Everything Everywhere All At Once had a good night at the Golden Globes, with both Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh winning, for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actress in a Comedy, respectively.

 

For Quan, it’s a continuation of the feel-good film story of the year, his triumphant return to acting being capped off by an Oscar run (which he will likely win). His acceptance speech was also one of the most delightful of the night, as he got to thank Steven Spielberg for giving him his first job in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and EEAAO directors Daniels for giving him the job that restarted his acting career. It’s his whole journey in one room! That is a VERY everything bagel.

 

Michelle Yeoh gave a similarly moving speech, also discussing her journey and, particularly, how aging as a woman in Hollywood diminished her opportunities until EEAAO came along (and, really, Crazy Rich Asians before that). Unlike Quan, she has worked steadily throughout her adult life, and with some of the biggest directors in the East and the West, but even so, as she aged, things changed, never mind the hurdles she already faced as a “minority” in Hollywood (I love her pointing out that she’s not a minority, and that yes, she speaks English but how many Americans speak an Eastern language? Call out that solipsism!). 

 

She has an uphill battle against Cate Blanchett at the Oscars, but it’s hard to ignore the import of her final words: “This is also for all the shoulders that I stand on, all who came before me who look like me, and all who are going on this journey with me forward.” 

EEAAO is the little film that could of 2022, but whether or not it can crack the Academy’s genre bias is still a question. It’s certainly getting a big push, and again, Quan is a virtual lock for Best Supporting Actor, but the film is weird and offbeat, and can those cranky old Academy voters get with it? I don’t know. Maybe the Academy has shifted enough over the last few years to open up that path, but with more typical Oscar bait like The Fabelmans in play, nothing is certain. But at least last night, the EEAAO all stars Yeoh and Quan got their moment to celebrate.