Vanessa Cole

For many years, there had been a certain belief about the Academy Awards, that the nimble ones would always honor the safest films and let the best pictures (read: the more prestigious, more emotionally resonant ones) go unrecognized save for their nominations. But no more! A slew of really good Oscars winners in the night's top category of Best Picture has emerged over the past half-decade or so. Moonlight, Parasite, and Nomadland?All great films! And so we arrived at 2023, where an incredibly inventive and dazzling film like Everything Everywhere at All Once is not just nominated, but also selected to win the largest Oscar of the night as a result of a lot of chatter and other major awards awards. That's pretty cool, dude. It's also cool that no one knows if it'll happen. Another snapshot, perhaps a thief underdog, could swoop in and nab Best Picture, which may have been something that EEAAO may not have even considered just a few years ago.

If any film in the last five years has taught us anything, it's to believe the multiverse. Therefore, there is a certain timeline in which Everything Everything Everything At Once — the lovable and spirited sci-fi from writer-director team Daniels' award-winning Academy Awards this year — hasn't received 11 nominations. We're lucky to live in this universe. And the EEAAO gained those coveted accolades in the top categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role (for Ke Huy Quan), and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (for co-star Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu).