Sing when you're winning: 'Better Man' named Best Film at AACTAs while 'Boy Swallows Universe' hits another six

Michael Gracey’s Better Man has backed up its strong critical reception with the Best Film Award at Friday’s AACTA Awards on the Gold Coast.

It was one of four awards for the Robbie Williams-inspired film, with Gracey winning Best Direction for a Feature Film, and Jonno Davies and Damon Herriman awarded Best Lead Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

Davies donned a motion capture suit to portray the UK crooner in the biopic, guiding the movements of a CGI monkey per the director’s aim to depict Williams as he sees himself, rather than how others perceive him.

The film, which boasts a 90 per cent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, passed $5 million at the Australian box office this week but has struggled to make an impact elsewhere, taking less than USD20 million globally.

This year’s AACTA winners. (Image: AACTA)

After accepting the Best Film award, Gracey said the project was “the best homecoming” but also allowed him to work on an international scale.

“That’s what I love,” he told Network Ten’s Angela Bishop.

“I love being in Australia and being able to do this global, getting to work with some of my best mates and have it played all over the world.”

Davies’ performance is the first motion capture performance to be nominated and win an AACTA Award. History was also made in the actress categories, where Jacki Weaver and Sarah Snook became the inaugural voice acting award recipients, recognised with Best Supporting Actress and Best Lead Actress, respectively, for their work on Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail.

Trent Dalton adaptation Boy Swallows Universe doubled its total of six AACTAs from Wednesday’s Industry Gala, winning Best Miniseries, Best Lead Actor in a Drama for Felix Cameron, Best Supporting Actor in a Drama for Lee Tiger Halley, Best Lead Actress in a Drama for Phoebe Tonkin, Best Screenplay in Television.

Other Netflix titles to take home trophies included Heartbreak High S2, which was named Best Drama Series, and US drama Outerbanks, winner of the Audience Choice Award for Favourite TV Show. It comes as Netflix wrapped production on the third and final season of Heartbreak High on Thursday.

It was also a good night for the ABC, with prizes for Bluey (Best Children’s Program), Fisk (Best Narrative Comedy, Best Acting in a Comedy), Hard Quiz (Best Comedy Entertainment Program), and Muster Dogs (Best Factual Entertainment Program).

In congratulating this year’s winners, AACTA chair Jack Christian said those that topped the categories were a reminder that Australian storytelling stood “among the best in the world”.

“From bold new voices to industry icons, this year’s recipients have delivered work that is powerful, original, and deserving of global recognition,” he said.

“Better Man is a perfect example – critically acclaimed and now AACTA-winning, proving that great cinema leaves a lasting impact beyond the box office. We celebrate all of tonight’s winners and their contribution to shaping the future of Australian screen culture.”

FILM:

AACTA Award for Best Film: Better Man – Paul Currie, Michael Gracey, Coco Xiaolu Ma, Craig McMahon – Better Man Productions Pty Ltd
AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in Film: Sarah Snook – Memoir Of A Snail
AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in Film: Jonno Davies – Better Man
AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in Film: Jacki Weaver – Memoir Of A Snail
AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in Film: Damon Herriman – Better Man
AACTA Award for Best Direction in Film: Better Man – Michael Gracey

TELEVISION

AACTA Award for Best Drama Series: Heartbreak High – Carly Heaton, Sarah Freeman, Hannah Carroll Chapman – Fremantle Australia (Netflix)
AACTA Award for Best Miniseries: Boy Swallows Universe – Andrew Mason, Troy Lum – Brouhaha Entertainment Australia (Netflix)
AACTA Award for Best Narrative Comedy Series: Fisk – Nicole Minchin, Kitty Flanagan, Vincent Sheehan, Tom Peterson – Origma 45 (ABC)
AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in a Drama presented by BINGE: Phoebe Tonkin – Boy Swallows Universe
AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Drama presented by BINGE: Felix Cameron – Boy Swallows Universe
AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama: Deborah Mailman – Boy Swallows Universe
AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama: Lee Tiger Halley – Boy Swallows Universe
AACTA Award for Best Acting in a Comedy: Kitty Flanagan – Fisk
AACTA Award for Best Children’s Program: Bluey – Joe Brumm, Charlie Aspinwall, Daley Pearson, Sam Moor – Ludo Studio (ABC)
AACTA Award for Best Stand-Up Special: Anne Edmonds: Why Is My Bag All Wet? – Anne Edmonds, Frank Bruzzese, Kathleen McCarthy, Kevin Whyte, Georgina Ogilvie – Guesswork Television (Network 10, Paramount+)
AACTA Award for Best Comedy Entertainment Program: Hard Quiz – Chris Walker, Kevin Whyte, Tom Gleeson, John Tabbagh – Thinkative Television and ABC (ABC)
AACTA Award for Best Factual Entertainment Program: Muster Dogs – Monica O’Brien, Michael Boughen, John Unwin, Matthew Street, Jo Chichester, Rachel Robinson – Ambience Entertainment Pty Ltd (ABC)
AACTA Award for Best Reality Program presented by Network 10: MasterChef Australia – Marty Benson, Simon Child, Eoin Maher, April Mackay – Endemol Shine Australia (Network 10)
AACTA Award for Best Screenplay in Television: Boy Swallows Universe – Episode 4 – John Collee

DOCUMENTARY

AACTA Award for Best Documentary: Otto by Otto – Gracie Otto (Dir.), Cody Greenwood, Nicole O’Donohue, – Rush Films & Wildflower Films

OTHER

AACTA Award for Best Original Song: Fine (Meg Washington, Brendan Maclean & The Prison Choir) – How To Make Gravy

INDIVIDUAL

2025 AACTA Longford Lyell Award Recipient: Working Dog- Santo Cilauro, Rob Sitch, Jane Kennedy, Tom Gleisner, and producer Michael Hirsh.
2025 AACTA Byron Kennedy Award Recipient: Greig Fraser
2025 AACTA Reg Grundy Award Recipient: “Unspoiled” – Melanie Hogan, Neville Poelina, and Jamie Durie
2025 AACTA Brian Walsh Award Recipient: Kartanya Maynard

2025 AACTA Audience Choice Awards