A24 completes its year-long awards victory lap, dominating the Oscars with winning the top prize, along with many others.

Written by Samwel Rasheed Tan
March 14, 2023

A24’s Everything, Everywhere All At Once ended the 95th Academy Awards in top form bagging Best Picture, it dominated the awards night altogether— also garnering wins in Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing getting the most wins during the night. 

“This is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that dreams dream big, and dreams do come true,” said Michelle Yeoh in a moving speech as she won Best Actress. Beating Andrea Riseborough, Ana de Armas, and giants like Michelle Williams, and Cate Blanchett. Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win the award. 

Both Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan cemented their comebacks after winning the Best Actor and Best Supporting awards respectively. Fraser, whose performance from The Whale, another A24 film, emerged victorious amongst a stacked category, beating benchmark performances of Paul Mescal, Colin Farrell, Bill Nighy, and Austin Butler. 

Ke Huy Quan on the other hand, who played the husband to Yeoh’s Evelyn, was met with a standing ovation during his emotional speech after winning the Best Supporting Actor award. “Mom, I just won an Oscar,” the 51-year-old actor said in tears, harking back to both his immigrant journey and triumphant return to acting. Quan has won all awards season long, having a Golden Globe, Critics Choice, SAG, and now, an Oscar to celebrate his return. 

Quan and Yeoh’s co-star, Jamie Lee Curtis pulled off the upset of the night by taking home the Best Supporting Actress Award. Winning over Golden Globe winner Angela Bassett, and BAFTA winner Kerry Condon, who were the favorites for the award. 

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known as the Daniels, took both the Best Original Screenplay and Best Director(s) for their work on the Best Picture winning film. They were joined in the screenplay category by Sarah Polley as she won the Best Adapted Screenplay award. 

Netflix didn’t crack the coveted top award but they still won big with Best International Film, Original Score, Production Design and Cinematography for All Quiet On The Western Front, Best Animated Feature for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and in the documentary short category with The Elephant Whisperers. 

Amidst the ongoing invasion of Russia on Ukraine, the Academy voters found it fitting to award the Best Documentary Feature to Navalny. A documentary that entails the life of Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. "My husband is in prison just for telling the truth. My husband is in prison just for defending democracy," wife of the film subject, Yulia Navalnaya, said in her speech upon accepting the award. 

Indian song sensation Naatu Naatu from RRR won the Best Original Song over songs of Hollywood giants Rihanna and Lady Gaga. Their performance received a standing ovation, the song is the first win of Indian production to win such an award. 

Further, comedian talk show host Jimmy Kimmel tried to offset the looming shadow of the Will Smith controversy at the previous Oscars with an opening act as a tribute to Top Gun: Maverick along with his signature humor. 

“If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any point in the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech,” the comedian remarked, making fun of the situation. 

A24 ended the night in high spirits with their Best Picture win, becoming the first simultaneously becoming the first studio to sweep the major acting categories.

Samwel Rasheed Tan is a fourth-year student currently taking BA Communication (Convergent Media) at Far Eastern University. His creative specialty lies in media analysis and arts writing. He is currently an intern for Art+ Magazine and is expected to graduate from his degree this coming July.