Barbie, Killers Of The Flower Moon and Saltburn shut out at Baftas

Laura Harding, PA Deputy Entertainment Editor

Barbie, Killers Of The Flower Moon and Saltburn were all left empty handed at the Baftas.

Greta Gerwig’s film about the Mattel doll having an existential crisis was the highest-grossing film of 2023 and was nominated for a string of awards, but failed to win a single one.

Star Margot Robbie lost out on the best actress prize to Poor Things’ Emma Stone, while the screenplay by director Greta Gerwig and her husband Noah Baumbach lost out to courtroom drama Anatomy Of A Fall, by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari.

Ryan Gosling’s Ken was defeated in the supporting actor category by Robert Downey Jr for Oppenheimer.

Gerwig was a conspicuous absence from the directing contenders when the nominees were announced.

Killers Of The Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese’s western crime epic, also left with nothing, despite nods for best film, best supporting actor for Robert De Niro and a number of the below the line categories.

Meanwhile Saltburn failed to translate its viral success into awards gold.

The film about a student at Oxford who becomes enthralled by a wealthier classmate and spends a summer at his sprawling estate, has become an internet sensation but did not land a single Bafta, despite nods for outstanding British film, leading actor Barry Keoghan, supporting actress Rosamund Pike, supporting actor Jacob Elordi and score.

However, the film did get a moment in the spotlight with the performance of Murder On The Dancefloor by Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

The song, released 22 years ago, had a scene-stealing moment in the final stages of the film and has since re-entered the charts.

Ellis-Bextor was joined by a team of dancers in sequins as she took to the stage in a dramatic black and orange gown with a full skirt as she performed the disco hit.