At the Bafta 2026 the film “One battle after another” triumphs with 6 awards (with a dystopian satire of the Trumpian era)

At the Royal Festival Hall in London, the 79th edition of the Baftas chose a clear winner: One battle after another by Paul Thomas Anderson. Presented by Alan Cumming and illuminated by the presence of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the evening consecrated a film that is both a political thriller, a ferocious satire and a distorting mirror of the contemporary West.

With six awards, including best film and best director, the work dominated the scene. Also awards for supporting actor to Sean Penn, as well as non-original screenplay, editing and cinematography. A success that already turns her into the favorite for the Oscars.

Aramayo surprises, Chalamet remains empty-handed

The real surprise came from the best leading actor category: Robert Aramayo overtook the favorite Timothée Chalamet, awarded for I Sweara social comedy about a young man with Tourette’s syndrome. Leonardo DiCaprio (the protagonist of One battle after another), Ethan Hawke, Michael B. Jordan and Jesse Plemons.

Jessie Buckley won for best leading actress with Hamnetalso crowned best British film. Sinners received three awards – supporting actress in Wunmi Mosaku, original screenplay and soundtrack – while Frankenstein she shined in costumes, set design and makeup. Best foreign film a Sentimental Valuebest animation a Zootopia 2.

A dystopia that speaks to the present

But it is One battle after another the beating heart of the evening. Inspired by the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, the film constructs a neocolonial dystopia that openly recalls Trumpian-era America. In a universe suspended between payphones and social networks, power is dominated by white supremacism, detention centers and paranoid propaganda.

The protagonist Bob Ferguson, played as mentioned by Leonardo DiCaprio, is a former revolutionary of the subversive group French 75, today a lost and ironically decadent figure. His personal parable becomes an allegory of a generation that has lost its moral compass. In front of him stands Sean Penn’s Colonel Lockjaw, the embodiment of an authority obsessed with purity and repression.

Political satire and residual humanity

The film alternates breathtaking chases with grotesque moments, fusing different genres. Jonny Greenwood’s score amplifies a constant sense of unease. The camera slides between riots, deserts and suburbs, describing an America where hatred becomes a system.

The satire is evident: walls, identity rhetoric, elitist secret societies. But Anderson avoids the pamphlet and builds a human story, in which the real battle is not only against power, but to save bonds, affections, dignity. The shadow of the Trump era is perceptible without being named: a lucid criticism that uses fiction to talk about the present.

A night that anticipates Hollywood

The Baftas often precede the Oscars. If so, London may have already written part of Hollywood’s script. Meanwhile, the evening of 2026 will be remembered as the one in which a political dystopia captured the heart of the British film industry.

Between applause, surprises and standing ovations, One battle after another he demonstrated that cinema can still be total entertainment and civil reflection. And that, even in times saturated with images, a powerful story can transform an awards ceremony into a cultural event.

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