← Back to Reviews
in
That's how one of the main characters of Everything Everywhere All at Once (or rather her "evil" counterpart) describes this "tortured" multiverse reality they're living, but it could also be used to describe the plot of the film. I mean, a Chinese-American immigrant (Michelle Yeoh) is being audited by the IRS when she discovers her connection with multiple universes, including one where people have hot-dog fingers; a connection she has to use to save these universes from being destroyed by her alternate father and daughter, and a floating bagel. Whoosh!
Really, it's not that its complex, just that it is too many silly and absurd things thrown at once. The overload from the story and the fights and the frenetic rhythm of the film, all screaming for your attention might not be for everyone. Fractured moments, contradictions, and confusion, one might say; with only a few specks of time where anything actually makes any sense, and I'm not necessarily saying it in a bad way. I discovered this film was written and directed by the same guys that did Swiss Army Man shortly after watching it, and I went like "yeah, it figures".
So if you're into fast-paced absurdism, then this might be for you. But as far as I'm concerned, what kept this film afloat was the emotional anchor provided by the characters, especially Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, who play Yeoh's husband and daughter respectively. KHQ gives an incredibly endearing and charismatic performance, but Hsu really digs deep into the heart and emotion of this "fractured" character to which nothing actually makes any sense. As fun as Jamie Lee Curtis was as a relentless IRS agent, I see no universe in which her performance was better than Hsu's.
I commend the Daniels for staying true to their quirky ideas, but to be honest, I think that the emotional weight of the film was sometimes drowned by all the things that they throw at the audience screaming for our attention. Now that they won every single Oscar, I suppose they'll swing even harder, but I think a bit of restraint wouldn't have been a bad thing here. Even though I was never fully there, I cherished those specks of time where something, anything, made any sense for me.
Grade:
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
(2022, Daniels)
(2022, Daniels)
"Not a single moment will go by without every other universe screaming for your attention. Never fully there. Just a lifetime of fractured moments, contradictions, and confusion. With only a few specks of time where anything actually makes any sense."
That's how one of the main characters of Everything Everywhere All at Once (or rather her "evil" counterpart) describes this "tortured" multiverse reality they're living, but it could also be used to describe the plot of the film. I mean, a Chinese-American immigrant (Michelle Yeoh) is being audited by the IRS when she discovers her connection with multiple universes, including one where people have hot-dog fingers; a connection she has to use to save these universes from being destroyed by her alternate father and daughter, and a floating bagel. Whoosh!
Really, it's not that its complex, just that it is too many silly and absurd things thrown at once. The overload from the story and the fights and the frenetic rhythm of the film, all screaming for your attention might not be for everyone. Fractured moments, contradictions, and confusion, one might say; with only a few specks of time where anything actually makes any sense, and I'm not necessarily saying it in a bad way. I discovered this film was written and directed by the same guys that did Swiss Army Man shortly after watching it, and I went like "yeah, it figures".
So if you're into fast-paced absurdism, then this might be for you. But as far as I'm concerned, what kept this film afloat was the emotional anchor provided by the characters, especially Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, who play Yeoh's husband and daughter respectively. KHQ gives an incredibly endearing and charismatic performance, but Hsu really digs deep into the heart and emotion of this "fractured" character to which nothing actually makes any sense. As fun as Jamie Lee Curtis was as a relentless IRS agent, I see no universe in which her performance was better than Hsu's.
I commend the Daniels for staying true to their quirky ideas, but to be honest, I think that the emotional weight of the film was sometimes drowned by all the things that they throw at the audience screaming for our attention. Now that they won every single Oscar, I suppose they'll swing even harder, but I think a bit of restraint wouldn't have been a bad thing here. Even though I was never fully there, I cherished those specks of time where something, anything, made any sense for me.
Grade: