In many ways, the 95th Academy Awards was the most predictable of award ceremonies since Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) has been wowing critics and raking in the prizes since its release last year. The film had 11 nominations and won seven awards at this year’s Oscars, becoming the most-awarded Best Picture winner since Slumdog Millionaire (2008). There were, of course, other winners too and if you haven’t managed to catch up with everything that went home with a trophy, we’ve got you covered.
While they haven’t showed up on OTT platforms yet,The Whale (2022), which won Best Actor In A Leading Role (Brendan Fraser) and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Avatar: The Way of Water, which won Best Visual Effects, both played in Indian theatres. Women Talking, which won Best Original Screenplay, is yet to receive either a theatrical or a streaming release. Navalny, winner of Best Documentary Feature, is also yet to be picked up by a streaming service. Here’s everything else you can find online:
Won: Best Picture, Best Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress In A Leading Role (Michelle Yeoh), Best Actress In A Supporting Role (Jamie Lee Curtis), Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Ke Huy Quan), Best Film Editing
Streaming on: SonyLIV
What it’s about: A Chinese immigrant who just wants to do her taxes finds out that the fate of the multiverse is in her hands.
What we said about it: “Everything Everywhere All At Once punctuates its existential poignancy with childish, absurd and freeing humour. The multiverse plays out as a glorious, indulgent fantasy, moulding the ashamed and unfulfilled Evelyn into a kung-fu-master-turned-filmstar (no doubt a hat-tip to Yeoh’s career as an action star in Hong Kong cinema), a Teppanyaki chef, a blind opera singer whom her father is proud of, a pizza shop sign flipper and even a rock.” Read the rest of our review here.
Won: Best Original Song
Streaming on: Netflix, ZEE5, Disney+ Hotstar
What it’s about: A revolutionary and an officer in the British force team up to take down the British Raj.
What we said about it: “It’s fully committed masala storytelling, where the ravishing waltzes with the ridiculous, and where the build-up is so basic that it gets the audience craving the inevitable release.” Read the rest of our review here.
Won: Best Sound
Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video
What it’s about: An ageing fighter pilot must train a group of younger recruits for a dangerous, top-secret mission.
What we said about it: “Top Gun: Maverick is as much about the thrill of the moment as it is about the weight of the past. The film propels itself forward furiously, hitting Mach speeds higher than ever thought possible, but that doesn't mean it doesn't occasionally look over its shoulder at what it's left behind.” Read the rest of our review here.
Won: Best Costume Design
Streaming on: Disney+ Hotstar
What it’s about: With their ruler dead, the kingdom of Wakanda must pull itself together and fend off an attack from the fictional kingdom of Talokan.
What we said about it: “For all the time it spends on the surface world, the franchise’s oceanic undertow of grief has never been stronger.” Read the rest of our review here.
Won: Best International Feature Film, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Production Design
Streaming on: Netflix
What it’s about: An idealistic young man discovers the horrors of war when he enlists in the army during the first World War.
Won: Best Animated Feature Film
Streaming on: Netflix
What it’s about: A carpenter who’s lost his son carves a replacement made of wood, only to discover that he’s been brought to life by a benevolent spirit.
What we’ve said about Guillermo del Toro: “In del Toro's films, monsters are as real as fascist regimes and wars, and a whole lot of fun. They have incredible details, ideas and backstories, even when they appear for a few seconds.” Read the rest of our article here.
Won: Best Documentary Short Subject
Streaming on: Netflix
What it’s about: A couple raise two baby elephants in Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai National Park.
Streaming on: Apple TV+
Won: Best Animated Short Film
What it’s about: A boy, a mole, a fox, and a horse forge a friendship as they travel together in the search for a home for the boy.