Everything Everywhere All At Once Early Review

In the year 1999, Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman crafted the revolutionary head-trip Being John Malkovich, a film that audiences could not get enough of. It was a bizarre, yet enthralling moviegoing experience that was miraculously able to bring all of its conflicting ideas together in perfect harmony. Ever since, cinephiles have been starved for another film to come along that is as ambitious, bizarre and successful in executing its crazy ideas in a poignant fashion. Ladies and gentlemen, cue the Daniels brilliant sophomore effort Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert rose to prominence after the release of their wonderfully bizarre directorial debut Swiss Army Man. The film was branded as an oddball buddy comedy where in an effort to escape his Wizarding World roots, Daniel Radcliffe portrays a farting corpse that is utilized as a swiss army knife of sorts. While that description may be shockingly accurate, the film was a far more thoughtful and somber film than anyone had expected, tackling themes of existential dread, loneliness and the importance of friendship. While Swiss Army Man had its missteps and certainly wasn’t for everyone, it established Kwan and Scheinert as two of the most creative and promising filmmakers currently working.

That being said, Everything Everywhere All At Once completely delivers on the promise the Daniels showcased in the past, transforming them from exciting newcomers to household names. The film stars Yeoh as Evelyn Wang, an unfulfilled Chinese-American woman working at her family owned laundromat business. At a point in her life where it seems like everything is falling apart, she is recruited by a version of her husband Waymond (Quan) from another universe, to embark on a multi-dimensional quest and save the multiverse from an evil force known as the Jobu Tupaki (Hsu).

Much like its title suggests, Everything Everywhere All At Once is an assault on the senses, in the best way possible. The Daniels throw every wacky idea and absurd joke they can come up with at the wall and miraculously bring it all together in a cohesive and surprisingly palatable fashion. It’s almost impossible to begin to describe the sheer scope and ambition of the Daniels sophomore effort. The film slips in and out of genre confines at a rapid speed, finding depth in absurd humor and comedy in the most dramatic of situations. It’s one of the most poignant explorations of romance in years, taking influence from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to the filmography of Wong Kar Wai. The story delivers a relatable and funny look at a dysfunctional family, with strong Asian representation and a celebration of Asian culture. It’s a large-scale, multi-dimensional science fiction film, with fantasy and action-adventure elements. The film also sees The Daniels pay tribute to martial arts films, with some exhilarating action sequences that will have audiences jumping out of their seats.

From a technical and craft perspective, Everything Everywhere All At Once is very innovative and deserves recognition in the below the line categories at next year’s Oscars. The production design and costume design in particular help to distinguish all of the different dimensions that the film explores. Meanwhile, the film is an impressive feat of editing, remaining extremely fast-paced and detailed while somehow managing to stay focused and not leave audiences in the dust.

Yeoh is an extremely accomplished actress who has a versatile filmography including comedies, blockbusters, and awards caliber films. However, this may live on as her defining role as an actress, as it feels like her entire career has been leading up to this exact moment. With this film, she applies everything she has learned from her experiences working a plethora of roles over the course of her career as Evelyn, delivering a funny, physically difficult and multi-layered performance. The Daniels also cast Quan, a child actor of The Goonies and Indiana Jones fame, who had recently come out of retirement after over twenty years of radio silence. He is fantastic as Waymond, showing a genuine love and enthusiasm for the art of acting. Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis are also standouts in their respective roles as Joy Wang/Tupaki and Deirdre Beaubeirdra respectively, each brining a surprising amount of depth to their characters.

In the end, Everything Everywhere All At Once is a truly indescribable moviegoing experience that needs to be seen on the big screen. The Daniels are geniuses who have crafted a creative masterpiece that will likely go on to be considered one of the essential films of the decade.

still courtesy of Elevation Pictures

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Tristan French