UK Oscar Nominees 2026 

One of the most buzzed-about films of the year, Hamnet, has eight nominations. It’s a fantastic result for producers including Liza Marshall (Mary & George, The End We Start From), and Pippa Harris and Sam Mendes (1917, Empire of Light). The Chloe Zhao film is based on the best-selling book by Northern Irish writer Maggie O’Farrell, about the family life of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal, All of Us Strangers, Aftersun) and his wife Agnes (Jesse Buckley, Wild Rose, The Lost Daughter). The film also stars Emily Watson (Belle, A Royal Night Out); Joe Alwyn (Catherine, Called Birdy; The Brutalist) and Noah Jupe (The Night Manager). 

Jessie Buckley is also nominated personally as Best Actress (and is considered the frontrunner to take home the prize), while Zhao is up for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, alongside O’Farrell adapting her own book. It also has nods for Best Costume, for designer Malgosia Turzanska (You Were Never Really Here); Best Score, for cult musician Max Richter (Mary Queen of Scots) and Best Production Design, for Fiona Crombie (The Favourite) and Alice Felton (The King). Excitingly, it’s also nominated for the new category of Best Casting, with veteran casting director Nina Gold (Attack the Block, Conclave) getting her first Oscar nomination in the first year of the award’s existence. It’s the first new Oscar category in 25 years, and one that’s been the subject of a long campaign to recognise the crucial role of casting. 

Another heavily nominated film is the European co-production Sentimental Value, which picked up a hugely impressive nine nominations including Best Picture: not bad for a film that’s mostly in Norweigan, given that the Academy once rarely acknowledged films not in English. Stellan Skarsgard (Chernobyl, Mamma Mia!) is a frontrunner to take the Best Supporting Actor prize, while there are nominations for his co-stars including Renate Reinsve (Armand) for Best Actress and Elle Fanning (How to Talk to Girls at Parties) for Best Supporting Actress. 

Also among the most nominated films of the year is Bugonia, from Element Pictures (The Wonder, The Souvenir Part II) and producers Ed Guiney (My Father’s Shadow) and Andrew Lowe (Pillion). Bugonia is nominated for Best Picture, and there’s also another Best Actress nod for two-time winner Emma Stone (Cruella, Poor Things). It is also recognised for Best Adapted Screenplay, for Will Tracy, and Best Original Score for Jerskin Fendrix (Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness). 

Heartbreaking drama The Voice Of Hind Rajab is nominated for Best International Feature Film, which is another nod for producer Jim Wilson (The Zone Of Interest, Under The Skin). 

Elsewhere in the major categories, the UK-Nigerian actress Wunmi Mosaku (His House, Queenie) is nominated as Best Supporting Actress for Sinners, alongside her co-star, the London-born Delroy Lindo. The second most-nominated film of the awards, One Battle After Another, has a UK link in its Oscar-nominated composer Jonny Greenwood (The Power of the Dog, Spencer). Yes, if you’ve been keeping score that means that three out of five nominated composers this year are from the UK. In addition, UK-based Nick Cave (Back to Black) is nominated for Best Original Song, up against the UK-born Nicholas Pike for Viva Verdi.  

As ever, the UK punched above its weight in visual effects, with nominations for Robert Harrington (His Dark Materials, Black Mirror) and Keith Dawson (Napoleon, The Martian) for F1; David Vickery (Green Zone), Stephen Aplin (Gladiator II) and Neil Corbould (Gravity) for Jurassic World Rebirth; and Charlie Noble (No Time To Die) and David Zaretti (The Running Man) for The Lost Bus. It’s also worth noting how many of the nominated films were shot wholly or partly in the UK, including F1, Jurassic World Rebirth, Hamnet, Bugonia and Frankenstein. 

In the Sound category, Gareth John (The Man from U.N.C.L.E) is nominated, also for F1, and there are nominations for the UK in Best Animated Short, for John Kelly’s Retirement Plan and in Best Live Action Short for Lee Knight’s film A Friend of Dorothy. 

Our congratulations go out to all the nominees, whether it’s their first nomination or yet another to add to the collection. It all goes to show what a fantastic year at the movies this has been, and how much great work is being down right now in UK cinema. With the BAFTA nominations still to come, there will be more to celebrate soon after another great movie year.