Irish talent hopes for Oscar success against Everything Everywhere All At Once

The sci-fi epic, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, won top honors at the Film Independent Spirit Awards and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, making it the clear winner of the Oscars.

The thriller, in which a family is torn apart by an interdimensional rift, heads into the Academy Awards with 11 nominations, including leading actress Michelle Yeoh and supporting actor Ke Huy Quan.

Martin McDonagh’s dark Irish comedy is the most Oscar-nominated Irish film of all time, with nine nominations ahead of Sunday’s show.

All four main stars of the film; Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon received best actor awards alongside McDonagh for best director.

Farrell joins Elvis’ Austin Butler and The Whale star Brendan Fraser for Best Actor, along with veteran British actor Bill Nighy for Living and Irish actor Paul Mescal for coming-of-age drama Aftersun.

Meanwhile, English actress Andrea Riseborough is nominated for Best Actress for her work in To Leslie and takes on front-runner Cate Blanchett for Tar and Yeoh after a grassroots awards campaign.

Riseborough’s surprise nomination in that category sparked an investigation by the Academy, which found the campaign tactics employed had “raised concern” but not enough to retract her nod.

Michelle Williams is also a contender for Best Actress after being removed from the Best Supporting Actor categories in recognition of her performance as Steven Spielberg’s mother in The Fabelmans.

In the coveted Best Picture category, All Quiet On The Western Front sits alongside The Fabelmans, Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Banshees Of Inisherin.

The German film recently won seven prizes at the Bafta Film Awards.

Other contenders include the blockbuster sequels Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way Of Water, as well as Tar, Elvis, Women Talking, and Triangle Of Sadness.

US comedian Jimmy Kimmel will host the 95th annual ceremony at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday.

He previously joked that the decision to have a champagne colored carpet this year “shows how confident we are that no blood will be spilled” – referring to Will Smith’s now infamous slap in the face at the 2022 Oscars.

Academy executive Bill Kramer previously said a “crisis team” would be introduced at this year’s show to mitigate “potential surprises.”

Throughout the night a number of famous faces will take to the stage to present their duties including British stars Hugh Grant, Florence Pugh, Riz Ahmed and Emily Blunt.

Other presenters include Nicole Kidman, Andrew Garfield, Halle Berry, Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael B. Jordan, Troy Kotsur, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, and Dwayne Johnson.

Rihanna, who is pregnant with her second child, will perform her Oscar-nominated song “Lift Me Up” from Marvel’s blockbuster sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, while Grammy-winning US rock star Lenny Kravitz will perform during the In Memoriam -Segments of the ceremony will occur.