The multiverse reigns supreme at Oscars as Everything Everywhere dominates, Canadians win big

Everything Everywhere All At Once entered the 2023 Oscars on Sunday with a leading 11 nominations and took home seven after an intense awards season, and an evening far removed from the drama-filled one last year.

The German anti-war drama All Quiet on the Western Front — another ambitious epic, albeit of wildly different stripe — was second with the most Academy Award wins with four.

During an era of streaming domination, Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel nodded to the movie-going experience in his monologue at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. He congratulated the evening's nominees for "the films you worked so hard to make, the way you intended them to be seen — in a theatre."

After last year's chaotic show was overshadowed by best-actor winner Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock on stage, this year's event was driven by the personalities of each category during a relatively muted evening.

First-time nominees ruled the acting categories, with best-actor winner Brendan Fraser winning for The Whale and Michelle Yeoh triumphing as best actress for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once.

If you're wondering about the elephant in the room, Kimmel pulled no slaps — er, punches — while indirectly addressing the Smith-Rock controversy. Smith slapped Chris Rock, who was presenting the Oscar for best documentary feature, after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Later in the show, Will Smith was named best actor for King Richard.

In reference to the slap, Kimmel deadpanned Sunday: "If anyone in this theatre commits an act of violence at any point during the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech." 

Several of the year's most acclaimed movies went home empty-handed, notably The Fabelmans, Elvis and The Banshees of Inisherin, which were all nominated for best picture and failed to pick up wins in other categories.

An emotional moment came early as Everything Everywhere All at Once's Ke Huy Quan, widely accepted as the front-runner for best supporting actor, won after an intense awards season during which he often referenced the challenges he faced working in Hollywood after a decade of child stardom.

When his career tapered off, he feared he'd never work as an actor again — until Everything Everywhere came along almost 40 years later.

"Mom, I just won an Oscar," Quan said during his acceptance speech, weeping as he addressed his 84-year-old mother, who was watching from home. The actor had plenty of Oscars acceptance speech practice over the past year, having won the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild Award and the Critics Choice Award, and other major and critics circle awards. 

"They say stories like this only happen in the movies," Quan said during his big moment Sunday. "I cannot believe it's happening to me. This is the American dream."

His co-star, Malaysian actor Michelle Yeoh, took the award for best actress after a tight race against heavyweights like Cate Blanchett (Tár) and Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans).

While Yeoh has had a successful career in Hong Kong cinema, she has spoken of her struggle to gain acceptance in Hollywood, turning down stereotypical roles for Asian women, and facing racism and ageism. Everything Everywhere stars Yeoh as a struggling Chinese immigrant mother who is thrown into a wild multiverse where only she can save humanity's existence.