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everything everywhere all at once

Joyous. Brilliant. Poignant. Transcendent. Dizzying. Beautiful. Giddy. Genius. Straight-up bananas. Everything Everywhere All At Once is a film that is so easy to attach a glowing descriptor to, yet it’s also nearly impossible to describe.

For instance, it’s a sci-fi martial arts movie. But it’s also a domestic drama. Plus there are also elements of fantasy, comedy, and romance. The film is both a highbrow work of art and lowbrow expression of juvenile humor. Pure spectacle melded with thoughtful allegory. It will confuse you. It will gross you out. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It’s a film that seems to throw literally everything up on the screen in order to what sticks, and remarkably it all does. Every beat, every kick, every note, every joke, every cut.

This is all to say that Everything Everywhere All at Once is a film that not only lives up to its ambitious title, but also lives up to its ambitious filmmaking. It’s all from the minds of the dynamic filmmaking duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as The Daniels, who are famous for their inventive music videos and also their first feature about a farting corpse. That film was Swiss Army Man, and it was a movie that showed such bright and bold promise, but just couldn’t manage to stick the landing. Here, they nail it.

The film’s one true EVERYTHING, however, is arguably Michelle Yeoh. She stars as Evelyn Wang, a wife and mother who runs a laundromat with her husband (Ke Huy Quan—yes, Short Round is back, baybeee!) after immigrating to the U.S. from China decades ago. Evelyn is overworked, overwhelmed, exhausted, and unhappy, and she’s making everyone around her unhappy too. She steals the joy from her sweet, softspoken husband Waymond as she peels off the googly eyes he sticks everywhere to make their daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) smile. And Evelyn criticizes Joy for just about everything, from her weight to her ambitions, unable to give her daughter the emotional support she craves.

Plus, Evelyn’s extra on edge because her father (James Hong) is visiting from China, and she’s throwing a Chinese New Year party for him and her customers. And Joy, who recently came out, wants her girlfriend introduced to her grandfather as her girlfriend and not as a friend. Oh, and Evelyn’s also being audited by the IRS and having an impossible time preparing.

But something unusual happens on the way to the IRS appointment, and Waymond appears like a stealth secret agent, telling Evelyn he is from another universe and is searching for the right version of Evelyn who is needed to save all of existence from total annihilation. Turns out, due to all the emptiness and failures that mark Evelyn’s life, she is exactly the blank slate the universe needs to stop the evil Jobu Tupaki from ending everything.

And so through some of the most virtuoso action sequences ever committed to screen, Evelyn and Waymond hop between universes and versions of themselves to stop Jobu from sending all of existence into an Everything Bagel Black Hole, all the while trying to get through her appointment with the ultimate government stooge, Deidre Beaubeirda (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Once the inter-universe action starts, it doesn’t stop. Moving at a breakneck speed, this is a true marvel of pacing and artistry. There is more movie in here for your time and dollar than just about anything I can remember experiencing. It is truly an assault on your senses in the best way, overloaded with gags and jokes and references from everything to a truly inspired Ratatouille bit to the Hong Cinema of In the Mood for Love.

But through all the chaos, the characters and their relationships are what guide us and keep us grounded. Depending on what version of a character or what timeline we are in, relationships shift: enemies become lovers, friends become foes. Evelyn takes on a myriad of different lives ranging from hibachi chef to a famous movie star (a la the actual Michelle Yeoh). And in each different path or version, Evelyn sees her life and her choices in a new light, carefully weaving together all these emotional threads. Even if you don’t really know what the heck is going on, the cogency of the film’s feeling is unmistakable.

Ke Huy Quan is a true revelation. It is wonderful to see him on screen again, and he gives us true vulnerability, in many ways carrying the emotional weight of the film. Jamie Lee Curtis is an absolute treasure. And if you didn’t already think Michelle Yeoh was one of the greatest action stars of all time, there will be no question in your mind after this.

A film that encompasses the infinite and the intimate equally as well, Everything Everywhere All At Once will leave you like a fever dream: mesmerized by what you just saw and unsure that it was actually real. It is a work of such daring and slaphappy vision, you can’t help but feel like you’re falling in love with film all over again.

2 Color: PMS 7459 Light Blue PMS 7462 Dark Blue Greyscale: K 100% / K 75%