Having just dominated the SAG awards two weeks ago with four wins, it clearly came as no surprise that Everything Everywhere All at Once swept the most awards at the Oscars too.
The movie was directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert and follows the life of Chinese immigrant Evelyn Wang, played by Michelle Yeoh, who has quite a lot of things going on in her life – Her laundromat is being audited by the IRS; her husband Waymond Wang, played by Ke Huy Quan, is on the verge of divorcing her; she is having her pernickety father for a Lunar New Year Party; and she is unable to come to terms with her daughter (played by Stephanie Hsu) Joy Wang’s relationship with a non-Chinese girlfriend.
With all that is happening, Evelyn’s life is anything but dull, that is until she is sucked into a multiverse where there are different possible versions of her that would have resulted from a particular decision she took. As a protagonist, Evelyn has to use her verse-jumping abilities to save the multiverse from her daughter who has formed an everything-bagel sort of phenomenon that can suck the different universes and destroy all of them.
There are quite a lot of movies that deal with the multiverse genre. There is The Matrix from the top of our heads. However, the Daniels-directed movie goes for a completely unique representation of the multiverse genre with its exhilarating plot packed with action and quirky humour that is so absurd. For instance, Evelyn has sausage fingers in one universe.
The queer science-fiction movie perfectly touches on the topic of existential crisis as it explores the what-ifs of Evelyn’s life, and also deals with nihilism, absurdism and other philosophical concepts that add more layers to the already-overwhelming storyline.
With an IMDB score of 8 and a 95 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score, Everything Everywhere All at Once shined at the Oscars by taking home the most trophies. The movie won the following awards at the 95th Annual Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role – Michelle Yeoh, Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Ke Huy Quan, Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Jamie Lee Curtis, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director – Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, and Best Film Editing – Paul Rogers.
Michelle Yeoh’s win was historic as she became the first Asian actress in 95 years to win an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. It was a more prideful moment for Hong Kongers as she said in her acceptance speech, “…and to my extended family in Hong Kong, where I started my career. Thank you for letting me stand on your shoulders, giving me a leg up so that I can be here today.”
Also Read: Five things you need to know about the widely talented Michelle Yeoh