It finally happened: the biggest night of the awards season has left us with a new list of films to join some of Hollywood’s most iconic timeless classics. While plenty of deserving films were in the running for Best Picture, Everything Everywhere All At Once took home the coveted award. And let’s be honest, it’s no surprise that this mind-bending, genre-defying masterpiece came out on top.
With a title like that, audiences immediately knew they were in for a wild ride. However, nothing could ever prepare us for what we were about to see in this incredibly creative sci-fi/drama flick.
Of course, every Best Picture winner in history has met its fair share of controversy, and “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is no exception. There will always be someone that feels like their favorite film was more deserving of the coveted statuette – it’s just the way it has always been.
That’s why now is the best time to look deeper into why “Everything Everywhere All At Once” took home the biggest prize of the night at the 95th Oscars – and why it undoubtedly deserves it.
5 – Cutting-Edge Special Effects
While this feature has its own Oscars category, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” proves that it takes more than just “looking pretty” to be a powerhouse in the world of modern special effects.
Thanks to its outstanding visuals, the film manages to feel like a completely unparalleled cinematic experience. Through its dizzying array of special effects, the audience is taken on a journey that not only looks impressive but also uses these same visual motifs to tell an emotional and compelling story.
We have only scratched the surface of what made this film such a success with critics and fans alike. After all, there have been countless movies about the “multiverse” featuring a collection of impressive visual effects in recent memory – Marvel essentially thrives on that. However, as is the case with some of the best movies in the medium’s history, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is more than the sum of its parts.
4 – Inclusive Representation
A huge part of the media buzz surrounding the success of “Everything Everywhere All At Once” had to do with the movie’s cast. More importantly, the film aimed to represent the typical everyday life of the Asian diaspora in America – beyond succumbing to the usual stereotypes and roles we’ve seen in films before.
Not only were big names like Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu instrumental to the movie’s success, but it would be impossible to forget that the movie also gave us the triumphant acting return of Short Round himself, Ke Huy Quan.
At a time when Hollywood claims for more representation as a chance to give new points of view a chance to shine in the entertainment industry, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” feels like a breath of fresh air for audiences.
3 – A Compelling Narrative In An Unusual Package
It almost goes without saying, but the winner for Best Picture needs to be – at least, according to the Academy – the most compelling story told in a film of the year. There’s a reason why such an outlandish flick as “Everything Everywhere All At Once” resonated so well with audiences, and it has to do with its core themes.
Sure, the movie might seem like yet another sci-fi movie about parallel universes and Rick & Morty levels of scientific lingo – but the truth goes much deeper than that. Beyond all the sci-fi gibberish lies a story that is as relatable as they come. It might be true that not everyone has faced a giant multidimensional bagel to save the universe before, but we’ve all felt the pressure of generational trauma – and that is the thematic core of “Everything Everywhere All At Once”.
There have been countless films telling the same core stories as “Everything Everywhere All At Once” does – however, what directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert accomplished is truly extraordinary. The filmmakers repackaged a compelling indie film into a blockbuster feature with widespread appeal – and that’s something we don’t see every day in our current world where two-dimensional superheroes reign supreme at the box office.
2 – Originality and Innovation
This relates to the same point we previously discussed. At its core, there’s not much difference between “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and the usual, coming-of-age indie affair. The difference here lies in that not everyone might be compelled to watch a “boring” indie flick when Marvel or DC are releasing their latest blockbusters.
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” changed the rules of the game by introducing a “superhero” film of sorts that looks the part – but one that feels ages apart from what we usually see at the top of the box office. Now, is that new paradigm something that’s here to stay? I sure hope so.
The recent trend of “superhero fatigue” has caused a considerable number of fans of Marvel and DC to “migrate,” so to speak, looking for new films to watch as the typical superhero affair becomes increasingly repetitive. A mere look at the box office numbers of films like “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” should be enough to prove that theory.
That’s why films like “Everything Everywhere All At Once” are essential for modern Hollywood. We’re living through something that seemed unthinkable a few years back – the possible decline of the superhero genre. Movies that use the basic components of what made comic book flicks so popular while introducing more complex themes in their narratives and characters could be the standard of the industry for the rest of the decade – making “Everything Everywhere All At Once” a veritable trailblazer.
1 – Powerful Performances
No matter how innovative, unique, or even popular a movie might be, a film lives and dies by its performances. Fortunately, every cast member in “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is at the absolute peak of their acting career – and it shows.
From Michelle Yeoh‘s outstanding lead performance to Stephanie Hsu‘s outstanding double feature as Joy Wang and villainess Jobu Tupaki are simply astonishing. The fact that they not only manage to make the film thoroughly entertaining but also spice dramatic scenes with just the right amount of gravitas is something that has to be seen to be believed.
Of course, we can’t forget about Jamie Lee Curtis. In a role that won her her first Academy Award, Curtis makes an impressive job portraying alternate versions of her character, Deirdre Beaubeirdre, all over “Everything Everywhere All At Once”‘s wacky multiverse.
A movie that takes itself seriously when it needs to, but also one that manages to be genuinely funny whenever it wants, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” might be a glimpse into the future of filmmaking. Considering all the things that came together in just the right way to make it such a fascinatingly unique feature, it’s great to see that all the talent and creativity behind the film received the recognition it sorely deserved at the Oscars.
