We attempted to predict all of the 2018 Bafta Film Award winners
Get down to your local bookmaker - this is all DEFINITELY going to happen
Are awards shows becoming predictable? As we prepare for the 2018 Film Baftas, the talk is that Gary Oldman is a shoe-in to add another best actor gong to his Golden Globe for an impressive turn as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, and that Frances McDormand will do the same in the leading actress category thanks to her performance as defiant, bereaved mother Mildred in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri.
But what of the other categories? Is it possible to correctly predict all 20 major winners at this year's Bafta Film Awards?
Probably not, but I thought I'd have a go anyway. Using data from the past five years, a poll of RadioTimes.com readers and some good old fashioned intuition I've pulled together a list of who I think will take home each of the awards.
Check out my Bafta Film Awards 2018 predictions below.
Best Film
Nominees:
Call Me By Your Name
Darkest Hour
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Dunkirk
My prediction: Dunkirk
It's a tight contest this year. While Moonlight winning best picture at last year's Oscars suggests that the US Academy is open to electing an indie flick, the Bafta voters have shown a tendency towards the mainstream. But after the fanfare generated on its release, the obvious candidate, Three Billboards, has since been criticised by some for presenting a redemptive narrative for an overtly racist character (Sam Rockwell's cop), meaning voters may instead plump for a film that's been more universally praised, which to me means Dunkirk. In three of the last five years, the best picture winner also won the best director gong, and as Christopher Nolan has been overlooked in that department in the past, I reckon the Academy will see fit to award him with an esteemed double this year.
Outstanding British Film
Nominees
Darkest Hour
The Death of Stalin
God’s Own Country
Lady Macbeth
Paddington 2
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
My prediction: Paddington 2
Is there a more quintessentially British film than Paddington 2? This could potentially go to Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, but I feel it will lose out as it is very American at its core.
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
Nominees:
Gareth Tunley (writer/director/producer), Jack Healy Guttman & Tom Meetman (producers), The Ghoul
Rungano Nyoni (writer/director), Emily Morgan (producer), I Am Not a Witch
Johnny Harris (writer/producer), Thomas Napper (director), Jawbone
Lucy Cohen (director), Kingdom of Us
My prediction: I Am Not a Witch
The voters have plumped for socially-conscious, genre-bending indies in the past (Under the Shadow in 2017, Theeb in 2016), so I reckon Rungano Nyoni's surrealist drama about the persecution of "witches" in Zambia and Ghana is in with a great chance here.
Film Not in the English Language
Nominees
Elle
First They Killed My Father
The Handmaiden
Loveless
The Salesman
My prediction: Loveless
The Baftas voters love a dark, brutal drama (previous winners include Ida, Son of Saul and Amour). No help there then, as all of this years nominees are pretty bleak. Elle was built upon the shoulders of Isabelle Huppert, who hasn't even got a best actress nod, so I'm going to go with the critically lauded Russian drama Loveless.
Best Documentary
Nominees
City of Ghosts
I Am Not Your Negro
Icarus
An Inconvenient Sequel
Jane
My prediction: City of Ghosts
It's gritty, and relevant to the news. That'll do.
Rising star award
Timothée Chalamet
Daniel Kaluuya
Josh O'Connor
Florence Pugh
Tessa Thompson
My prediction: Daniel Kaluuya
Of the last five winners, only one has been a woman (Juno Temple in 2013) but while the public may feel that needs to be put right, Black Panther star Kaluuya has had a great year – including landing an Oscar nomination for Get Out – and feels like the obvious choice.
Animated Film
Nominees
Coco
Loving Vincent
My Life as a Courgette
My prediction: Loving Vincent
While Bafta voters love a Pixar movie (Inside Out in 2016, Brave in 2013), this year I expect them to be swayed by the sheer effort that went into this hand-painted Vincent Van Gogh biopic.
Best Director
Nominees
Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049
Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Guillermo Del, The Shape of Water
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
My prediction: Christopher Nolan
The sheer achievement of so authentically recreating those scenes on the beaches on that day in 1940 – using very little CGI – is enough on its own to make Nolan worthy of the award, and I reckon his past unmarked achievements will be playing on the voter's minds, too. It's his year.
Original Screenplay
Nominees
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Steve Rogers, I, Tonya
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Guillermo Del Toro, Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
My prediction: Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
McDonagh won't be going home empty handed this year – in the past, films that have been overlooked in the major categories have often been rewarded here (Grand Budapest Hotel in 2015, Manchester By The Sea in 2017). Plus, McDonagh's dialogue is second to none.
Adapted Screenplay
Nominees
James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name
Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, David Schneider, The Death of Stalin
Matt Greenhalgh, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game
Paul King, Simon Farnaby, Paddington 2
My prediction: Call Me By Your Name, James Ivory
James Ivory immaculately transports the erotic fever of Aciman's novel to the screen (that peach scene will live long in our collective memory). It won't win best picture, but it won't be totally overlooked either.
Leading Actress
Nominees
Annette Bening, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
My prediction: Frances McDormand
She's brilliant, everyone knows she's brilliant, and Three Billboards is likely to be beaten out in a few other categories. This one feels nailed on.
Leading Actor
Nominees
Daniel Day Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Jamie Bell, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
My prediction: Gary Oldman
Who doesn't love an incredible physical transformation? *Sigh* just give it to him now.
Supporting Actress
Nominees
Alison Janney, I, Tonya
Kristin Scott Thomas, Darkest Hour
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water
My prediction: Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
I reckon the the Baftas will diverge from the Oscars and Globes here and hand the award to Lesley Manville, who is note-perfect in Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread.
Supporting Actor
Nominees
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Hugh Grant, Paddington 2
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
My prediction: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside, Ebbing, Missouri
Rockwell is a firm favourite for this one, and history has shown that these awards tend to go to actors from movies that miss out in the best film category.
Original Music
Nominees
Blade Runner
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
My prediction: Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk
It's a close one between Hans Zimmer's work on Dunkirk and Jonny Greenwood's beautiful Phantom Thread score, but I reckon the voters will plump for the former.
Cinematography
Nominees
Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049
Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour
Hoyte van Hoytema, Dunkirk
Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water
Ben Davis, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
My Prediction: Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049
The Baftas voters have no problem rewarding the same people over and over again – three of the last five cinematography awards have gone to Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity, The Revenant, Birdman) – so I reckon three-time award winner Roger Deakins is a shoe-in for his stunning work on Blade Runner 2049.
Editing
Nominees
Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss, Baby Driver
Joe Walker, Blade Runner 2049
Lee Smith, Dunkirk
Sidney Wolinsky, The Shape of Water
Jon Gregory, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
My prediction: Lee Smith, Dunkirk
Lee Smith picked up this award at the American Film Editors Awards (The Eddie's) in January. If anyone knows anything about film editors it's them. I hope.
Production Design
Nominees
Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Beauty and the Beast
Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola, Blade Runner 2049
Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Darkest Hour
Nathan Crowley, Garry Fettis, Dunkirk
Paul Austerberry, Jeff Melvin, Shane Vieau, The Shape of Water
My prediction: The Shape of Water
They love an unusual/extravagant period piece (Fantastic Beasts in 2017, The Great Gatsby in 2014).
Costume Design
Nominees
Jacqueline Durran, Beauty and the Beast
Jacqueline Durran, Darkest Hour
Jennifer Johnson, I, Tonya
Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread
Luis Sequeira, The Shape of Water
My prediction: Jacqueline Durran, Beauty and the Beast
She's also up for costuming in Darkest Hour, but I reckon it'll be the flowing frocks of Beauty and the Beast that win her the award.
Make Up and Hair
Nominees
Donald Mowat, Kerry Warn, Blade Runner 2049
David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji, Darkest Hour
Debora La Mia Denaver, Deruitha Lee, I, Tonya
Daniel Phillips, Victoria & Abdul
Naomi Bakstad, Robert A. Pandini, Arjen Tuiten, Wonder
My Prediction: David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji, Darkest Hour
Just a reminder: Gary Oldman looks NOTHING like Winston Churchill.
Sound
Nominees
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
My prediction: Blade Runner 2049
I'm really just rolling the dice at this point.
Special Visual Effects
My Prediction: Blade Runner 2049
They have tended to plump for glitzy sci-fi in the past, and I reckon The Last Jedi has proven too divisive.