A Multiverse Masterpiece: Everything Everywhere All at Once
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once, ‘ revolves around the life of Evelyn Wang, a middle age Chinese woman who runs a laundromat business together with her husband Waymond. Facing family discord, an impending tax audit, and a failing marriage, Evelyn suddenly finds herself taken on a mind-bending journey through the multiverse, testing the limits of what she is capable of — of saving the universe, or even existence itself.
Thematically, the film is the presentation of nihilistic and absurdistic elements commenting on the generational tension and colored by the immigrants’ experience. It combines a black humor with exploring philosophical ideas; in doing so, it has an absurd and yet impressive tragic feeling asking the audience to look beyond their existence.
Michelle Yeoh absolutely remarkable in her part as an Evelyn, portraying a great variety of feelings and determination. The manner in which she sells the humour at one moment, and the desperation and her willingness to act at the next is impressive. The primary cast, including Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis, and James Hong, do good backup supporting and infuse their characters with some extra humanity and feeling into this packed movie.
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, or The Daniels, made the film super visually unique and plotted with a high density. Their direction helps weave together various genres, making sure even in the times of peak craziness, one does not lose sight of Evelyn’s arc.
Attached to the film is a wonderful score by Son Lux that, despite its heavy reliance on experimental sound, drives the emotion on the journey through the multiverse.
The use of striking visuals and dynamic movements in the cinematography successfully brings attention to the exploration of multiple different universes. And from the everyday life to the fairytales each scene carries a messages, feelings and more importantly – touches every sense.
The set design is highly sophisticated and diverse, depicting everything from dirty alleys of a back-street laundromat to vast lands of the parallel universes. This is important because the focus in each world is near perfect , giving practicality to the otherwise surreal theme.
We also see that the film is filled with both practical and digital effects that help to enrich the motion picture. The effects team does an excellent job perfectly executing special effects that enrich the exploration of the multiverse concept without dominating the narrative.
The movie is well and powerfully edited coming up with an excellent blur between multiple realities. The change of focus from one reality to another is done smoothly, though the plot thickens with time the audience does not get confused. The insane amount of energy is sustained throughout the series, just like Evelyn’s transition between multiple realities.
The conversations are smart and philosophical at the same time. There are philosophical discussions throughout, and the characters have many discussions that speak to the philosophical underpinnings of the film.
The film’s overall concept might prove too much for the viewers, and that causes some confusing twists and turns. Some viewers may also note that the frequent changes of intonation can be confusing, but they are actually beneficial to the movie’s overall character. It is a comedy-action-science-fiction that is compiled with great skill and those thinking and reflecting about the essence of life will be captivated. And it is not just a movie but a life lesson letting people contemplate on how many options life offers to them.
