The absurdist duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (aka The Daniels) conjures up a dizzying, formally visual, and messy metaphysical confection of many bombastic ideas in Everything Everywhere All at Once, that appear to be unleashed with the sensibilities of Terry Gilliam and Michel Gondry. No doubt inventive with its style and editing, there is something numbing and assaulting to the senses as its grandiosity dives into an imaginative world of a Chinese immigrant family attempting to reconnect their bond as they fleet through the four dimensions within the space time continuum where we see different variations of themselves in alternate realities. Within these alternative realities we see various desires, emotions, determinism, and scenarios play into its themes on fatalism. In some dimensions, characters even have hot dog franks as fingers, while, of course, other destinies emerge where characters use butt plugs and bagels to somehow gain their powers in alternate realities. In the end, the Daniel’s ponder the question of what life would be like for us if we ended up making different choices.
We also have some avant-garde moments in the film where Hibachi chefs are mind-controlled by racoons, and people turn into talking rocks in of the most endearing moments of the film. Then we have some odd lyrical moments where the Daniels play homage to Wong Kar-Wai, as well as a really comical 2001: A Space Odyssey gag that dissolves away into recycled humor, and other nonsensical moments that dip into some basic philosophical ideas of fatalism and inevitability. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a film of great performances from the cast across the board, one that I anticipate finding a wide audience in the months to come.
There are certainly some philosophical and metaphysical ideas to be found, and many will find it very cinematic with its ultra-stylized setting, but overall, the Daniels prove just once more that they are filmmakers with very little restraint or subtly–even though they enjoy slowing things down with a “poignant” finale that I admit won me over in its end, even though you have to endure a whole lot of mess of a film to get there. While the mess is deliberate by design, the end result is a very over-directed film that shows very little restraint with its style, and at times it feels like watching nails on a chalkboard, which is luckily anchored by an impressive performance by Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, Stephane Hu Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee. The film has all the makings of an audience and critic crowd pleaser, especially for younger audiences who grew up with Marvel, DC, A24 films, Zack Synder, and Edgar Wright films over the last decade. In fact, this film possibly has a chance of being an Oscar contender considering how well audiences responds in the coming weeks and months. While the film is messy, it’s certainly technically impressive, formally daring, and greatly acted enough to possibly make an Oscar splash.
This is by no means a surprise, considering the Daniels do come across as sincere and stylized filmmakers who like to cover up their flaws just to engage you in the third act with some humanism. Their feature debut, Swiss Army Man, was a monotonous film that was about a dead corpse (Daniel Radcliff) that endlessly farts, and his dead body ends up being used as a lifesaving prop for its protagonist (Paul Dano), which also merged the infantile with the genuine, especially in its last act, in some of its ideas about alienation and suicide.
The Daniels once again deliver their same humor with some compelling ideas that feel overstuffed, , in which the Daniels have turned the material into a very exhausting 130 minutes that feels tedious and repetitious. Many audiences will no doubt appreciate the film’s visual inventiveness with its quick-cuts, montages, and other technical aspects with its editing.
Borrowing sci-fi elements from The Matrix and other Marvel films with multiple universes, such as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: No Way Home, but this time it feels even more complicated. Yeoh plays Evelyn Wang, who co-owns a laundromat with her husband Raymond (Ke Huy Quan) (from Goonies, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom), who is being audited by the IRS for mishandled funds. As her tax burdens become overwhelming, she also has personal problems as she feels a disconnect with her father, Gong (James Hong), in which Gong disapproves of everything Evelyn does, and, in many ways, Evelyn takes her mistreatment by her father out on her own daughter, Joy (Hsu).
Raymond feels completely detached from Evelyn, with stress from the laundromat, and after feeling very disrespected, he ends up filing for a divorce. Eventually, another version of himself takes over his psyche. This version of Raymond also has a crew of other parallel proxies that allow Raymond to guide Evelyn into finding alternate lives for herself. In a Twin Peaks: Return style, Raymond ends up giving Evelyn access to the psyches of many different realities, which allows Evelyn access to the psyches of many different realities.
Chaos begins to erupt as Evelyn gets audited by Deirde (Jamie Lee Curtis), the IRS agent who is auditing her business. A verse-jump occurs, and we begin to see all these alternate realities emerge and many narratives unspool in paradoxical ways. We learn to understand that Evelyn has different possessions in other realities where she is a martial arts action star, an opera singer, a hibachi chef, a brain surgeon, a pizzeria owner, and even a rock. There is another universe where she is in love with Deirde and everyone has hot dogs for fingers, and instead of staying focused on certain subplots, many of these visual gags are just repeated jokes over and over, much like the endless corpse farting in Swiss Army Man. Each of these “subplots,” if you will, is also presented with very quick cuts, almost montages, but they are comprehensive enough that never feel too convoluted.
To the film’s strengths, there is some creativity that has a sense of youth to it that feels spontaneous, spirited, and energetic. There is something prankish about the Daniels, but sadly, their style is too hyperactive and in need of a dose of cinematic Ritalin. There is no set of limits or restraint to their vision or style. They overstuff their material with too many ideas, too many homages, allegories, throwbacks, and gags that are in serious need of self-control.
The film holds many downsides, though. Many of the gags become a detriment to the film. One that reminds you of funny sketches you would see in a cartoon is Adult Swin. There is even a moment where someone is beaten to death with dildos. There are also other bizarre gags involving a reality where chefs are mind-controlled by raccoons that is a clear nod to the Pixar animated film Ratatouille , and there is an afterlife involving a bagel that’s a motif throughout the film. The film’s final 20 minutes or achieves so much poignancy where Eveyln aims find redemption with her family, and the performances by Yeoh, Quan, and Hsu really resonant. Each of these cat members really deliver impressive performances that demand a lot of emotion and physicality.
Each of the performances across the board are quite commanding in their roles. Observing these aspirant filmmakers turn in such great performances with a unique style makes one realize just how thankful we should be to get a film released of such caliber released in in the multi-plex’s. Hat’s off to A24 and the Russo Brother’s production company taking a risk on such a chaotic film. It’s a sci-fi film that mixes many genre elements from sci-fi to kung-fu movies, it’s everything you wanted from the recent Matrix and Marvel films. With that, It ends up finding just the right amount of tenderness and emotional nuance that eventually pays off to something that speaks to the human spirit. While the film overstays its welcome and feels exhausting, its undeniably a unique gem, perhaps the film will age like a fine wine with repeat viewings. Regardless, it’s an innovative and sincere film that leaves me quite eager to see what the Daniels will embark on next.
Although I agree that the film felt unbalanced at times (the second act was very unbalanced pacing wise) I throughly enjoyed this film! The 3rd act feels felt honest and earned for me! I was able to relate to the family structure and their various traumas and felt the wackiness was like a spoonful of sugar! Despite the frenetic nature of the film (and the inconsistency of the directing duo), although far from perfect, this is their best film to date and I can’t wait to watch it again!
There goes Rob being contrarian and going against the grain again. Not everything can be directed by your master Paul Thomas Anderson, Sofia Coppola, or David Lynch.
Last night, my life changed forever in the best way. Why? Because I saw “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” was… EVERYTHING. It was everything I’ve ever hoped cinema could achieve and it made its success upon my mind flawlessly. Rarely, if ever, have I been so extremely intrigued, humored, wounded, disturbed, fitted with existential terror, gripped by the very light of my soul, moved in my darkest heart, transformed in the mind (both consciously and subconsciously), shaken rightfully at the edge of my seat, totally reformed and so on… I don’t even remember the last time I had to do this (perhaps when I was a kid?), but I was so immersed in a couple of the scenes that I had to calm my breathing and tell myself “Relax, KG, this is just a movie…” But no, folks, this was NOT “just a movie.” This is an extraordinary mirror to our own universe; a vehicle to the depths of humanity’s unvanquishable spirit. I kid you not when I say that some sort of evolutionary upgrade has occurred in me since last night. I’m still processing Everything, as it is a lot to carry with me – I’ve been force-fed the Bagel of doom, endured the cycles of many different whimsical universes, cast through the unmerciful spirals of the space time continuum, all to come full-circle right here at home in a theatre.
Seriously, I know that maybe this film isn’t going to be for everyone, but it spoke a language of madness and metaphorix that I thoroughly understood and it is my only hope that someday, somehow, dear reader, this remarkable, nameless, illuminating feeling will be bestowed onto you too from that greatest Guardian of ours that we call cinema. And this is just the BRINK of what I feel about this movie. Bravo! It’s my favorite ever indeed
10/10, utterly fantastic film. Really enjoyed it.
A++ I LOVED this film!!! I’m seeing it again ASAP 😀
Everything’s Everywhere All At Once
Go see it. In theatres. As many times on the big screen that you can.
Wow
It was a fun ride i enjoyed it but I dont get the hype at all there were some crazy and bizzare sequences but thats it. Technically strong one but let down by the mess of a story and acting.
I found this film to be a roller coaster ride. It was imaginative, experimental, energetic and creative giving a nod to Kung Fu films while satirizing the Marvel Multiverse.
Although a zany and outlandish adventure, it compels the audience to contemplate fraught family relationships and the meaning of life. This film was absurd, funny and bewildering. I would give it 3 stars, and 2 thumbs up.
Just saw it on a stream and really had a great time following the absurd premise. It really does remind me of the style of Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” , one of my all-time favorites. Gotta see it again like I did with Gilliam’s films. Is there anything Michelle Yeoh can’t do? Of course it’s a twisted mess of a movie but so was ‘Brazil’ at first viewing. The visual style of this was stunning and so complex. It’s just a lot of fun. Don’t try to analyze the hell out of it. Just go for the ride.
Am in the camp of those which love this film. A visual and artistic feast for the eyes, this film brings great acting and terrific choreography to tell the story about dysfunction in relationships and family and characters working through it. Bravo to the Daniels’ for this film that will likely become a cult classic for those that love the film. Great review in sharing your perspective of the film, Robert.
Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?