Everything Everywhere All at Once

Plot: [imdb] [photos] Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeah) with her teen daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) and husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) are having tax troubles. At the IRS, Waymond suddenly changes into a dynamic secret-agent hero from a parallel universe. Soon Evelyn travels to the other universe and where she has talents & abilities that she doesn't have on earth. 

Joy's alt-universe counterpart is just as jaded and alienated as earth-bound Joy, but with radically more power and fearsome fighting skills. Evelyn and Waymond try to stay alive while making up with Joy and trying to get out their IRS audit on earth. 

Review: I liked Everything Everywhere All at Once. It ping-pongs from one family's sad life running a laundromat to super-power people trying to save each other and the world. 

It has a fast-paced exciting energy that is just fun. 

Naturally none of this makes sense, but then does our post-pandemic war-torn world actually make sense? Some universes are scary, and some are silly. In one universe Joy and Evelyn are just rocks, wordlessly communicating while sitting on seaside cliff. 

In the end, the movie is about seeing the world from other people's point of view; letting go and trying something new.

Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis

Directed by: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known collectively as The Daniels)

Written by: The Daniels

The Music: Cool and innovative modern electronic music by Son Lux. Son Lux is primarily a solo project of Ryan Lott. The sound track includes contributions from David Byrne, Andre 3000 and Randy Newman. 

The Visuals: Wild. A roller-coaster. As fantastic as the story is, so are the visuals.  

Rating: 3.5 stars: I wanna see it again. 

More: Critic Clint Worthington writes: "the living contradiction that is the everything bagel: if you put everything on a bagel, what more is left? And if you've experienced everything that the multiverse can offer, what's the point of any of it?"

Even More: One Daniel (Kwan) said the everything bagel "called us to talk about nihilism without being too eye roll-y. First people think the bagel will destroy the world, but later "you realize it's a depressed person trying to destroy themselves. It just takes everything about action movies, and turns it into something more personal."  

Yet More: Jackie Chan was the original choice for the main character. The Daniels re-wrote it for a woman and cast Michelle Yeoh. Awkwafina was originally cast as Joy. 

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