GREENSBORO, N.C. — The A24 feature, Everything Everywhere All At Once, has had a momentous journey from oddball indie to Oscar winner within the span of almost exactly one year – seriously it was released in March of 2022 and won the Oscar for Best Picture in March of 2023. Its momentum is especially astounding as no film released that early in the year has won Best Picture since 1992’s Silence of the Lambs. This is a film worthy of celebration – it’s a movie that redefines the Oscars, and hopefully, redefines filmmaking in its entirety.
It's no secret that Everything Everywhere All At Once had the distinction of ranking #1 in News 2 Reviews favorite film of 2022, and with the Academy giving it 7 Oscars, it shows a sense of universality. Not only did it win Best Picture, it also walked away with Best Director, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Both Supporting Oscars, and Best Film Editing. This was a small budget movie that went the distance in a way that many other independent films could only dream of.
Releasing in theaters on March 25th, 2022, this genre-bending film quietly dropped in limited release for its first two weeks before getting a wider expansion. From there, Everything Everywhere began to capture the cultural zeitgeist through positive word of mouth. For 16 weeks, it remained in the box office top ten, ultimately making over $100 million dollars against a $25 million dollar budget, which resulted in it becoming the top grossing indie film of 2022 and, shockingly, the entire pandemic.
While most films would begin to subsequently fall off, Everything Everywhere kept its uncanny momentum going. In a sharply divided world of critics, audiences, and movie industry artists, it would still prove to be a universally accessible film even with its lovingly, unapologetic weirdness. Critics gave it rave reviews, audiences gave it their hard-earned dollars, and the industry gave it awards unseen for a film such as this. When the dust settled, IGN recently reported that Everything Everywhere All At Once blew past The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King as the singular most awarded film of all time across all award bodies.
You would be hard-pressed to find a similar Cinderella story of a Best Picture Oscar winner. In a category that has had past successes like West Side Story, The Godfather, Schindler’s List, Titanic, this movie is so refreshingly its own from all the others that it’s hard not to love. It has fans in all corners of the world and in all facets of life. That is how Everything Everywhere All At Once, a fantastical independent feature, became the most-acclaimed film of 2022.
Last year, News 2 Reviews reviewed Everything Everywhere All At Once and it was 2 Approved. Currently, you can buy or rent it on Blu-ray/DVD and digitally, and also stream it on Showtime.