UPDATE: “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Is Big Winner at the Oscars!

The Multiverse fantasy picked up seven awards including best picture, director, original screenplay, lead actress, supporting actress, supporting actor and editing. Congratulations!

Original article:
“Everywhere All at Once” is predicted to make some pretty big wins at the 2023 Academy Awards

Everything Everywhere All at Once is forecast to be the Academy Award evening’s biggest winner, potentially including best picture and two historic acting wins. Among them could be Michelle Yeoh (the first Asian and second woman of color to win best actress) and Ke Huy Quan (the second Asian winner in supporting actor).  This film has gained the world’s attention having won big at the Golden Globes, SAG awards, Critic’s Choice, Independent Spirit Awards, Director’s Guild Awards and on and on and now to land 11 Oscar nominations.   As Oscar night approaches, a film that goes from a Chinese laundromat to dive into multiple parallel universes is shaping up to be the favorite. It is an unexpected hit at a time when Hollywood blockbusters generally come out of the Marvel multiverse. The film community has found something special in Everything at Once, Everywhere, produced by the independent studio A24 and a hit among Generation Z

The story of Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, has been full of surprises since it hit US screens last March. In it, Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a laundromat owner, must battle an audit conducted by a cantankerous IRS official (Jamie Lee Curtis), as her family unravels over a conflict with her daughter (Stephanie Hsu). What sounds like a conventional story becomes a cinematic experience with a big twist when Wang discovers alternative universes where humans have hot dog fingers, there are talking raccoons and a bagel that can destroy humanity. This is not your typical Hollywood storyline.

The film explores generational trauma as it moves full circle in linking the Wang family’s past, present and future together through different multi-verses to create an interesting story of each interrelated lifetime. The film reflects on our common feelings of being overwhelmed by the modern world and misunderstood by others to the point that feeling nothing at all is better than feeling everything.

The directors are fondly known as “The Daniels”. This directing duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinart initially wrote the lead role for a male. They first offered it to Jackie Chan, the legend of martial arts cinema, but the directors later changed the part to focus on the mother. Thus, it fell into the hands of Michelle Yeoh, a 60-year-old actress who has led a long career in Hong Kong action cinema and who came to the United States in 1997 to make Tomorrow Never Dies, one of Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond installments.

The Hollywood comeback story in this cast is Ke Huy Quan, who co-stars as Wang’s husband.  With roles not forthcoming he had retired from the industry decades ago, despite the fact that he was a child actor with roles in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  With this film, he is definitely the front runner for this year’s Best Supporting Actor award.

Ultimately, this film gives us hope, as Evelyn fights for her daughter and breaks the generational trauma by confronting her father and finally letting it be known that her daughter has a girlfriend. It becomes clear to Evelyn that her relationship with her daughter is the most important thing in the universe, and that obstacles are worth jumping through in order to help someone you love. We are reminded of what matters is being true to ourselves and loving people for who they are. Through open and honest communication, wounds buried deep by social shame of what’s right or wrong, may begin to heal. The film demonstrates how life is all about the choices we make and trying to embrace the good in any situation — and not to take life so seriously.  At the end of the day, that is a message we should all take to heart.

Everything, Everywhere All at Once, premiered at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, an unlikely starting point to win the Oscars. It has at its center a message about the importance of family. It became the first A24 studio film to surpass $100 million at the box office.  That is unprecedented for an Asian-based film about the multiverse.  You can’t help but root for the ultimate underdog.