‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ bolsters awards season run with Critics Choice triumph

Everything Everywhere All At Once was named best picture at the 28th annual Critics Choice Awards on Sunday night and led the film category with five wins.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won best director and original screenplay honours after they picked up a DGA nod last week, while Oscar frontrunner Ke Huy Quan took the supporting actor prize and Paul Rogers won for editing.

The awards show, hosted by Chelsea Handler at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, confirms the adventure comedy’s credentials as a major Oscar threat; one that joins last week’s two Golden Globes best picture winners The Fabelmans and The Banshees Of Inisherin among an elite club of three that is pulling away from the pack in the Oscar race.

The Daniels’ film has been a popular critics group winner and shared with Tár  the top prize bestowed by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association last month. Everything Everywhere All At Once also earned a PGA nomination last week alongside The Fabelmans and Banshees.

The Critics Choice Association named Cate Blanchett its best actress for Tár and Brendan Fraser best actor for The Whale – both favourites are for the Academy Award and SAG Awards nominees in their categories. Angela Bassett repeated her Globes success in the best supporting actress category with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and is also a SAG nominee whose stock has risen of late.

Sarah Polley won the best adapted screenplay prize for Women Talking in a timely fillip for her prospects heading into the WGA nominations announcement on January 25. (Online nominations voting ends on January 23.) Telugu feature RRR was named best foreign language film and won best song for ‘Naatu Naatu’, as it did at the Globes.

John Goodman presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to his The Big Lebowski compadre Jeff Bridges, and Kate Hudson presented the SeeHer Award to her Glass Onion co-star Janelle Monáe, honouring a woman who advocates for gender equality, portrays characters with authenticity, defies stereotypes and pushes boundaries.

2023 Critics Choice Awards film winners 

Best Picture
Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)

Best Actor
Brendan Fraser – The Whale (A24)

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett – Tár (Focus Features)

Best Supporting Actor
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)

Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Best Young Actor
Gabriel LaBelle – The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)

Best Acting Ensemble
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)

Best Director
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)

Best Original Screenplay
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Sarah Polley – Women Talking (United Artists Releasing)

Best Cinematography
Claudio Miranda – Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)

Best Production Design
Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino – Babylon (Paramount Pictures)

Best Editing
Paul Rogers – Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)

Best Costume Design
Ruth E. Carter – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney Studios Motion Pictures) 

Best Hair And Makeup
Elvis (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Best Visual Effects
Avatar: The Way Of Water (20th Century Studios)

Best Comedy
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)

Best Animated Feature
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix)

Best Foreign Language Film
RRR (Sarigama Cinemas)

Best Song
Naatu Naatu – RRR (Sarigama Cinemas)

Best Score
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Tár (Focus Features).

• Jessie Buckley on ‘Women Talking’, her singing career and being ‘naughty’ with Olivia Colman