Summary
If you think you’ve already traversed the multiverse, think again. It’s safe to say you’ve not seen another film quite like this.
Cinema may not have invented the multiverse, but it sure is having a fun time exploring all of its branches right now. A staple of comic book universes and time travel fiction, the possibilities of opening those sliding doors have always allowed us to explore the edges of imagination. In EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as Daniels) push those ideas as far as they can go.
Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) is introduced by way of a tiny mirror on a shelf, an innocuous portent of things to come. She runs a struggling laundromat with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), who is preparing to divorce her. Evelyn’s conservative elderly father Gong Gong Wang (James Hong) lives with them, and is one of several excuses she has for not accepting that her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) is in a same-sex relationship.
From this point forward it would almost be criminal to reveal too much. When undergoing an IRS audit led by inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdra (Jamie Lee Curtis), an unlikely source tells Evelyn that she is might be the one person who can stop Jobu Tupaki, a person who is stepping across multiversal boundaries with ill intent. So begins an adventure that takes Evelyn through all of life’s unexplored laneways.
It is difficult to classify the Daniels’ film into a single genre. From the moment a fight breaks out in an office block — an original combination of a chapstick, a bum bag and some throwback kung fu — EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE lives up to its name. Flipping universes like it is changing channels, we go on an amazing journey from a raccoon version of Ratatouille to a pocket world where everyone has hot dogs for fingers. It’s like an everything bagel which, by the way, is another crucial plot point in this insane ride.
Even though she’s had some prominent TV and feature roles over the years, it’s amazing to see Yeoh back front and centre as an action star where she belongs. The multilingual performance bounces balletically across multiple versions of herself, grounded by a core version that’s a mixture of downtrodden and determined. Balanced by equally versatile turns from Quan and Hsu, it’s this character focus that separates this film from anything else that brushes up against the same territory. Plus, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a sausage fingered Jamie Lee Curtis playing piano with her feet.
There are times where it almost feels as though the Daniels have gone into a universe where shark jumping is the norm. Yet thanks to a family drama that’s grounding the script, every ridiculous non sequitur kind of makes its own version of sense. So, as the film builds to a crescendo of simultaneous fight sequences, rapid-fire scene switching and frankfurter funnies, you might just find you’ve have been watching one of the most original films of the year.
2022 | USA | DIRECTOR: Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert | WRITERS: Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert | CAST: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis | DISTRIBUTOR: A24 (US), Roadshow Films (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 139 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 25 March 2022 (US – Limited), 8 April (US – wide), 14 April (AUS)
