Papal thriller "Conclave," which stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal overseeing the election of a new pope, leads the race — just — for the British Academy Film Awards, with nominations in 12 categories, one more than the genre-busting trans musical "Emilia Perez."

The film’s star Fiennes is nominated in the leading actor category, where he will go head to head with Adrien Brody for immigrant tale The Brutalist, Timothee Chalamet for Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown and Colman Domingo for Sing Sing, about prisoners becoming part of a theatre group.

The Ralph Fiennes- and Stanley Tucci-starring film, based on the novel by Robert Harris, leads the way with 12 BAFTA nominations — ahead of Emilia Pérez ‘s 11 and The Brutalist ‘s nine, as unveiled by actors Will Sharpe and Mia McKenna-Bruce from the British Academy’s headquarters in London mid-day on Wednesday.