Robert Aramayo stuns BAFTA field - One Battle After Another wins six awards

At the Royal Festival Hall in London, Robert Aramayo produced one of awards season’s biggest upsets when he was named best leading actor at the BAFTA Film Awards on the evening of February 22, 2026, and also collected the Rising Star prize in the same night. Deadline reported Aramayo’s double as a BAFTA first, and his acceptance underscored the surprise: “I honestly cannot believe that I have won this award. I really, really cannot. Everyone in this category blows me away.” Screendaily said he was “clearly shocked,” and the Guardian live blog recorded audience jubilation and described him as “absolutely speechless,” with Leonardo DiCaprio “in particular looked thrilled for him.”

Aramayo’s winning role was for his portrayal of John Davidson in the British film I Swear, a biopic about a man with severe Tourette’s syndrome. I Swear also secured the casting prize, a recognition that will refocus attention on how British filmmakers and casting directors approach stories about disability and lived experience. Clips of Aramayo’s moment circulated on BBC and Deadline video embeds, and social posts framed the victory as the “shock of the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards,” noting the high-profile names he beat.

The dominant film of the night was Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, which won six BAFTAs, including best film, best director and adapted screenplay for Anderson. Screendaily credited the film with further technical victories for Michael Bauman’s cinematography and Andy Jurgensen’s editing, and Sean Penn won best supporting actor for his role despite being unable to attend the ceremony. The scale of the haul will be used immediately by distributors and sales agents to market the picture across territories and to strengthen negotiating leverage for further theatrical runs and streaming windows.

Jessie Buckley took leading actress for Hamnet and, in a speech described as “somewhat flustered,” said she had once dreamed of being “a little bit like Judi Dench.” Hamnet also won outstanding British film, consolidating the title as both a critical and industry favorite in Britain. Norwegian director Joachim Trier celebrated Sentimental Value’s win in the film not in the English language category with an exuberant local pride note: “This is the first time a Norwegian film has won a Bafta, we’re normally better at Skiing.”

The ceremony’s narrative arc, a broadly criticized event that was revived by Aramayo’s surprise, was captured by Stuart Heritage in the Guardian live blog: “It’s a late turnaround for a categorically awful ceremony, but this is the biggest and best moment of the night.” Industry watchers will parse whether the BAFTA judgments shift momentum toward the Oscars; Heritage suggested the Aramayo result “won’t influence the Oscars a jot,” but acknowledged the cultural lift the moment delivered.

Beyond trophies, the night raises immediate questions about representation, campaigning and audience attention. I Swear’s casting nod and Aramayo’s profile boost put disability portrayal back on the agenda for commissioners and streamers, while One Battle After Another’s technical awards underscore the market value of craft-led prestige filmmaking. Only 0.7 percent of published pieces are widely shared online; with named actors, an unexpected upset and explicit firsts on the record, this BAFTA evening supplied the share hooks that editors and social teams prize.