*Contains spoilers
I walked into the theaters expecting to be shocked, to be forcefully pulled into the film like a heavy stone falling off a cliff with me tied to it with rope — as I’ve been told by my friend who told me about it. “It’s a lot,” she told me over brunch cocktails. And she was right; the movie manifested itself to what it’s titled.
Directed by the Daniels who also directed Swiss Army Man, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, this science-fiction, romance, drama, adventure, coming-of-age film truly is Everything, Everywhere, All at Once and embodies similar characteristics to the multiverse that the Marvel Cinematic Universe explores (so much so, I mistook it as a Marvel film). However, there are more philosophical nuances that make it more than just a commercial blockbuster (the film was produced by indie cult classic production company A24), and it includes an all-Asian cast that’s not just a diversity token.
A laundromat owner, Evelyn Wang (played by the iconic Michelle Yeoh), is frustrated as she tries to complete her taxes; she’s overwhelmed by the stacking bills and her husband’s failing business. When she goes for an audit with an IRS agent, she gets sucked into a multiverse where she meets her husband, Waymond (played by the Goonies actor Ke Huy Quan), but this version is from a different universe known as the “Alpha universe” in which he is “Alpha Waymond.” She is dragged into his mission where they must defeat the Jobu Tupaki, a powerful being who is able to see and access all the parallel universes imaginable and is planning to create an “everything bagel of truth” that has the potential to destroy all the universes.
The idea of the bagel and its circular shape is representative of “the circle of life” which we see throughout the film and essentially in the everything bagel — New York City’s favorite meal. The everything bagel embodied the truth of life, which this movie presents as the nihilistic notion that nothing matters because we’re all going to die anyway, no matter the direction the universe goes. The moral of the story that Evelyn teaches us at the end is that even though we go through the circle of life like an endless roundabout and even though sometimes it doesn’t amount to anything much (Evelyn never reached her full potential and realized her dreams and goals in the universe we see), the important thing is to find meaning in the experiences and moments we take for granted sometimes. Like cherishing your lover in the parallel universe where humans have hot-dogs for hands, or savoring the moment to be just a rock, or even your relationships with your husband and family.
Other than the hilarious and action-packed punches throughout the film, another aspect that I deeply respect is the all Asian cast — and it’s not for the purposes of just being Asian. I feel that this film is meant to show how Asian actors are great at what they do. They aren’t just hired because they are Asian, but because they are great actors. Michelle Yeoh did an amazing job at portraying Evelyn and jumping between parallel universes and with her past experience in filming Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger and playing the Aunt in Shang-Chi. She also did an incredible job with the action scenes and the fighting routines — in which she performs her own stunts.
I absolutely loved Stephanie Hsu’s portrayal of the villainous Eleanor Wang, reminiscent of a representation of a possessed demon as she switches between parallel Eleanors. My favorite scene of Eleanor is when she faces her mother and reveals herself to be Jobu Tupaki; as she’s slowly walking towards Evelyn, she defeats the cops that try to stop her through a series of funny and colorful cuts (she mockingly falls and pretends to be hurt after she took a shot of a bullet, only to reveal that it was hot sauce and not blood). The editing was phenomenal and the film’s editor, Paul Rogers, amazingly sewed the pieces together to form a vibrant and intricate quilt.
Overall, I highly recommend Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. Original story, great editing and directing and a cast that brought to life a funny, emotional, dramatic, action-filled story of a mother and daughter navigating their relationship and finding the meaning of life through what they have.