Winning everything
Everything Everywhere All At Once (EEAAO) was a big winner at last night’s 95th Academy Awards, taking home a total of 7 Oscars including best picture, best director, best actress, best original screenplay, and more.
The movie, the second best picture winner from indie studio A24, was a standout favorite in some categories. Despite a relatively limited budget, EEAAO managed a solid showing in cinemas — grossing over $100 million worldwide — but also won gushing critical response too.
Agree to disagreeObviously being popular with both reviewers and audiences is a winning formula, but the Academy often gives the gong to movies that win more relative favor with critics, rather than big box office blockbusters.
That trend can be seen in data from Rotten Tomatoes, a website that aggregates movie reviews from everyday users and professional critics. Since 1990, just 8 best picture winners have been favored more by fans than critics, compared to 23 in the opposite direction, including EEAAO. Forrest Gump is the most extreme split between audiences and critics, with a 95% audience approval and only a 71% critic approval rating. 2018’s The Shape of Water was the opposite, with a 92% fresh rating amongst critics, but just 72% from viewers.
