Everything Everywhere all at Once Review
8/10
Everything Everywhere all at Once is exactly the kind of film I would usually adore. It has a fantastic concept, inventive ideas, creative visuals, talented filmmakers, and wonderful performances. Those elements are all present to a certain extent. Daniels’ previous film Swiss Army Man was a great debut and one of the most surprising films in recent years. It had a perfect balance of wacky insanity and sincerity. Everything Everywhere almost reaches those lofty heights, but for me it fell short in some ways.
The story starts off with Evelyn, played by the always fantastic Michelle Yeoh. She is a Chinese immigrant who runs a struggling laundromat with her husband Waymond. He is played by Ke Huy Quan, an actor I have not seen since he played Short Round as a kid in Temple of Doom. He is one of the best parts of the film. He reminded me of Jackie Chan’s early work in how he balances absurdity and sincerity with finesse. Seeing him on screen again after so many years was a real treat. His performance is one of my favorites of 2022. Waymond is married to Evelyn, but the two may as well live in different worlds. Evelyn is constantly worrying about the business and is distracted by the upcoming visit of her father.
Her father Gong Gong is played by the great James Hong. Evelyn has a disconnect with her daughter Joy, brilliantly performed by Stephanie Hsu. She feels like her mother doesn’t really understand her. When Evelyn refuses to properly introduce Joy’s girlfriend to her father, instead opting to refer to her as Joy’s friend, this creates an even larger divide between them. This generational divide is one of the most well-done parts of the film. It is one that I imagine would speak to Asian Americans in a very different way. I am not from that world, but from talking over the years to those who are, it is clear the pressures on the youth to succeed are astronomically different from anything I can imagine.
I had a math teacher in high school from South Korea who told me how she knew about people who committed suicide over lackluster grades in school. Now of course I will not speak to how widespread that is and how much things have changed. I think these cultural differences can start to erode over the years as people adapt to new approaches to life. Everything Everywhere shows glimpses of this clash of generations and how harmful they can be. It does this in a way that never condemns anybody. It just shows how difficult it can be for two people to connect when their lifestyles and mentalities are from different eras.
The plot of Everything kicks off when Evelyn, Waymond, and her father have a meeting with an IRS agent, a marvelous performance by Jamie Lee Curtis. Here the financial troubles start to boil over and Evelyn sees just how dire the situation is. It is here where Waymond’s body is briefly taken over by Alpha Waymond, a version of himself from a parallel universe. He explains to her that countless parallel universes exist because every choice we make creates another. One of the other Evelyns, the Alpha Evelyn, created Verse jumping technology. The ability to access the skills, memories, and bodies of our counterparts by fulfilling very specific conditions.
This multiverse is now being threatened by a being known as Jobu Tupaki who experiences all the universes simultaneously and can verse jump at will. I will not detail her origins since that is a major plot point. There is a substantial amount of exposition to go into here. It is tempting to analyze every aspect of the story and themes, but I would be here all day if I did that. What I love about the film are the powerful emotions that anchor it. Evelyn and her husband have a frayed dynamic that strengthens throughout the film. That becomes the part I enjoyed the most. Their interactions show how they truly love each other and how much he yearns to save their marriage.
Joy and Evelyn have an equally difficult relationship. As the madness unfolds, they begin to get closer and have some understanding of each other. These character-focused elements are great and show exactly why the Daniels are such unique filmmakers. My main issue with the film is how much of a sensory overload it becomes. Swiss Army Man was wacky, but I felt like it was more balanced. Everything Everywhere has brilliant and inventive action scenes. Some that outdo anything from this year. As it approached the final section of the film, I found myself feeling burned out by the constant wackiness.
It’s not like the crazy visuals and ideas are nonsensical; they are all tied into the film incredibly well. I just found they didn’t resonate with me as much as they could have because the zany antics were never-ending. I was loving the scenes where Evelyn has glimpses into the lives she could have had. She jumps into these other universes where she could have been a famous movie star, a martial arts master, and numerous other worlds. These are some of the most emotional in the film. The way she starts to regret where she ended up and wants to make something better of herself kept me engrossed throughout. Especially when we see the parallel versions of Waymond and how their relationship could have turned out. Initially, I was drawn in by the balance of the fight scenes and the emotion. As the film went on though, I became burned out by the onslaught of absurdity.
Despite that feeling, I still want to point out how remarkable the visuals are. I get so bored of countless blockbusters with assembly line CGI that blends together and looks like a video game. It’s rare for me to see a film where the special effects actually feel special and enrapture me in a new world. Everything Everywhere achieves this in a way that I have not seen in a long time. Each time Evelyn jumps to a different parallel world, I was anticipating what it could possibly look like and how she would manifest the skills from that world into her own. So even though I was overstimulated by the madness on screen by the end, I still want to point out the visual splendor that makes the film stand out.
I still think Everything Everywhere is a very good film. I completely understand why so many people love it and consider it a new favorite. While it didn’t grab me in the same way, I still admire it tremendously and I consider the Daniels to be some of the best and most creative filmmakers around. I hope they continue making unique and wonderful films. We need more like them to remind people that there are still many great artists willing to take risks in Hollywood.
