Blues-steeped vampire epic Sinners and gothic horror story Frankenstein won three awards each, while Shakespearean family tragedy Hamnet was named best British film.
Australia's Rose Byrne, who was nominated for If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, missed out to Jessie Buckley who won best actress for playing a grieving mother, and wife of William Shakespeare, Agnes Hathaway, in Hamnet.
In a major upset, Robert Aramayo took the best actor prize for the British indie film I Swear, beating stars including Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet.
One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson's explosive film about a group of revolutionaries in conflict with the state, won the awards for directing, adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing, and Sean Penn's supporting performance.
"This is very overwhelming and wonderful," Anderson said as he accepted the directing prize.
Hollywood stars and British celebrities, from Paddington Bear to the Princess of Wales, gathered Sunday for the awards, where One Battle and Sinners led the nominations.
Sinners took home trophies for original screenplay, musicals score and for Wunmi Mosaku's supporting actress performance.
Stars including Byrne, DiCaprio, Chalamet, Emma Stone, Cillian Murphy, Glenn Close and Ethan Hawke were among those walking the red carpet outside London's Royal Festival Hall before a black-tie ceremony hosted by Scottish actor Alan Cumming.
Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales also attended, three days after William's uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by police and held for 11 hours over allegations he sent sensitive government information to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The scandal has rocked the royal family led by King Charles III, though William and Kate remain popular standard-bearers for the monarchy. William is due to present an award in his role as president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Among the biggest receptions from gathered fans was for Paddington, the puppet bear who stars in a musical stage adaption of the beloved children's classic.
One Battle went into the ceremony with 14 nominations, including best picture and acting nods for five of its cast.
Sinners was just behind with 13, while Hamnet and the ping-pong odyssey Marty Supreme each had 11 nominations.
Guillermo del Toro's reimagining of Frankenstein and Norwegian family drama Sentimental Value each got eight nominations.
Frankenstein took awards for production design, costume design and for the hair and makeup artists who spent 10 hours a day transforming Australia's Jacob Elordi into the monstrous creature.
Sentimental Value won the prize for the best film not in English.
The British prizes, officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards, often provide hints about who will win at Hollywood's Academy Awards, held this year on March 15.
In the Oscar nominations, Sinners leads the race with a record 16 nominations, followed by One Battle After Another, with 13.
The best-documentary prize went to Mr Nobody Against Putin, about a Russian teacher who documented the propaganda imposed on Russian schools after the invasion of Ukraine.
The film's American director David Borenstein said that teacher Pavel Talankin had shown that "whether it's in Russia or the streets of Minneapolis, we always face a moral choice," referring to the protests against US immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
"We need more Mr Nobodies," he said.
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