EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (2022)

 

Everything Everywhere All at Once is a 2022 American absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as the "Daniels"), who produced it with Anthony and Joe Russo. The plot centers on a Chinese-American immigrant (played by Michelle Yeoh) who, while being audited by the IRS, discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from destroying the multiverse. Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, and Jamie Lee Curtis appear in supporting roles. The New York Times called the film a "swirl of genre anarchy" with elements of surreal comedy, science fiction, fantasy, martial arts films, and animation.^[6]

Kwan and Scheinert began work on the project in 2010, and its production was announced in 2018. Principal photography ran from January to March 2020. The soundtrack features compositions by Son Lux, including collaborations with Mitski, David Byrne, André 3000, John Hampson and Randy Newman.

Everything Everywhere All at Once premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2022, and began a limited theatrical release in the United States on March 25, 2022, before a wide release by A24 on April 8, 2022. It was a commercial success and grossed over $106 million worldwide, becoming A24's first film to cross the $100 million mark and surpassing Hereditary (2018) as its highest-grossing film.

The film has received near-universal acclaim for its portrayal of philosophical concepts such as existentialism, nihilism, and absurdism, as well as other themes including generational trauma, ADHD, and Asian-American identity. The movie's accolades include being named a top-ten film of 2022 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute; two Golden Globes for Yeoh and Quan at the 80th Golden Globe Awards from 6 nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Director; five awards from a leading 14 nominations at the 28th Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture; five nominations at the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards, including acting nominations for the overall ensemble and individual nominations for Yeoh, Quan, Hsu, and Curtis; 10 nominations at the 76th British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film; and 11 nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, becoming the most nominated film of the ceremony.

Plot

Evelyn Quan is a middle-aged Chinese American immigrant who runs a laundromat with her husband, Waymond Wang. Two decades earlier, they eloped to the United States and had a daughter, Joy. The laundromat is being audited by the IRS, Waymond is trying to serve Evelyn divorce papers, and Evelyn's demanding father Gong Gong^[a] is visiting for her Lunar New Year party. Joy wants her mother to accept her non-Chinese girlfriend, Becky, but Evelyn presents her to Gong Gong as Joy's American friend.

At a tense meeting with IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdre, Waymond's body is taken over by Alpha-Waymond, a version of Waymond from the "Alphaverse". Alpha-Waymond explains to Evelyn that many parallel universes exist because every life choice creates a new alternate universe. The Alphaverse, led by the late Alpha-Evelyn, developed "verse-jumping" technology, which enables people to access the skills, memories, and bodies of their parallel-universe selves (but not of other people) by performing bizarre actions that are statistically unlikely. The multiverse is now threatened by Jobu Tupaki, the Alphaverse version of Joy, whose mind was splintered after Alpha-Evelyn pushed her to extensively verse-jump. Jobu now experiences all universes at once and can verse-jump and manipulate matter at will; she has created a black hole-like "everything bagel"^[b] that could destroy the entire multiverse.

Evelyn is given verse-jumping technology to fight Jobu's minions, who are now converging on the IRS building. She discovers other universes in which she made different choices and flourished, such as becoming a kung fu master/movie star. She also learns of Waymond's plans for divorce. Alpha-Waymond believes that Evelyn, as the greatest "failure" of all Evelyns in the multiverse, has the untapped potential to defeat Jobu. Alpha-Gong Gong instructs her to kill Joy to stop Jobu from entering her universe through Joy. Evelyn refuses and decides to face Jobu by gaining powers through repeated verse-jumping. As Alpha-Gong Gong's soldiers chase Evelyn, Jobu locates and kills Alpha-Waymond in the Alphaverse. As Jobu confronts Evelyn in her universe, Evelyn's mind splinters, and she collapses, lifeless.

Evelyn's consciousness uncontrollably verse-jumps, alongside Jobu, across bizarre and diverse universes. Jobu explains that she has been searching for an Evelyn who can see, as she does, that nothing matters; and killing the Evelyns that don't. She brings Evelyn to the everything bagel, explaining that it will allow Jobu to die finally. Upon looking into the bagel, Evelyn is persuaded and begins to act nihilistically in her other universes, destroying property and relationships.

As Evelyn is about to enter the bagel with Jobu, she pauses to listen to Waymond's pleas for everybody to stop fighting and be kind and seek understanding amid life's absurdism. Evelyn has an existentialist epiphany. She follows Waymond's absurdist and humanist advice and uses her multiverse powers to find what hurts those around her and brings them happiness. In doing so, she repairs her damage in the other universes and neutralizes Alpha-Gong Gong and Jobu's fighters. In her home universe, Evelyn tells Gong Gong of Joy and Becky's relationship, talks with Deirdre after Waymond convinces her to let Waymond and Evelyn redo their taxes, and reconciles with Waymond. Jobu begins to enter the bagel, and simultaneously as Joy in Evelyn's universe, begs Evelyn to let her go. Evelyn says that even when nothing makes sense, if she could be anywhere else in the multiverse, she would always want to be with Joy. Evelyn and the others save Jobu from the bagel, and Evelyn and Joy embrace as the universes are restored.

Sometime later, with the family's relationships improved, they return to the IRS building to refile their taxes. As Deirdre talks, Evelyn's attention is momentarily drawn to her alternate selves and the multiverse before she grounds herself back in her home universe.

Cast

• Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Quan Wang, a dissatisfied and overwhelmed laundromat owner; and as several other versions of Evelyn in alternate universes.
• Stephanie Hsu as Joy Wang, Evelyn's daughter; and Jobu Tupaki, Alpha-Evelyn's omnicidal daughter whose growing nihilism is a threat to the entire multiverse.
• Ke Huy Quan as Waymond Wang, Evelyn's meek and goofy husband whose existentialism is the antidote to Jobu's nihilism; and as Alpha-Waymond, from the Alphaverse; and other versions of Waymond in alternate universes
• James Hong as Gong Gong (Cantonese, "grandfather"),^[9] Evelyn's demanding father; and Alpha-Gong Gong, Alpha-Evelyn's father in the Alphaverse who wants Evelyn to sacrifice Joy to impede Jobu.
• Jamie Lee Curtis as Deirdre Beaubeirdre, an IRS inspector; and as several other versions of Deirdre in alternate universes.
• Jenny Slate as Debbie the Dog Mom, a laundromat customer^[c]
• Harry Shum Jr. as Chad, a teppanyaki chef working alongside an alternative Evelyn in another universe.

Additionally, Tallie Medel appears as Becky Sregor, Joy's girlfriend; Biff Wiff appears as Rick, a laundromat customer; Sunita Mani and Aaron Lazar appear as actors in a musical film Evelyn watches; Audrey Wasilewski and Peter Banifaz appear as Alpha RV Officers; Andy Le and Brian Le appear as Alpha Trophy Jumpers; and Michiko Nishiwaki appears as Evelyn's kung-fu opponent and costar.

Randy Newman, who has scored nine Disney–Pixar films, appears as the voice of Raccacoonie, a reference to the Pixar-animated film Ratatouille (2007); he is credited as a featured artist on the track "Now We're Cookin'".^[11] Directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan have cameos in the film, with the former as District Manager, while the latter has uncredited cameos as a man sucked into the bagel and a mugger.^[12]