EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
2022 | Dir. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert | 139 Minutes
"Maybe there is something out there, some new discovery that will make us feel like even smaller pieces of shit. Something that explains why you still went looking for me through all of this noise. And why, no matter what, I still want to be here with you. I will always, always, want to be here with you."
On her way to a stressful meeting with the IRS, Evelyn Quan is recruited by a soldier in a multiversal war believing her to be the key to victory against the chaotic universe destroyer known as Jobu Tupaki. Reluctantly thrown into the conflict, Evelyn soon learns of her unique connection to Jobu, forcing her to come to terms with everything in her life that seemingly went awry.
From eclectic writing/directing duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once is a unique sci-fi action comedy with an emotionally powerful story about love and regret centered on an immigrant Chinese family. The narrative is presented in three parts: a crash course on the logic of the story's world leading to an inevitable confrontation, the extended battle between the two opposing forces that quickly shifts from physical to philosophical, and a brief epilogue. Though absurd humor and phenomenal action sequences, The Daniels deliver thought-provoking ideas surrounding boundless human potential, the purpose of existence or lack thereof, and the endurance of family. Shifting genres and filmmaking styles with gradually increasing frequency as the picture plays out, the film is remarkably funny, exciting, moving, and wholly original.
The screenplay by the Daniels is exceptionally clever and, notably, much of the dialogue is spoken in Mandarin and Cantonese; Evelyn almost exclusively speaks to her husband in Mandarin, her father in Cantonese, and her daughter in English, thematically demonstrating a lack of cohesion in her life that informs her poor, emotionally dismissive approach to her most important relationships at the outset of the story. Brothers Andy and Brian Le choreograph mind-blowingly inventive fight scenes that clearly take inspiration from the seminal Jackie Chan films, most notably the fanny pack beat-down administered by Ke Huy Quan's Alpha Waymond that boldly gives the audience a preview of the quality kung fu action to come, the impressive battle in which Evelyn single-handedly defeats a small gang of foes using sign spinner skills with a riot shield, and the picture's most infamous fight scene prominently featuring the Andy and Brian themselves showing off impressive authentic traditional Chinese martial arts in sharp contrast to objects visibly protruding out of their rectums. Shifting radically into a wide variety of other filmmaking styles, the picture is also a vehicle for memorable sequences featuring two inanimate rocks on a cliff side debating the value of human endeavor, a live action Ratatouille parody with an animatronic raccoon voiced by regular Pixar composer Randy Newman, a world where humans evolved from apes with fingers that look like hot dogs with a full origin sequence inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, and most surprisingly a poignant Wong Kar Wai style romantic drama pastiche complete with the Hong Kong auteur's penchant for poignant melodramatic dialogue and signature visual flourishes.
Hilarious, touching, and simply badass, Michelle Yeoh is magnificent as the put upon reluctant protagonist Evelyn, demonstrating virtually all of her versatile talents that have made her a screen legend. Stephanie Hsu is brilliant in a wild emotionally charged performance as Eveyln's cosmically disaffected, ironically named daughter Joy, convincingly depressed to the point of becoming an ender of worlds. Playing a total sweetheart, Ke Huy Quan delivers a magnificently charming and heartbreaking performance as Evelyn's struggling husband Waymond. The film also features reliably funny seasoned character actor James Hong as Evelyn's abrasive father, Jamie Lee Curtis clearly having a lot of fun as a banally antagonistic tax collector, and Tallie Medel as Joy's supportive girlfriend.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a profoundly, wonderfully weird multiversal journey exploring failure, intergenerational trauma, and the very meaning of life through superb kung fu action, psychedelic visuals, hot dog fingers, and googly eyes. It authentically speaks to the specific experience of immigrant Chinese families in America, while also presenting a powerful counterpoint to the downward spiral of nihilism on a universally relatable level. Additionally, the film is a comprehensive showcase of everything that makes Michelle Yeoh a screen legend.
FRAGMENTS
- The Chinese title of the film that appears before the end credits is 天馬行空, loosely translated as "heavenly horse takes to the air," a phrase to describe unconstrained in style or, as I'd like to think of it, a flight of fancy
- Jackie Chan was originally intended to be the lead for this film
- Awkwafina was originally intended for the role of Joy, and while I am an Awkwafina fan I think the specific persona she is known for would have been too distracting for the role
- The pronunciation of the Cantonese is a still bit off, but it is admirable that so much of the script was written in Cantonese
- Ke Huy Quan was assistant director on Wong Kar Wai's 2046, which undoubtedly lent to the perceivable authenticity of the sequences in this film inspired by Wong Kar Wai's style
007 CONNECTIONS
- Michelle Yeoh (Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies)
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Michelle Yeoh (Aleta Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Jiang Nan in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)
- Andy Le (Death Dealer in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)
- Stephanie Hsu (Soo in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)
