Daniel Kwan, left, and Daniel Scheinert accepting the best directing award for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
By KYLE BUCHANAN
It’s a three-way race.
The sci-fi hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” starring Michelle Yeoh as an immigrant mother who saves the multiverse, took top honors at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday night, joining “The Fabelmans” (which won the Golden Globe for best drama earlier in the week) and “The Banshees of Inisherin” (the Globe winner for best comedy or musical) as the three films to have won a major televised film award this Oscar season.
Those three films were also the only ones to earn top nominations last week from the producers, directors and acting guilds. The guild ceremonies won’t be held until the end of February, and since they share significant voter overlap with the academy, their winners could go all the way, as “CODA” did last year after it took the top PGA and SAG prizes. But until then, the race for best picture looks awfully competitive, with three very different theatrical features all in play.
“This award is dedicated to my dad, a Taiwanese immigrant who worked himself into an early grave,” said Jonathan Wang, a producer of “Everything Everywhere,” who held his statuette high and thanked “all the immigrant parents who would kill themselves for us immigrant children.”
Daniel Scheinert, who directed “Everything Everywhere” with Daniel Kwan, appeared gobsmacked upon taking the stage: “This is absurd,” exclaimed the filmmaker, who has said he never expected his film to turn into a significant awards contender. But “Everything Everywhere” notched several other significant wins at the Critics Choice Awards, with trophies handed to the film for its directing, editing and original screenplay. (The film had already tied the record for nominations from the group, with 14.)
And though Yeoh lost in the best-actress category, her “Everything Everywhere” co-star Ke Huy Quan won the supporting-actor trophy, as he has all awards season.
“I’m going to try real hard to not cry tonight,” said Quan, who is in the middle of a career comeback after first achieving fame as a child actor in “The Goonies” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”
Brendan Fraser referenced his own comeback while accepting the best actor award for “The Whale”: “I was in the wilderness, and I probably should have left a trail of breadcrumbs,” said the star, who fell on hard times after a leading-man era that included “The Mummy” and “George of the Jungle.” But like his character in “The Whale,” who struggles with his weight and self-worth, Fraser noted, “If you too can have the strength to just get to your feet and go to the light, good things can happen.”
Those moving moments gave the Critics Choice prizes some major oomph, although best-actress winner Cate Blanchett used her provocative speech to question the entire awards-show industrial complex, give shout-outs to other performers who weren’t nominated, and implore the powers that be, “Stop the televised horse race of it all!” Seconds later, her speech was interrupted by an orchestra eager to play her offstage.
Here is the full list of winners:
FILM
Best Picture
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Best Director
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Best Actor
Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, “Tár”
Best Supporting Actor
Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Best Young Actor or Actress
Gabriel LaBelle, “The Fabelmans”
Best Acting Ensemble
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
Best Original Screenplay
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Sarah Polley, “Women Talking”
Best Cinematography
Claudio Miranda, “Top Gun: Maverick”
Best Production Design
Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino, “Babylon”
Best Editing
Paul Rogers, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Best Costume Design
Ruth E. Carter, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Best Hair and Makeup
“Elvis”
Best Visual Effects
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
Best Comedy
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
Best Animated Feature
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
Best Foreign Language Film
“RRR”
Best Song
“Naatu Naatu,” “RRR”
Best Score
Hildur Gudnadóttir, “Tár”
TELEVISION
Best Drama Series
“Better Call Saul”
Best Actor in a Drama Series
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Best Actress in a Drama Series
Zendaya, “Euphoria”
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Giancarlo Esposito, “Better Call Saul”
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Jennifer Coolidge, “The White Lotus”
Best Comedy Series
“Abbott Elementary”
Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”
Best Actress in a Comedy Series
Jean Smart, “Hacks”
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Henry Winkler, “Barry”
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”
Best Limited Series
“The Dropout”
Best Movie Made for Television
“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”
Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Daniel Radcliffe, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”
Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Amanda Seyfried, “The Dropout”
Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Paul Walter Hauser, “Black Bird”
Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television
Niecy Nash-Betts, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”
Best Animated Series
“Harley Quinn”
Best Foreign Language Series
“Pachinko”
Best Comedy Special
“Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special”
Best Talk Show
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
SeeHer Award
Janelle Monáe
Lifetime Achievement Award
Jeff Bridges