'Everything Everywhere All at Once' Won Everything at the 2023 Oscars
Everything Everywhere All at Once won seven awards at the 2023 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and three of the four major acting awards.
On March 11th, 2022, Everything Everywhere All at Once made its premiere at South by Southwest. A year and a day later, that same movie, which was directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert — known collectively as the Daniels — would have one of the most historic Oscar nights of all time.
Everything Everywhere All at Once, which came into the evening with 11 nominations, just won seven awards at the 95th Academy Awards. This includes all the major awards: Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan); Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis); Best Original Screenplay (Daniels); Best Film Editing (Paul Rogers); Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh); Best Director (Daniels); and Best Picture. It is one of the most dominant performances from a movie ever.
What made the night more memorable is the graciousness and bewilderment each winner showcased. Quan, who made his debut as an actor almost 40 years ago in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, started the night with his speech, saying:
"My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe it’s happening to me. This, this, is the American dream. Thank you so much."
Curtis, who has built a career starring in genre movies like Halloween, True lies, and Freaky Friday, won next. This came despite the fact that she only had 17 minutes of screen time in the movie. Curtis is the daughter of Hollywood stars Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, who both never won an Oscar. She mentioned both of them while crying, saying:
"My mother and my father were both nominated for Oscars in different categories. I just won an Oscar!"
The speech of the night, however, might have come from Yeoh, who was the first Asian actress to win an Oscar. She accepted the award from Halle Berry, who made history in 2002 when she became the first Black woman to win a Best Actress Oscar for Monster Ball.
“Ladies, don’t let anybody ever tell you you are past your prime... I have to dedicate this to my mom — all the moms in the world — because they are really the superheroes.”
Everything Everywhere All at Once will go down as one of the most unlikely movies to win Best Picture. The beautifully absurd epic is a mix of high-octane kung-fu, mind-melting sci-fi, and wildly inventive fantasy.
Now it's one of the most decorative movies ever.