Everything Everywhere All at Once is really everything everywhere all at once - a combo of Sci-Fi, Comedy, Adventure, and Fantasy with a side of crazy all packed into a two-hour movie that still has me trying to process what I watched since I saw it last month.
Directed by Daniels - a collective reference to the film’s writer-director duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert - Everything Everywhere All at Once revolves around the chaotic and miserable life of middle-aged laundromat owner Evelyn - played by Michelle Yeoh, best known for her roles in Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Evelyn can’t seem to do anything well as she spreads herself too thin trying to manage – you guessed it – everything, everywhere, all at once!
The film opens with Evelyn juggling her business, marriage, parenting, and planning a welcome-to-America party for her hard-to-please father Gong Gong (played by James Hong), who just arrived from China. But Evelyn’s biggest worry is an upcoming audit by the IRS for which she helplessly prepares by sorting through piles of wrinkled receipts and papers strewn across her kitchen table.
The appointment with the IRS is just as intimidating as expected when Evelyn’s case is assigned to the bitter and stern IRS auditor Deirdra (played by an almost unrecognizable Jamie Lee Curtis).
Flanked by her husband Waymond (played by Ke Huy Quan) and her father across the desk from Deirdra, Evelyn breaks down and her mind slips away into an alternative reality where Waymond, now known as “Alpha Waymond,” preps Evelyn for a wild ride between a multitude of multiverses that is about to ensue.
This is where things get interesting, as it appears that the task of saving the multiverse sits squarely on Evelyn’s shoulders.
Apparently, to leap, or verse jump, though the myriad of multiverses to get the job done, Evelyn, and others along for the ride, must do some weird and cringy tasks such as subjecting themselves to a plethora of paper cuts and shapeshifting into pinatas and pet rocks. There are many other bizarre verse jumping tasks in the movie that are probably best not to detail on this local public radio station, but clearly, the reason behind the film’s hard R-rating along with some violence and spicy language.
Running a long 2h 12m, Everything Everywhere All at Once is a film worth watching on the big screen in all its bizarre glory.
Catch a screening at Park City Film during its run at the Santy May 13-15.
