At first, I was nervous about tackling this category, but then it turned out that only one of the nominees has a real chance of winning. Please note that it really doesn’t matter what order 5-2 are, as there’s really no way anything but #1 wins. Don’t believe me, see for yourself.
5th Most likely To Win: The Danish Girl
It’s the only non-best picture nominee in the category. Granted, a lot of movies have won this category without a Best Picture nomination, but I’m really not sure that people will want to reward this movie outside of Alicia Vikander. Tom Hooper’s movies always get nominated in this category, but they never win.
4th Most Likely To Win: The Martian
Personally, I would vote for this movie. The weird thing about the Martian is I feel that in another year, it would be a threat to win Best Picture and it would easily sweep the technical awards. This year, all the ‘genre film’ love is going to Mad Max: Fury Road. Unfortunately, The Martian seems to be lucky to be there.
3rd Most Likely To Win: Bridge Of Spies
The production design here seems way too subtle to pull of a win here. Sure, Lincoln won this award three years ago, but that was for a film that had much more love. Maybe, maybe there’s a slight chance of an upset win here, but I just can’t see it happening.
2nd Most Likely To Win: The Revenant
It’s a top Best Picture contender, and it could pull off a shocking victory here. (Even though it really doesn’t deserve to be nominated here at all.) But people might chalk up the stunning visuals of the movie to the cinematography, more than the production design. Most of the beautiful things you see in this movie are natural, not man-made.
MY PREDICTED WINNER: Mad Max: Fury Road
This won the BFCA and it seems to be the frontrunner to win the BAFTA. It’s also the showiest of the five nominees. (Though, if Carol or Cinderella were nominated, that might be different. It also won the ADG, which is usually a good indicator of one. Also, none of the other nominees really feel like a winner, so this is basically your default choice.
My personal ranking of the nominees;
1.) The Martian
2.) Mad Max: Fury Road
3.) The Danish Girl
4.) Bridge Of Spies
5.) The Revenant