by Watch the All, Everywhere, At Once trailer
Everything Everywhere All At Once dominated the Oscars last night, winning seven awards including Best Picture and Best Director.
Michelle Yeoh won Best Supporting Actress, Ke Huy Quan Best Supporting Actress, and Jamie Lee Curtis Best Supporting Actress.
The Oscar landslide caps a stellar awards season for the film, in which Daniel Kwans and Daniel Scheinert’s multiverse-obsessed film became the highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing a title previously held by Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The return of the King.
Continue reading: Oscars 2023: How to watch the UK Best Picture nominees
But this film had bite and struggle. Here’s everything the film did to win the eyes and hearts of voters everywhere at once.
How everything suddenly became a ten point Oscar hit
What’s the matter?: EEAAO’s most successful selling point is the story itself. It’s weird, bizarre, and really hard to explain beyond “multiverse”. It’s become a word of mouth phenomenon, to be fair… They’re trying to explain how talking stones, taxes, and sausage fingers are all connected.
It’s a love story: There is something for everyone at EEAAO. Generational trauma, mother-daughter struggles, romance or a horny fight scene… you’ll have a hard time not finding a part of the multiverse to connect with on a deep level. Find someone who would like to do taxes with you.
Representation of rocks: EEAAO offers a glimpse into Asian-American life while shattering clichés (like laundromat jobs and kung fu movies) to pieces. The result is something completely unique and yet generally relatable to the audience.
Older and wiser: Michelle Yeoh, 60, credited the film with giving her the opportunity to play an older lead and called EEAAO “the best gift” in her Golden Globes speech as “the opportunities were narrowing”. Of the four main characters, three belong to an older generation.
Michelle Yeoh’s historic nomination: Yeoh is the first East Asian star ever to be nominated for a Leading Actor Oscar, thanks to EEAAO. Merle Oberon, of Sri Lankan-Maori descent, was nominated for The Dark Angel in 1935 but identified as white at the time.
It’s here, it’s queer: The film also explores sexuality in two separate stories – with Stephanie Hsu’s character proudly dating a girlfriend, and Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis (JLC) playing older lovers in another world. As I said, representation rocks (like the movie rocks… geddit?)
battle talk: Yeoh became the second Asian American to ever win Lead Actress at the Golden Globes (after Awkwafina in 2020). She took a moment to “take in 40 years of work” and threatened to punch anyone who tried to play her backstage. Evil Train. Instant viral hit.
Ke Huy Quannaissance: After giving up acting for 20 years due to running out of Asian roles, EEAAO is Ke Huy Quan’s winning lap and career revival. Much like The Whale’s Brendan Fraser, he’s an unassuming awards show favorite you can’t resist cheering for. Now he joins the MCU in Season 2 of Loki.
Jamie Lee Curtis Gets Full Meme: JLC is EEAAO’s biggest cheerleader — so much so, she’s gone viral. The Halloween actress who cheered on co-star Yeoh for her Golden Globes win became so iconic that she later made it into a t-shirt and mug. We are here for the women who support women’s spirits.
Justice for Stephanie Hsu: That Hsu was overlooked at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes in favor of JLC confused film lovers. Hsu’s role is fundamental to the storyline and breathtaking. So her Oscar nomination left EEAAO fans elated and feeling like they finally got justice done.
Everything Everywhere All At Once is streaming on Prime Video in the UK.
