Everything Everywhere All At Once
Written by Cameron Geiser
Ever since I saw Swiss Army Man in 2016 I made a mental note to always be on the lookout for the next project from the filmmakers responsible for that oddball flick full of heart, wit, and flatulence. That filmmaking duo is known as The Daniels, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, and they have once again made a film that intelligently mixes low and high brow art and humor with ease. Or at least, they make it look easy. For a film with as broad and convoluted an idea as the multiverse at it’s core, you’d think the narrative could get lost in the mess of multiple universes, but not this film. If anything, the infinite ideas at play allow the characters to explore the intimate in depth.
Very tired Chinese-American mother and wife Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) runs a laundromat with her husband Waymond, (Ke Huy Quan) and their teenage daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu), somewhere in modern America. Evelyn’s father, affectionately called ‘Gong Gong’ (James Hong), is also visiting from China. Everything seems like normal family strife initially, but as the layers begin to peel back we can see the cracks in all of the family’s relationships and connections with each other. The soft spoken and reserved Waymond is constantly trying to grab Evelyn’s attention in the first act, their marriage has been deteriorating for some time, and he wants a divorce. Joy’s got a girlfriend, Becky (Tallie Medel), and Evelyn isn’t sure how to handle her daughter’s sexuality, or how to connect with her much at all anymore. Oh, and the Chinese New Year Party they plan to throw at the Laundromat needs to be prepped too- and on top of everything else their laundromat is being audited and they have to dredge up all of the receipts, prove their solvency, and just survive the potential economic destruction of their lives. It’s a lot.
Michelle Yeoh is fantastic in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
That’s all before any multiversal shenanigans insert themselves into the story. While at the IRS with their crusty and curmudgeonly auditor Deirdre (Jaime Lee Curtis), Evelyn is met by another version of Waymond, one that has transported himself into this Waymond’s body. This Waymond, from the Alpha-verse, warns Evelyn of the grave danger being brought against all universes by an unreasonable, chaotic, and power hungry figure named Jobu Tupaki. Alpha-verse Waymond can only stick around for so long, in his universe they are fighting Jobu Tupaki from afar, and tracking her destruction across the many verses. While he is inhabiting the body of “our” Waymond, he becomes a master of the martial arts and fights an entire room of people with only a fanny pack, a la Jackie Chan. While operating as an efficient exposition machine, Alpha-verse Waymond tells Evelyn that she is the key to fighting Jobu Tupaki, by making a series of deliberately odd choices she can be transported to another version of herself and borrow the skills of wildly different Evelyns, making both bodies move in unison, allowing Evelyn to know Kung Fu in one of many examples. It’s all in service of strange humor and wild situations that all work in tandem with a powerful narrative that really just asks us all to be kinder to each other.
After a few visits to other universes and different Evelyns, you can see the influences of a variety of movies and filmmakers. Quite possibly the best alternate universe joke is a riff on Ratatouille that I never could have predicted, but won’t ruin here. Just trust me, it even involves Randy Newman if you’re listening carefully. Everything Everywhere All at Once isn’t just a movie about multiversal threats though, it’s also a movie about movies. Or at least, a love letter to movies. The Daniels have said in interviews that this is their ode to The Matrix, and you can see that influence all over the film’s DNA. You can also see the DNA of various Shaw Brothers Kung Fu films, but none more so than Clan of the White Lotus. One version of Evelyn decided not to leave China with Waymond and instead became a Kung Fu master, and a cinema legend in Kung Fu films as well. In this universe, both Evelyn and Waymond seem to be more successful versions of themselves, but their alleyway chat outside the theater playing her latest film is moody, shot in soaking neon greens with smoke floating everywhere. It’s here where Waymond describes his way of life, how he fights with love and kindness, and the whole thing is a snippet right out of Wong Kar Wai’s masterpiece In The Mood For Love. When this Waymond looks back on their paths in life, he longingly looks into Evelyn’s eyes before saying “You know, I would have loved living a small life washing laundry with you” before sauntering off into the darkness.
The many “universes” that Everything Everywhere All at Once visits helps make it one of the most unique films in recent memory.
That dichotomy, between deep emotional resonance and crude anatomy-based humor is the balancing act that the Daniels have perfected. It was equally present in Swiss Army Man, and is their signature style at this point. More than anything else, this is a film for our time. There’s a scene where Jobu Tupaki has a heart to heart with Evelyn where the dimensional villain makes a point that nothing is as it once was, even the coffee doesn’t quite taste the same. How do we return to the good times? How can we move forward? The film's answer: have hope, be kind, and cherish your loved ones. Not a bad idea.
Cameron Geiser is an avid consumer of films and books about filmmakers. He'll watch any film at least once, and can usually be spotted at the annual Traverse City Film Festival in Northern Michigan. He also writes about film over at www.spacecortezwrites.com.