The 2026 AACTA (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) Awards saw a resounding victory for Danny and Michael Philippou’s horror-thriller Bring Her Back, which took home ten of its sixteen nominations. The night also belonged to Jacob Elordi, who continued his awards season momentum by winning Best Lead Actor for his performance in The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
Bring Her Back, a chilling story about a sinister foster mother, surpassed the Philippou brothers’ previous success with Talk to Me, which won eight awards in 2024. The film dominated the technical categories, securing wins for Best Direction, Best Film, Best Leading Actress for Sally Hawkins, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Costume Design, Best Hair and Makeup, and Best Casting.
Elordi’s win for The Narrow Road to the Deep North, where he portrays army surgeon Dorrigo Evans, adds to a growing list of accolades. He recently won a Critics’ Choice Movie Award for his role as the Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and is currently nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild award for that performance. He accepted his AACTA award via a pre-recorded video message while on a publicity tour for the upcoming film Wuthering Heights, scheduled for global release next week.
Margot Robbie, Elordi’s co-star in Wuthering Heights and fellow Queensland native, was awarded Favourite Australian Actress.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North itself proved to be a major television success, winning nine AACTA awards from twelve nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Heather Mitchell. The series, an adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel, has garnered critical acclaim for its powerful depiction of the experiences of Australian prisoners of war during World War II.
Netflix’s miniseries Apple Cider Vinegar, detailing the story of wellness fraudster Belle Gibson, initially appeared poised for a sweep with a leading twenty nominations. However, the series ultimately secured only two awards: Best Miniseries and Best Casting.
The final season of the ABC series The Newsreader also enjoyed a successful night, winning four awards, including Best Drama Series, Best Lead Actress in a Drama for Anna Torv, and Best Supporting Actor in a Drama for Daniel Henshall, bringing the show’s total AACTA wins to fifteen.
Other winners included Bump, which took home the award for Best Narrative Comedy Series, and Miranda Tapsell, who won Best Acting in a Comedy for her performance in Top End Bub.
SBS’s docudrama series The People vs Robodebt, which features reporting from Guardian journalist Christopher Knaus, won Best Documentary or Factual Program and Best Direction in Nonfiction Television. Grand Designs Australia was recognized as Best Lifestyle Program, Play School: All Together won Best Children’s Program, and Hard Quiz secured Best Comedy Entertainment Program and Best Comedy Performer for host Tom Gleeson.
Gleeson used his acceptance speech to dedicate the award to the ABC’s chair, Kim Williams, with a pointed remark about the need for representation, and a jab at the current political climate.
In the film categories, Richard Roxburgh won Best Lead Actor in a Film for his portrayal in The Correspondent, a dramatization of journalist Peter Greste’s imprisonment in Egypt. The film also won Best Screenplay and Best Production Design.
Deborah Mailman was awarded Best Supporting Film Actor for her role in the comedy Kangaroo, while the late Julian McMahon received the award for Best Supporting Film Actor for his performance in the psychological thriller The Surfer. McMahon passed away last year at the age of 56.
Journey Home, David Gulpilil won Best Documentary Film, and the animated comedy Lesbian Space Princess was named Best Indie Film.
The AACTA award ceremony, held on on the Gold Coast, was hosted by comedian Celeste Barber, with presenters including Succession stars Sarah Snook and Brian Cox, Phoebe Tonkin of Boy Swallows Universe, and Dacre Montgomery of Stranger Things.
Snook, currently receiving acclaim for her role in The Picture of Dorian Gray in London and New York, was also honored with AACTA’s Trailblazer Award. Cox described Snook as “the real deal,” and pre-recorded tributes were shown featuring Ethan Hawke and Nicholas Braun.
Snook also won the award for Best International Actress in a Series for All Her Fault.
Veteran filmmaker Bruce Beresford, director of films including Breaker Morant, Driving Miss Daisy, and The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, was presented with the Longford Lyell Lifetime Achievement Award by Bryan Brown, with video tributes from Morgan Freeman, Kyle MacLachlan, Susie Porter, and Shane Jacobsen.
