London, UK – The 2025 BAFTA Film Awards, held on February 16 at London’s Royal Festival Hall, celebrated an eclectic range of films, with ‘Conclave’ emerging as the big winner of the evening. The Vatican thriller, directed by Edward Berger, took home five awards, including the coveted Best Film. ‘The Brutalist’ also claimed four awards, tying with ‘Conclave’, including Leading Actor for Adrien Brody and Director for Brady Corbet.

A surprising moment of the night came when Mikey Madison was named Leading Actress for ‘Anora’, beating out Demi Moore, who was widely seen as the frontrunner for ‘The Substance. ‘The Brutalist’ continued its strong showing with wins in Cinematography and Original Score, while ‘The Substance’ triumphed in Makeup and Hairstyling.

Other notable winners included ‘Wicked’, which garnered multiple awards, including Best Costume Design, and ‘Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’, which took home Best Animated Film and Best Children’s & Family Film.

Despite the celebrations, the night was not without controversy. The spotlight briefly fell on actress Karla Sofía Gascón, whose past racist tweets caused a stir after her name was mentioned in the acceptance speech by Jacques Audiard, the director of ‘Emilia Pérez’. Nonetheless, the evening largely avoided major political commentary, with host David Tennant only briefly alluding to US President Donald Trump in his opening monologue.

As the BAFTA Awards mark the run-up to the Oscars, many of the winners are expected to be strong contenders for the Academy Awards next month.