- Directors: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
- Writers: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
- Stars: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr.
- Release Date: March 25, 2022
Everything Everywhere All at Once Trailer
Overview
When it comes to Everything Everywhere All at Once, there is one thing that should not come as a surprise: the film writes an absurdly large check and then manages to cash every last penny of it. Because after all, the film is directed by the Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), the creative geniuses behind Swiss Army Man, a film about a man who becomes friends with a semi-sentient corpse that actually worked.
It’s true that the film’s flawless ambition to delivery ratio won’t come as a surprise, but almost everything else about it most certainly will. All of the action revolves around Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a jaded, middle-aged laundromat proprietor who may or may not be involved in a minor tax fraud scheme. When her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), or at least a version of him, alerts her to the existence of the multiverse while riding in the elevator to an IRS meeting, her mundane, repetitive life is thrown into complete disarray. As a result of his explanation, Jobu Tupaki, a powerful villain, is in the process of constructing an interdimensional destructive force that only Evelyn is capable of halting.
As a result, Evelyn reluctantly embarks on a journey through the multiverse. Here are the facts: There are an infinite number of universes that exist at the same time, each of which contains almost any type of matter or energy you can think of. The rules are as follows: It is necessary to imagine a universe in which you are capable of acquiring different skills, whether it is inhumanly strong pinky fingers or mastery of knife-fighting. (If you can conjure it up, it probably exists.) So what follows is roughly 140 frenetic minutes that are jam-packed full of dense, complex science, vibrant setpieces, and scenes that feel like they’ve been plucked straight out of dreams that are far too abstract to be described in any detail. Everyone knows that Everything is not dissimilar to its title—and that there is a lot to take in and process while watching the film.
In fact, it is clear from the moment the multiverse begins to operate and Evelyn is thrust into a frantic split-screen-style consciousness that seamlessly transitions between an IRS meeting and the janitorial closet where she is called to action that the Daniels isn’t the least bit concerned about the possibility that they will overload their viewers. It takes them no time at all to begin exploring the outer reaches of the universe through a series of dizzying montages, while liberally dousing the proceedings with a generous number of allusions to classic films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix, and various Wong Kar-wai productions. This exorbitant level of self-assurance is a welcome change. Just letting go of control and strapping themselves into a rollercoaster seat and trusting that the ride will take them somewhere magical is all that’s required of the viewer. That is exactly what happens.
If all of this sounds intimidating (and, let’s be honest, how could it not? ), rest assured that Everything is grounded by an effortlessly simple emotional throughline that runs throughout the story. In fact, the film contains as much emotional maturity as it does cool concepts and ostentatious images, which is a rare combination (yes, including a giant butt plug and raccoon chef). A story about love and family is at the heart of it, carried by the dazzling Yeoh in a subtle and unsentimental performance that captures the essence of the material. Evelyn discovers that the concept of a single choice having the potential to alter the course of one’s entire life is inherent in parallel universes. As she recalls the moment she and Waymond decided to get married, tears well up in her eyes as she remembers how her parents rejected her for making the decision. The Daniels ask us, through these flashbacks, if we had the opportunity to see our lives play out in a different way, would we dare to look?
Due to the fact that Evelyn is given so much complexity, the film’s emotional epicenter benefits greatly. From Evelyn’s cruelty to her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) and flippancy toward Waymond, to her generally harried demeanor and unmatched comic timing, Evelyn serves the film well. This ensures that when she is finally granted a genuine moment of emotional catharsis, accompanied by swelling strings and neon mood lighting, she does not feel as if the Daniels are overplaying their hand. In a similar vein, IRS inspector Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis) proves to be far more than your typical villain, and she is given numerous opportunities to explore her humanity throughout the multiverse.
When it comes to emotional undertones and themes, Everything manages to maintain remarkable control for a film that is genuinely about everything everywhere at the same time. There is a sense that Evelyn is on a journey, not to comprehend the vastness of the universe but to reconcile her own place within it, whenever she flips from one verse to another when she flips from one verse to another. And, for such a significant undertaking, the mission appears to be extraordinarily straightforward.
It’s difficult to make a movie about the multiverse because there are so many possibilities. It’s even more difficult to make a film about the meaning of one’s life. The Daniels manages to pull off both feats in a manner that seems almost miraculous. Everything is a wild, loose brainstorm of all of the pieces that could possibly be put together in a film about the multiverse, and it is exactly that. The possibilities include a universe in which everyone has hot dogs as finger food, a universe in which Ratatouille is set in the present day but with a raccoon as the protagonist, and a universe in which a lengthy, subtitled scene takes place between two talking rocks. No one of these elements feels out of place, and in fact, it appears as if the film wouldn’t be able to function properly without them.
In the same way that Evelyn’s relationship with her family serves as the film’s emotional throughline, the film’s visual thread manifests as a series of hypnotic, vertiginous action sequences choreographed like a ballet by Andy and Brian Le. This sequence also serves as a reminder of Yeoh’s iconic performance in Ang Lee’s wuxia classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The Daniels had their work cut out for them when it came to capturing this spectacular event on film. However, with the assistance of Swiss Army Man cinematographer Larkin Seiple, they were able to capture the sense of wonder that Evelyn experiences as she watches these infinite new verses unfold before her eyes. The directors are not afraid to employ dizzying flashing lights or rapidly shifting light sources that cause the viewer to become disoriented. Aside from that, they aren’t afraid to use over-the-top imagery, such as the explosion of confetti from someone’s head or a butt-naked man flying in slow-motion toward the camera. Paul Rogers’ meticulous editing makes the transition between verses feel seamless, and the effortless way in which different aspect ratios blend into one another adds to the overall seamlessness of the film.
Can you really have everything everywhere at the same time? If Everything Everywhere All at Once could be reduced to a single, simple question, it would be a reflection of its own title: Can you really have everything everywhere all at once? Whatever the characters’ responses ultimately turn out to be (I’ll leave that to your imagination), I am confident that the Daniels would respond with a resounding yes, of course you can.
