Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
Mind-boggling multiversal musings ultimately take a backseat to an emotional family tale in this must see movie.
Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), an aging Chinese immigrant whose laundry business is under audit from the IRS, and whose husband is on the cusp of serving her divorce papers, is swept up in an insane adventure. Her husband suddenly changes in an elevator; his personality is different, but his face and body are the same. The new person in her husband’s body connects her to her other selves in the multiverse, and ultimately reveals to her a great danger that only she alone can defeat to save everyone across those universes. Evelyn must connect with her other lives across those universes - the lives she could have led - to defeat this great evil, and in doing so has to reckon with the choices she has made during her life, and where she has ended up.
Directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (the Daniels), Everything Everywhere All At Once is a really difficult movie to describe; both in terms of the plot, which is intricate, imaginative and convoluted (and best revealed to the cinemagoer in film, with as little foreknowledge as possible), and in terms of the story’s effect on the viewer. There’s something transformational and deeply introspective about this piece, despite its larger than life elements, which makes it really rock you when you see it.
Visually, there’s a lot on display here, and the creative team takes full advantage of the fantastic nature of the story by delivering some really creative and engaging effects. Whether it’s hot dog fingers, feet playing a piano, glitter explosions, a bagel with everything, or just some A+ fight choreography, there’s literally never a dull moment in the movie.
Emotionally, the film hits even harder in those moments when it slows down. The climax of the piece is truly beautiful, and engaging, and you may well shed a tear as this woman comes firstly to grips with her life, and secondly to the realization that the most important part of it has been, and will continue to be, her family.
Indeed, the Daniels understand their audience and trust them enough to infuse the emotionality of these sequences without berating us with it. A wistful look from Evelyn’s husband at an older couple sharing a moment of tenderness shows us he’s missing that in his own life, and longing for it. Evelyn’s subtle interactions with her daughter’s girlfriend show us the impact of a cultural and generational divide, rather than telling us. For a movie that’s big on bombastic, pop-culture referencing action sequences, it succeeds most in the smaller, intimate moments, and that is entirely down to the trust that the creative team places in the audience.
Michelle Yeoh is the standout here without a doubt, bringing a pathos (as well as her mighty martial arts skills) to the piece that helps to ground the more fantastical elements of the story. Shout outs must also go to Jamie Lee Curtis in a fun, against type role, and Ke Huy Quan as the beautiful husband Waymond Wang.
One of the most powerful sequences of the film sees Evelyn, coming to terms with her own disregard of other people’s happiness, defeat an onslaught of assailants by giving them just what they want in their heart of hearts; be that love, acceptance, a hearty meal, or whatever it may be. It’s one of those sequences that stays with you. It’s a brief segment not only conveying the shared humanity of all of us, but also focusing on the small things, telling us it’s OK to take something small for ourselves, OK to want, and OK to live in this moment. As an allegory for this film, it also serves to remind us to take that time, to luxuriate in the story on display, and to ultimate forgo the glitz and glam and bonkers action of the piece in favor for what we really need, and what this film really offers; a chance to feel.
