Everything Everywhere All at Once was a movie that I saw early in 2022 and knew that this my Oscars pick, and now that the Oscar Nominations are out, I’m definitely not alone. Seeing Michelle Yeoh kick ass throughout the multiverse is enough to get me into any theater, but watching as a movie about a family and their struggles played out before me really gave Everything Everywhere All at Once staying power.
So when the award season came around and Yeoh, her costar Ke Huy Quan, writer/director duo Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, and more were getting buzz, I had hope that they’d carry that momentum on to the Academy Awards. And luckily, the movie nabbed 11 nominations in total! It’s a great thing to see, especially because so many of us were rooting for the movie to succeed. And having some surprise nominations for it is just the icing on the cake.
But let’s unpack all of their nominations and why each of them is exciting!
Featured in three of the acting categories
Michelle Yeoh has rightfully gotten her Oscar nomination for Best Actress (and I hope a win!) but she’s also not the only one of the cast to be honored with a nom! Ke Huy Quan has been consistently nominated, and winning, the Best Supporting Actor categories in other award shows, and today he nabbed an Oscar nomination for his work as Waymond Wang.
In the Best Supporting Actress category, Jamie Lee Curtis has been nominated over Stephanie Hsu for most of the award season, but the Oscars got it right by giving both Curtis and Hsu their first-time nominations for their roles in EEAAO. It also marks history as the first time two Asian actresses were both nominated in the same acting category, with Hong Chau’s nomination for The Whale.
It’s exciting to see the cast praised for their work because they left audiences in tears and the movie was just genuinely one of the best things I’ve seen in a while, not just 2022.
Praised for its design
Everything Everywhere All at Once also took home nominations for Best Song, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Film Editing. All of which makes sense! To be fair, I think that “Naatu Naatu” by Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, and Rahul Sipligunj for RRR might take home the award for Best Song over EEAAO’s “This Is a Life” by Son Lux, but still, getting that nomination is incredible!
Best Costume Design for costume designer Shirley Kurata would be a perfect win, and obviously the editing for Everything Everywhere All at Once should be an easy win. The Best Original Score (also for Son Lux) is a bit more up in the air, as the entire category is stacked, but a win for Everything Everywhere All at Once’s score would be incredible!
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The Daniels get Best Original Screenplay and Best Director nominations!
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known as the Daniels, were nominated for Best Director, as well as for their writing, with a Best Original Screenplay nomination. And honestly? I want them to win both. Sure, there are other movies that are great in these categories, namely The Banshees of Inisherin and The Fabelmans, but I don’t want those to beat out on the brilliance that is Everything Everywhere All at Once and what the Daniels brought to it.
It is a movie that bridges the gap between the popular Oscar movies and those who go to the cinema for blockbusters only. It is the movie that got people excited, and the more I think about it, the more I absolutely love it. Awarding the Daniels for this movie just feels right.
My choice for Best Picture
With all the nominations and all the love that Everything Everywhere All at Once has gotten throughout 2022, it is only fitting, in my mind, that it takes home the Best Picture win, as well. The movie got, in total, 11 nominations, and while Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu are both up against Angela Bassett’s award-winning performance as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, I do think that Everything Everywhere All at Once could take home wins in at least 7 or 8 of their other categories—including Best Picture.
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What do you hope takes home the big prizes at this year’s ceremony? Let us know in the comments below!
(featured image: A24)
