Everything Everywhere All at Once - Review

By Niklas Müller

(PHOTO CREDIT: A24)

GRADE:A+

There is a certain level of fascination for multiverses going on right now. And why wouldn't there be one, I mean its never been explored in the capacity it is right now. We got the multiverse in full swing over at Marvel and now Indie studio A24 is trying to join the party too. One would think that the huge blockbuster franchise with the seemingly unlimited budget would come out on top, in this-so called-battle of the multiverses. Well, it doesn't. The Daniels (the masterful Filmmaking duo, that consists of Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, have been responsible for the crazy, albeit critically acclaimed film Swiss Army Man, which featured a farting corpse, that's the level of crazy we're working with here) have made a better film with Everything Everywhere All at Once, than Marvel could ever even come up with. The film blends the boundaries of what an Indie film (with limited budget, mind you) can be. Because if you do it like the Daniels, you can even have a talking raccoon in your film and it doesn't even have to be CGI. It is essentially very hard to write about EEAAO (what a perfect abbreviation, for a perfect film), without giving away too much, and you really don't wanna know that much going into this film. I'm still gonna try my best.

Evelyn (a career best performance from Michelle Yeoh) and Waymond (Ke Huy Quan plays so many different characters at once here, that it's hard not to marvel at the effortlessness he does it with) are a married couple, who own a laundromat which is conveniently being audited by the IRS. Specifically IRS officer Deirdre Beaubeidre (Jaime Lee Curtis is one of her best roles of the last couple of years). On the day of the meeting with Deirdre, Evelyn is being approached by another version of Waymond. This other Waymond tells her about a great threat, that is trying to destroy the multiverse, the Jobu Topaki (it'll blow people's minds when they find out who the Jobu Topaki is, truly magnificent writing). Evelyn is tasked to save the multiverse. Now that's where it gets interesting.

This isn't supposed to be some kind of superheroe or even Sci-fi film. Evelyn isn't supposed to become a superhero or something. The film makes that crystal clear from the start. Waymond tells her that she is "the one", not because she has some special abilities or because she knows how to defeat the Jobu Topaki. But rather because she is so fucking uninteresting, or rather even boring. She is literally living her worst possible life. Once our universes Waymond comes back, there's a line at some point, specifically from Evelyn that is so unapologetically honest: "I'm thinking about the life I could've had without you". In the first moment it's obviously a laugh out loud moment (my entire theater did so), but if you think about this line a little longer, it is quite hurtful and mean, or simply she is simply being frank.

Towards the beginning of the film Evelyn is rather direct and honest, and in being that way she does hurt people, a lot actually. And most of the time the "victims" of her frankness, directness are actually her closest family, like her husband (who by the way is the most loveable and innocent character in the whole film, you just wanna give this poor guy a hug) or her daughter. Speaking of her daughter, Joy (played with such gravitas by Stephanie Hsu, that she will break your heart-Hsu was also a welcome presence in the last two seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), at its heart EEAAO is truly a film about a broken (or about to be broken) Mother/Daughter relationship and how Evelyn still struggles to cope with her daughters true personalities and sexual orientation. This relationship is so well constructed by the Daniels (they even show us their history leading up to the current day), that it just feels so heartbreakingly realistic.

I mentioned above how the Daniels excel at creating those hilarious lines that at second thought are actually quite serious and deep. Such a line like: "Why do you look so stupid", is literally something Evelyn says to Joy. As I mentioned before, I really don't think Evelyn thinks about the things she's gonna say, even when she says them aloud. And that is truly what makes a great protagonist like her, she's seriously flawed, her marriage is basically dead and she can't rekindle the right way with her daughter. But as we progress in the story and as Evelyn sees more and more and even more of her other multiverse-selves, she grows with us. She becomes stronger and she even starts to truly appreciate doing a boring thing such as taxes with Waymond.

(PHOTO CREDIT: A24)

This film really is at its best when it takes a funny and smartly written line and transforms it into something dramatic (I don't know how often I've mentioned that by now, but I just can't stop thinking about that fact). And there are some really deep meanings hidden here, something like: "We're all just little unimportant pieces of shit", or "I'm useless alone". There is just so much stuff packed in this film, it is unfathomable.

In the end the most absurd universe (don't wanna spoil it here, but it's the funniest thing I've seen in quite some while), is the key to save the entire multiverse. It's stuff like that, that makes this film so special and utterly unique.

I do want to mention as well, the amazing acting that we're witnessing here. From Yeoh's versatility, to Quan's facial expressions (he really gives it his everything here), all the way to Hsu's realistic heartbreak (as they say, everyone processes hurt differently, is a great overall analogy for some themes in the film), everyone is at the top of their game. The mixture between comedy and drama is something all actors do very masterfully.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is a film that only comes our way once every couple of years. It is special in every conceivable way. Nevertheless and aside from all the praise for the film, I am quite sure though, that some people will dislike it. Mainly for its absolute bonkers nature. To fully enjoy and comprehend what's going on, you have to be willing to watch it, not necessarily prepared (it might even work better if you go in blind), but definitely willing. Then you'll laugh, think about stuff and (definitely) cry. Or sob at least.

To sum up this entire review, Everything Everywhere All at Once is already a perfect masterpiece and it's quite likely that it'll become one of my favorite films on future re-watches.

DIRECTOR: Daniel Scheinert & Daniel Kwan

WRITER: Daniel Scheinert & Daniel Kwan

CAST: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis, James Hong

RUNTIME: 140 Minutes

RELEASE: March 2022