The ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Directors Read Their Worst Letterboxd Reviews

After all of the changes that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made to the criteria of each Oscar category, there’s one crucial rule they forgot to add for this year’s ceremonies — the director(s) of every Best Picture nominee must be compelled make a video for Letterboxd where they read all of their worst reviews on camera like “The Daniels” did for Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Before the directing duo of Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan learned that their surprise sci-fi hit had earned an astonishing 11 nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, they collaborated with the popular film-focused social media platform Letterboxd to make a “Celebrities Read Mean Tweets”-style promotional video in which The Daniels read aloud the best — and, more entertainingly, the worst — user reviews of Everything Everywhere All at Once.

The indie-up-and-comers-turned-box-office-heroes took some seriously slanderous reviews in stride as they thanked everyone who felt the need to post their opinions on the A24 megahit. Kwan reflected, “It's been a journey going from the little underdog darling to the most overrated bulls--- movie of the year.” 

In an industry dominated by artists with fragile egos and bloated self-importance, it’s refreshing to see two of the most celebrated directors in their field have the humility to laugh at themselves as they welcome any and all honest, insulting and misspelled feedback. To borrow a phrase from one of their reviewers, “That was so slay.”