Everything Everywhere All At Once wins Best Picture at the 2023 Oscars, and rightfully so. The film has been the belle of the awards season, and as it drew to a close last night, the cast and crew managed one final sweep of awards. The iconic wins didn’t just mean the film rightfully won a tonne of awards, they also made history. Michelle Yeoh became the first asian actress to take home the win for Best lead Actress, and only the second woman of colour to do so. In the world of big budgets, long marketing campaigns and the trying to get the biggest stars to front movies, Everything Everywhere all at once did quite the opposite. And managed to breathe new life into cinema. While the movie seems to be in theme with the big blockbuster’s and maximalist effects, it didn’t have the budget of its competitors. But that didn’t stop The Daniels from directing The Best Picture of 2023. The film was never seen as a ‘big movie’, maybe due to its completely original script or unique take on familial connection and mental health. It’s certainly not a film the creators made assuming to win Best Picture, it was a labour of love and the directors initially started working on the concept in 2010, long before Marvel and DC cracked down on the idea of the multiverse. Daniel Kwan, one of the directors, described the release of the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), which also deals with a multiversal concept, as "a little upsetting” he said: “because we were like, ‘Oh shit, everyone’s going to beat us to this thing we’ve been working on.’" He also said: "watching the second season of Rick and Morty was really painful. I was like, ‘They’ve already done all the ideas we thought were original!’ It was a really frustrating experience. So I stopped watching Rick and Morty while we were writing this project." The film was shot on a modest budget, released in spring with a slow and limited rollout. However, once the film hit the big screen it began to pick up steam and became a force to be reckoned with. The reason is simple, word of mouth. People who saw Everything Everywhere could not help but fall head over heels, and it became something people could not stop talking about. Every audience member spread the word, and sold the film so well that others had no choice but to see it. The film is an action comedy based around immigrant parents who run a laundromat getting audited by the IRS. Think about that for a minute. Then add in the fact there’s an evil bagel and hot dog fingers, and an entire scene of rocks with googly eyes that plunges the cinema into silence. You’d think the Oscar’s would cast this film to one side, which many expected. However, the stunning performances by Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Shu brough the emotion the Daniels had hoped to convey to life adding a grounding layer to this incredible universe. The film is also a spectacle that must be seen on the big screen, from perfectly choreographed fights to the multiversal plot that leads itself to some of the most exciting plot design and effects seen in years. Everything Everywhere All At Once had one chance to explain the multiverse and take us on an adventure through the weird and wacky world of it. They did it with heart, and explored trauma that left many in tears. I definitely didn’t expect to tear up at Michelle Yeoh caressing Jamie Lee Curtis’s face with hot dog fingers, but I did. The film was expected to win at least a couple awards at the Oscars given their success throughout the whole awards season, and 11 nominations for Academy Awards. Here are the awards did pick up on the night:
