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LAST UPDATE | 17 Feb
CONCLAVE WAS THE big winner at the Baftas, taking home the award for best film while Northern Ireland’s Nick Emerson won the prize for best editing for the papal thriller.
Adapted from Robert Harris’s 2016 novel, the film stars Ralph Fiennes as Dean of the Cardinal in the Vatican who is tasked with overseeing the election of a new Pope while experiencing his own crisis of faith.
It also stars Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini.
After being named in twelve categories, making it the most nominated film of the year, Conclave took home four awards this evening.
The high-stakes drama beat Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown and Emilia Pérez to win the best film award, while it also won the gong for outstanding British film award. Peter Straughan also got the best adapted screenplay trophy.
Best editing went to Nick Emerson for his work on the film. Emerson is also nominated for an Academy Award for his work, the only Irish hopeful to get a nod at the Oscars this year.
Accepting Conclave’s best film award, director Edward Berger recalled the journey to make the film took seven years, paying tribute to British screenplay writer Peter Straughan’s “wonderful script”, and the cast including British actor Ralph Fiennes and Hollywood star Isabella Rossellini, who both missed out on gongs.
“What you did (for) me on set was magic,” he added. “I’m so grateful I was able to witness.”
Speaking during the winners press conference, producer Tessa Ross described the film as “a story of the desire for power”.
“It’s the story of a job that a group of men do, the story of that institution and how they run it, and the story of a loss of faith in that institution,” she said.
Director Edward Berger and producer Tessa Ross speaking after Conclave won Best Film and Outstanding British Film at the #BAFTA2025@thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/yZLQAx5FIo
— Jane Moore (@janemoore__) February 16, 2025
“It’s a very specific world, and I think a lot of people have come to me and said, ‘I’m not really very interested in the church’. But of course, it’s a political thriller. It’s also a personal journey, and it’s also a nice, forward-looking idea, so I think that’s why people’s minds are opened by it.”
Ralph Fiennes missed out on the leading actor award to Adrien Brody, who starred as a Hungarian-Jewish architect escaping post-war Europe in The Brutalist.
Isabella Rossellini, who critics have dubbed the scene stealer of the acclaimed drama, also failed to take home the supporting actress award, which went to Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez.
The Brutalist also took home four awards on the night, including the directing gong with a win for Brady Corbet.
Here’s a full list of the winners:
Conclave
Conclave
Mikey Madison – Anora
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
The Brutalist – Brady Corbet
Kneecap – Rich Peppiatt
Emilia Pérez
A Real Pain
Conclave
Anora
Conclave – Nick Emerson
The Brutalist – Lol Crawley
The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg
Dune: Part Two
Dune: Part Two
Wicked
Wicked
The Substance
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
David Jonsson
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