Everything Everywhere All at Once follows Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) through the chaotic multiverse of what-ifs on her quest to save the world. Evelyn’s life is falling apart. She and her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), are on the brink of divorce and their laundromat is failing and being audited by the IRS. Her disapproving father, Gong Gong (James Hong), is visiting for Lunar New Year while her daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu), wants her lifestyle and girlfriend to be accepted by her mother.
While in the IRS building, Waymond suddenly changes personalities and is now Alpha Waymond, from Evelyn’s Alpha-verse. Alpha Waymond tells Evelyn about the parallel universes and that she’s the only one that can stop an evil villain, Jobu Tupaki. What follows is a quickly-paced journey through the multiverse to collect skills from her other lives in order to defeat Jobu. Evelyn’s diverse multiverse allows her to tap into various skills that make her perfect for fighting the story’s villain. The Evelyn chosen to save the world is ideal because she never succeeded at anything and is completely ordinary.
The Daniels directing duo, Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, wrote and directed an interesting film. There were some cringy parts to it but the visuals were stunning, and the unique camera angles were very engaging. They did invent a great multiverse concept and the rules of it make sense. You can tell a lot of thought went into its mechanics, which is refreshing, considering a multiverse is usually an excuse for lazy storytelling (cough, cough Marvel).
The cast was the best part of the film. I’ve always admired Michelle Yeoh since going with my dad to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) when it was released. I was into martial arts at the time and seeing a woman on screen, holding her own and completely dominating was incredible. She was excellent in this film too; bouncing between different versions of Evelyn with ease. This film proves that Yeoh isn’t just an exceptional martial artist but also a great actress.
I would just like to say, welcome back, Ke Huy Quan. Best known for The Goonies and Indiana Jones, his return after twenty-plus years was great. Like Yeoh, his multiverse shifts were flawless; from the long-suffering, caring husband to the dashing businessman, it was truly impressive. He and Yeoh had excellent chemistry and really sold the idea that they were best when together throughout the multiverse.
Now, full disclosure, I didn’t really like the film. There was just something about it that didn’t click with me. I can see why this film is appealing to people and is getting rave reviews. This is one of those situations where I recognize that the film is good and would recommend seeing it because it’s something different. Still, I wouldn’t personally watch it again.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is due to be released in the UK May 2022
8.9
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I’m a Data Analyst, from the land of Matthew McConaughey. I’m an avid movie-goer and love seeing films in theaters. My most recent favorite films are Good Time, Only Lovers Left Alive, TENET, and England is Mine. When I’m not at the movies, I’m either reading or watching obscene amount of true crime and historical documentaries.
