Could a trippy multiverse comedy win everything everywhere this Oscar season?

Everything Everywhere All at Once was the big winner of Monday’s Gotham Independent Film Awards, the first major awards ceremony of this year’s Oscar race. The film, which stars Michelle Yeoh as a laundromat owner who fights a threat to the multiverse, won the top prize of Best Feature, and star Ke Huy Quan also won Outstanding Supporting Performance. 

Several films that won Best Feature at the Gotham Awards have gone on to also win Best Picture at the Oscars, including Birdman, Spotlight, Moonlight, and Nomadland. At the same time, the Gothams specifically honor independent films, meaning Everything Everywhere didn’t have to compete with this year’s presumed Best Picture frontrunner, Steven Speilberg’s The Fabelmans. 

Still, the wins provided the sci-fi comedy an early boost in momentum. While some experts initially thought Everything Everywhere might be a bit too offbeat for the Best Picture race, it is now widely predicted to be nominated. If the movie could pull off a shock win over Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film, this would be another year where the presumed frontrunner is defeated by an underdog after prior upset victories by CODA and Parasite.

Ke Huy Quan has also become an early frontrunner to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and he only improved his chances with an emotional Gotham Awards speech. “This time last year, all I was hoping for was just a job,” Quan said. “And just when I think it can’t get any better, it does.” Notably, last year’s winner in this category was CODA‘s Troy Kotsur, who went on to win the Oscar. 

Danielle Deadwyler also scored a surprise win in the Gotham’s non-gendered Outstanding Lead Performance category for Till, cementing her as one of the Oscars’ top Best Actress contenders. 

But there’s plenty of time remaining in the race, as the Oscar nominations won’t be announced until Jan. 24.