporter understands was of his own accord.
One of the lighter moments of the show came when Paddington Bear himself came on stage to present the award for best children and family film, which went to Lakshmipriya Devi’s Boong. The U.K. icon — currently the star of Paddington The Musical, in which he is played by a young woman in a bear suit, Arti Shah — apologized for getting spoonfuls of marmalade over the BAFTA he was dishing out. As he exited, Cumming fawned over Paddington’s cuteness, saying he wanted to take him home. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve taken home a South American bear,” added the host, prompting raucous laughter.
The best of Cumming’s antics came around the midway point when he began handing out British snacks as though he were a flight attendant walking down the plane aisle. Kylie Jenner, partner of Marty Supreme‘s Chalamet, was asked, “Have you ever had your gums around a jammy dodger?” Well, it turns out, she has not. DiCaprio, meanwhile, was given hobnobs, Emma Stone hulahoops, and Rose Byrne twiglets (for our non-U.K. readers, this jibberish is simply various chips and biscuit-adjacent confectionery).
Then came the hotly anticipated performance from the singing trio of KPop Demon Hunters, Huntrix, who performed their first live show outside of the U.S. One Battle After Another‘s Chase Infiniti knew all the words to “Golden” and was seen dancing in the front row.
But the evening belonged to Paul Thomas Anderson, who took home best director, best adapted screenplay and the top prize: best film. He had guests captivated as he dedicated his best director honor to Adam Somner. The late U.K. native was a producer and assistant director to PTA for 20 years.
“You may think that your greatest export is Alfred Hitchcock or Charlie Chaplin, but it wasn’t,” Anderson told the Brits in the room. “To me, it was Adam Somner. … He came over to America, and the line was out the door of people who wanted to work with him because he made us all better. About three weeks into our film, he found out he was sick, and he made it through production. If you’ve ever gone to work before with someone who’s very ill, there’s something miraculous that makes you pay attention and reminds you the privilege of the work that we do. So thank you for sending him to me.”
While closing the show with his win for best film, Oscar nominee Anderson took the opportunity to express his moviemaking optimism: “Anybody that says movies aren’t any good anymore should piss right off,” he said to whoops and applause. “I want to say thank you, and I know that there’s a bar somewhere. I think we should all go there. It’s been a long evening, but we have so much to celebrate. … Let’s keep making things without fear,” he added, quoting pianist, singer-songwriter, and activist Nina Simone. “It’s a good idea. See you at the bar!”
The political talk was kept to a minimum at this year’s BAFTA Film Awards. The most notable mention came from Akinola Davies Jr., who won the award for outstanding British debut by a writer, director or producer for the Nigeria-set My Father’s Shadow. He thanked his family, co-writer and brother Wale Davies for “nurturing the spark and writing this story.”
Davies Jr. finished his speech with a dedication to “all those whose parents migrated,” as well as to those suffering through “persecution, genocide … your stories matter more than ever,” he said, adding “Free Palestine.” His final remark was reportedly cut from the BBC’s broadcast, though the BBC did not respond to a request for comment on this matter.
Best celebrity cameo had to go to Emma Thompson, who appeared alongside Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise in a video lauding the career of BAFTA Fellowship honoree and NBCUniversal chair Dame Donna Langley. Before Langley accepted her trophy from William, the Prince of Wales, Academy Award winner Thompson popped up on the looming screens.
She was the only contributor to film her message for Langley on a phone, her fluffed-up blonde hair charmingly askew. “I look like Boris Johnson,” she began, referencing the former Conservative Prime Minister. The left-wing Britons in the room ate up the sly political dig.
As the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards drew to a close — with a shock win for I Swear‘s Robert Aramayo, as well as strong outings for One Battle and Sinners — talk began to turn to the lavish parties planned. The hottest ticket? Netflix’s bash at the Twenty Two on Grosvenor Square, where three separate DJ sets awaited the glitterati. Among some of the surprise guests spotted at the smoky, candlelit venue were Machine Gun Kelly, Pete Davidson, Patrick Dempsey, Laura Harrier, Vittoria Ceretti, Iris Law, Damson Idris and Damian Lewis. Hollywood titan Ted Sarandos was also seen working the room. It seemed as though most BAFTA attendees decided that was where their night was to end.
Read the full list of winners at the BAFTA Film Awards here.
