And the two men who made it, directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, who have come to be known as "The Daniels," could take home trophies for writing, directing and producing this Best Picture nominee.
[Ads /]
"The title of the movie was the goal. Can we capture this feeling of kind of sensory overload, which is sort of how modern life feels to us," Scheinert said. "And it's very validating to have people say they felt the same way, that they watched our kind of crazy movie, but actually felt like it was relatable.
"I think anyone who has scrolled through a social media feed knows the feeling of everything, everywhere, all at once."
"And I think when you read a script like ours, when you say 'yes,' that is like jumping off a cliff and hoping you can build a parachute on the way down," said Kwan.
The Daniels say their stars threw themselves into the work, resulting in Oscar nominations for Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Szu and Ke Huy Quan, who dropped by during our interview.
"We did a Q&A one time and the reporter asked them, 'What do they want to do with their movies?' And they said 'We want to change the world,'" Quan said. "And then, very quickly knowing how difficult that is, they said, 'If our movie can change one life, then we would have accomplished what we set out to do.' Well, they did exactly that. They changed my life!"
[Ads /]
The film gave us the actor's now famous fight with a fanny pack, plenty of imagination and wonder.
"There's the Asian Americans who say they feel represented. But then there's the people who have ADHD, like myself, people who have anxiety, depression, the mothers, the daughters, there's so many different people who have seen themselves in this film," said Kwan. "And that's something that they keep saying to us. And it's the best. It's the best compliment we can get."