A24
In recent years the concept of the ‘multiverse’ has come into vogue, at least in pop culture circles, with a heavy sprinkling from the comic book inspired movies and TV shows that utilized the concept quite a lot. The idea in fiction is nothing new, as it was first utilized in the modern context by Michael Moorcock in 1963 — that said, typically we see the idea mainly with ‘parallel’ or two universes. But exceptions have always been around, like the 90s sci-fi cult classic Sliders.
So the base concept is nothing new, but has its full potential ever been reached in film? One of the main issues with filming such a tale, instead of say, writing it, is that you then have to show all of the various alternate worlds and versions of people, which can’t be cheap. So you have to admire the audacity.
Everything Everywhere All At Once comes from the collaborating team the ‘Daniels’ (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), in their latest film collaboration since Swiss Army Man. And no offense to those fans of that odd, gross movie, but this one is much weirder and much better. We follow the Chinese immigrant family the Wangs as they struggle to make it with their laundromat.
Michelle Yeoh plays our main character Evelyn, the one who is trying everything to keep her family afloat but can be quite harsh about it. Ke Huy Quan (of Temple of the Doom fame) plays her husband Waymond, a more gentle soul, but is concerned about their marriage. When we start, Evelyn’s difficult father (who is only called ‘Gong Gong’ which means the maternal grandfather), played by the legendary actor James Hong, is staying with them, and their daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) is also visiting with her girlfriend Becky.
Evelyn is clearly uncomfortable with her daughter’s sexuality, but their relationship seems fractured and toxic besides that. And it does seem that Evelyn is passing down the problems of her own upbringing, which she isn’t willing to acknowledge. Things get weird when they head to the IRS office for an audit with local inspector Deidre (Jamie Lee Curtis) — suddenly Evelyn is told that she must help save the multiverse as told by an alternate version of someone she knows.
Apparently there’s a chaotic monster (isn’t there always?) on the loose and Evelyn is potentially someone who can help stop this evil. The multiverse hilarity gets introduced by showing that people can ‘jump’ other people’s minds into their own and gain the powers of others, so you know it’s only a matter of time before Michelle Yeoh, who is a legendary martial arts star herself, will be kicking some ass.
Part of the fun of the movie is to see all of the variations that come up, which both gives our actors a chance to show off, but also a chance to really create a lot of fascinating alternate worlds. You can tell the production and costume designers on this movie were both extremely busy but also had a blast. One of the things I appreciate about sci-fi stories is that it lets you tell a human story using the devices of sci-fi. After all, who has never wondered about the paths not taken or the other people we might have been?
So this movie is also really about the family, and it never forgets this crucial fact. The sci-fi rules are nearly flawless, with only one real ‘excused for the joke’ bit that’s certainly funny even if it doesn’t make any sense. This works well as a comedy but also a family drama and a bit of an action movie, although that’s not really the main piece of things. Don’t simply expect a martial arts tale, it’s more complicated than that — but also the action scenes are more fun than exhilarating.
Our leads are all excellent — Michelle Yeoh shows off how talented she’s always been in what is shockingly her first mainstream feature lead. Ke Huy Quan shows off multiple sides to himself in the complex, sweet role of Waymond, and Stephanie Hsu (in her first feature entirely) demonstrates how she should’ve been a star ten years ago.
I feel like audiences are ready for the multiverse angle, so the only real reason I can think of is that the movie is certainly rated R — if that’s an issue, this might not be for you, but otherwise, it’s one of the better movies I’ve seen in quite a while. Definitely the best of 2022 so far.
Everything Everywhere All At Once has a run time of 2 hours 12 minutes and is rated R for some violence, sexual material and language.
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