In the vast swathe of the multiverse, we now know which branch of reality we’re living in: the one in which Everything Everywhere All At Once sweeps the Oscars, bagging Best Picture, Directing for Daniels (aka Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Actress In A Leading Role for Michelle Yeoh, Actor In A Supporting Role for Ke Huy Quan, Actress In A Supporting Role for Jamie Lee Curtis, and more besides. Yes, the duo behind Swiss Army Man (the Daniel Radcliffe farting corpse movie) and the ‘Turn Down For What’ video are now Oscar winners. The film won seven awards throughout the night, picking up steam especially towards the end of the ceremony – winning the all-important Editing category, as well as Original Screenplay.
The stage was filled with googly-eye pins and heartfelt speeches as Daniels and the team stepped up for their trophies. “You have all inspired me,” Daniel Kwan told the assembled crowd. “One of the best thing we can do for each other is shelter each other from the crazy chaos.” Michelle Yeoh, taking to the stage to nab her Leading Actress award, said her award goes to “all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight”, adding: “Dreams do come true. Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime.”
At the start of the night, Ke Huy Quan gave a hugely emotional speech upon winning Supporting Actor. “My journey started on a boat,” he said. “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 is the American dream!" He also thanked “my Goonies brother for life, Jeff Cohen”. Shortly after, Jamie Lee Curtis won Supporting Actress. “I know it looks like I’m standing up here by myself, but I’m not. I’m hundreds of people,” she said, shouting out her collaborators and loved ones – including the Daniels and “my bae, Michelle”.
Elsewhere, the comeback of Brendan Fraser was secured when he bagged Leading Actor for The Whale. “So this is what the multiverse looks like!” he said as he held the award aloft, teary-eyed. While Everything Everywhere won the most awards of the night, it was also a big evening for All Quiet On The Western Front, bagging four trophies: International Feature Film, Original Score, Production Design, and Cinematography. “This means so much to us,” director Edward Berger said when collecting International Feature, thanking his star Felix Kammerer in particular. “This was your first movie, and you carried us on your shoulders as if it was nothing. Without you, none of us would be here.”
While The Whale won two awards (Makeup & Hairstyling, as well as Brendan Fraser’s victory), it was an even spread elsewhere with the other awarded films getting one trophy each. Sarah Polley nabbed Adapted Screenplay for Women Talking (“I want to thank the Academy for not being mortally offended by the words ‘Women’ and ‘Talking’ being so close together like that,” she joked), while Avatar: The Way Of Water got Visual Effects recognition. Top Gun: Maverick picked up Sound, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever won Costume Design for Ruth E. Carter’s work, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio came out on top in Animated Feature Film.
There was a victory, too, for RRR – which won Original Song for fan-favourite ‘Naatu Naatu’, which received an extraordinarily energetic rendition on the stage through the show. In fact, there were great musical interludes all round, with Lady Gaga giving an emotional, stripped-back performance of Maverick ballad ‘Hold My Hand’, David Byrne donning hotdog hands for EEAAO song ‘This Is A Life’, and Rihanna showing up for a spine-tingling run at ‘Lift Me Up’ from Wakanda Forever, dedicated to Chadwick Boseman. Plus, the audience sang, ‘Happy Birthday’ to star James Martin of Oscar-winning Live Action Short Film An Irish Goodbye, during its winning speech.
That meant no wins for Austin Butler, Steven Spielberg or Cate Blanchett – and, in perhaps the biggest surprise, no wins whatsoever for The Banshees Of Inisherin. Although, Colin Farrell did look like he’d won when Jenny The Donkey was brought on stage, the actor beaming at his furry co-star. For more on the wildest moments of the evening – from an appearance by Cocaine Bear, to an emotional John Travolta introducing the In Memoriam segment, to host Jimmy Kimmel ‘parachuting’ onto the stage – read Empire’s live blog of the ceremony.
But if there’s anything to take from this year’s Oscars, it’s that something as bold, brilliant, and butt-plug-filled as Everything Everywhere All At Once managed to win big at Hollywood’s starriest night – a film that’s beloved, but far from typical Oscar fare, not released in the usual Oscar window, and an unapologetic genre-centric work. And finally, it offered recognition for its predominantly-Asian cast, making for some extraordinary belated but groundbreaking wins. Every multiversal reality is celebrating right now.
Read the full list of winners here:
BEST PICTURE
All Quiet On The Western Front
Avatar: The Way Of Water
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Fabelmans
TÁR
Top Gun: Maverick
Triangle Of Sadness
Women Talking
DIRECTING
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Schienert – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans
Todd Field – TÁR
Ruben Östlund – Triangle Of Sadness
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Austin Butler – Elvis
Colin Farrell – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Paul Mescal – Aftersun
Bill Nighy – Living
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett – TÁR
Ana de Armas – Blonde
Andrea Riseborough – To Leslie
Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Bryan Tyree Henry – Causeway
Judd Hirsch – The Fabelmans
Barry Keoghan – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Hong Chau – The Whale
Kerry Condon – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All At Once
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
All Quiet On The Western Front
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Living
Top Gun: Maverick
Women Talking
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Fabelmans
TÁR
Triangle Of Sadness
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
All Quiet On The Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Close
EO
The Quiet Girl
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Marcel The Shell With Shoes On
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
The Sea Beast
Turning Red
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
All That Breathes
All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
Fire Of Love
A House Made Of Splinters
Navalny
COSTUME DESIGN
Babylon
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris
SOUND
All Quiet On The Western Front
Avatar: The Way Of Water
The Batman
Elvis
Top Gun: Maverick
ORIGINAL SCORE
All Quiet On The Western Front
Babylon
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Fabelmans
ORIGINAL SONG
Tell It Like A Woman: ‘Applause’ – Diane Warren
Top Gun: Maverick: ‘Hold My Hand’ – Lady Gaga
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: ‘Lift Me Up’ – Rihanna
RRR: ‘Naatu Naatu’
Everything Everywhere All At Once: This Is A Life’ – Son Lux, Mitski, David Byrne
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
All Quiet On The Western Front
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
The Whale
PRODUCTION DESIGN
All Quiet On The Western Front
Avatar: The Way Of Water
Babylon
Elvis
The Fabelmans
FILM EDITING
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All At Once
TÁR
Top Gun: Maverick
CINEMATOGRAPHY
All Quiet On The Western Front
Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths
Elvis
Empire Of Light
TÁR
VISUAL EFFECTS
All Quiet On The Western Front
Avatar: The Way Of Water
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Top Gun: Maverick
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
The Elephant Whisperers
Haulout
How Do You Measure A Year?
The Martha Mitchell Effect
Stranger At The Gate
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
An Irish Goodbye
Ivalu
Le Pupille
Night Ride
The Red Suitcase
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse
The Flying Sailor
Ice Merchants
My Year Of Dicks
An Ostrich Told Me The World Is Fake And I Think I Believe It