Everything Everywhere All at Once - A Review

5 stars - 10th Dec 2024

I have absolutely no words and so many words all at once. It’s not just a movie - it’s a life altering experience, and the funniest movie I’ve ever seen about taxes. I don’t think I’ve cried more in a movie, but not because I was sad; I don’t even know what emotion I experienced and the Daniels that created this and executed it so beautifully with just the perfect mix between comedy and action, shows you how much comedy can achieve. I love how they perceive asian stereotypes and the culture of growing up in a Western environment with an Asian background. I love how fast paced it is with so many clips flicking between each other, especially clips from Michelle Yeoh’s real life. It explores the butterfly effect perfectly; how every little choice could have a different outcome, and how there’s always going to be this ‘what if’ thought in the back of our minds. What if we did something differently? Would I be in a better place? It’s absurd yet profound, hilarious yet tear-jerking, and somehow makes rocks, bagels, and buttplugs emotionally significant. This movie taught me all about kindness, that there’s always something to love, there’s something special in stupidity and weirdness, that nothing matters, and everything matters. All at once.

I went into watching this film with such high expectations but without knowing what it was about at all, and it did not disappoint. At its core, the film is about Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh), an overwhelmed laundromat owner dealing with taxes, divorce, and existential despair. But all of a sudden she’s surrounded by a multiverse war where the movie unfolds into an exploration of what could’ve been. The ‘what if’. What if I made a different choice? Would I have ended up somewhere different? Who would I be then? What could I have become? It’s a meditation on the butterfly effect: how every choice, no matter how small, changes everything. Throughout the film we see Evelyn questioning her marriage to Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) as she explores the universe where she doesn’t go with him and opens a laundromat. She becomes a successful Kung Fu master and an actress, and where he becomes a CEO. What if, the main version of Evelyn that we see chose that path and ended up in that multiverse. Everything would’ve changed for her.

This film also beautifully portrays the complexities of Asian culture in the modern world, especially in Western countries. Being of Asian background growing up in Australia, I don’t think I’ve felt as represented in a movie as I did here. Evelyn struggles to connect with her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu), who feels alienated by cultural expectations, especially the disapproval of same-sex relationships and the weight of parental expectations. Evelyn tries to preserve tradition towards Joy’s Gong Gong (James Hong) when she introduces Becky (Tallie Medel) as a friend of Joy instead of her girlfriend. Evelyn also struggles with cultural expectations as the weight of the divorce is weighing down on her especially since marriage is seen as a sacred bond in Asian cultures. The tension between tradition and embracing modernity is approached with authenticity and tenderness throughout, especially the depiction of generational disconnect where younger generations growing up in Western countries can’t speak their native tongue fluently, while elders try to preserve it. The film also touches on the wider culture surrounding taboo topics such as the stereotype where ‘all Asians are good at math’, and even slightly touching on white men’s fetish with Asian women which is truly a problem in today’s society with the rise in anime, manga, and even hentai.

Amid existential musings, this film is outrageously funny. When I saw the buttplug shaped awards for the first time, I cannot emphasise how I burst out into laughter straight away. The buttplug fight scene was absurdly brilliant. And the hot dog hands! How do you even come up with that? It’s just so random and funny, but in that universe Evelyn’s relationship with Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis) kind of reflected her marriage to Waymond. She did not want to be there. The very idea that they had to do something ‘weird’ to unlock a ‘jumping pad’ to an alternate reality is absolutely amazing. The dog-fighting stunts, and everything bagels feel ludicrous but they feel grounded in the film’s message: life is strange, unpredictable, and full of surprises. It’s the right mix of comedy, action and a profound meaning behind it all. There’s almost beauty in stupidity and showcases the most trivial skills like sign spinning to have such a great impact. It’s like comedy meets cosmic nihilism.

The film does not only have an amazing meaning behind it, but it’s visually and technically stunning, and the directors’ did such a great job bringing their vision to life. From the fast paced clips of different universes, to the slow-motion emotional scenes that really resonate with you, even down to the multicoloured lighting they used when Evelyn and Waymond finally see eye to eye before the epic showdown. It was beautiful. I love how they incorporated clips of Yeoh’s real-life stardom into Evelyn’s multiversal journey. The casting was also perfect. Originally Awkwafina was cast into Joy’s role, and no hate to her I do love her as comedic relief (especially in Crazy Rich Asians), but I don’t think she would’ve brought Joy’s character to life as much as Stephanie Hsu did. She played the rebellious, heartbroken teenage girl perfectly. Ke Huy Quan did an impeccable job with his character from the tender, ever-kind Waymond to the crime-fighting Alpha-Waymond, and showcases his wide range of acting abilities throughout the movie. Michelle Yeoh was also perfectly cast and I think she displayed the right amount of emotion at every part of the movie. She plays the concerned mother, the crime-fighting superstar, the nihilistic Evelyn, and truly shows her character development through the movie so well.

This movie broke me. I think I cried more than 10 times throughout and I don’t even know why. I remember just staring at the TV when Joy / Jobu Tupaki showed Evelyn the ‘everything bagel’ for the first time and I think it was so confronting with the close ups of their faces and seeing the raw emotion that just made me start tearing up heavily. It just made me feel so much. Feel what? I’m not sure most of the time. So many emotions were running through my head. I felt resonance with Joy’s character when she confronted her mum and the need to be accepted. I felt sadness when I realised how much I related to her character, I was heartwarmed with so many scenes, and possibly crying tears of laughter throughout so much randomness. This movie had so much emotional depth that I’ve never felt with a comedy movie before. Man, it had me crying at a bunch of rocks. Especially when they showed different universes where Evelyn learnt to let Joy go at the end of the movie after so much struggle to save her daughter. The rock universe made you feel the weight of isolation, connection, and acceptance when all sound, language, and action was stripped.

It had such a powerful meaning behind all the action. How nothing matters. We’re just human, literally a small speck in the history of everything. How we’re all pretty much useless alone, but we’re not alone in this universe. It taught me to hold on to your connections and reach out for help if you ever need it. How so many people can struggle with something (especially when that IRS agent gave Evelyn a vape after learning about her divorce and relating to her), but at the end of the day, Waymond’s philosophy stuck with me the most. ‘There’s always something to love’. His kind heart laid the path for Evelyn to fight her way through the multiverse superhumans as she fought with kindness. And eventually she learned to embrace her husband’s kindness even though she couldn’t stand how optimistic he was. She learned to embrace her daughter’s sexuality and her problems. Gong Gong learned to accept modernity with Becky being Joy’s girlfriend. It just taught me so much about love and how to let go while holding on to what matters..

Everything Everywhere All at Once was a life changer. It’s about embracing the absurdity of life, finding meaning in kindness, and accepting that nothing matters, but not in a nihilistic way, but in a hopeful way. Every random funny detail, every weird fight sequence, and every universe converges into a singular message: everything matters. It’s not just entertaining; it’s transforming. It’s magical, weird, emotional, and deeply human. We might just all be small specks in the grand scheme of the universe, but the choices we make and the connections we form give life meaning.