The multiverse takes a different angle in Everything Everywhere All at Once from A24. Michelle Yeoh top lines the film and portrays Evelyn Quan Wang, an exhausted Chinese American woman who cannot seem to finish her taxes. Her marriage to Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) is on the rocks, and she is having trouble accepting her daughter Joy’s (Stephanie Hsu) same-sex relationship.
While at a tax appointment with IRS agent Deidre Beaubeirdra (Jamie Lee Curtis), something mysterious happens to Waymond and an interdimensional rupture unravels reality. This forces Evelyn into an unlikely hero who must channel her newfound powers to fight bizarre and bewildering dangers from the multiverse as the world’s fate is uncertain.
That is all you need to know about Everything Everywhere All at Once, and I would advise viewers to go into the film blind. Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as “Daniels”) write and direct the film, combining numerous film genres. Science fiction, martial arts action, and family all come together to deliver one of the most unique and original films of 2022.
Everyone in the film gets a moment to shine, and in viewing the movie with my son, I had a smile on my face the entire time. The movie moves at a fast pace, yet it never feels like it is trying to accomplish too much. The Daniels are confident in the audience’s ability to handle the film’s frantic approach, so they never back down from any of its outlandish notions.
Sure to become a cult classic and referenced for years to come, Everything Everywhere All at Once is a must-see.
Final Grade: A
Eggers masterfully crafts a narrative that explores the fine line between desire and destruction, drawing viewers into the emotional turmoil of his characters. The cinematography is breathtaking, with shadowy landscapes and hauntingly lit interiors that evoke a sense of dread and anticipation. Every frame of the film feels meticulously composed, a testament to Eggers’ commitment to his craft.
The film opens by introducing us to an American soldier named Jake (Green), who is seconds away from being executed while on her latest top-secret mission. While Jake is rescued, her team ends up losing their lives, adding to Jake’s PTSD. A few years later, during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a group of schoolgirls was taken hostage in Afghanistan. Jake’s old boss, Travis (Christopher Backus), recruits her to join an all-women commando unit to liberate them.
Mangold sets the film in the influential New York music scene of the early 1960s and centers on a 19-year-old musician from Minnesota named Bob Dylan, portrayed by Timothée Chalamet. It follows Dylan’s meteoric rise as a folk singer to concert halls and the top of the charts, as his songs and charisma become a worldwide sensation. The narrative culminates in his groundbreaking electric rock and roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.