Review: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Believe the hype. Everything Everywhere All At Once is that good: I am flabbergasted, amazed, thrilled, and over the moon with this picture. The Daniels have delivered an extraordinary work of art. A combination of genres and emotions bursting through the screen. Actors Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Stephanie Hsu are marvelous throughout. We are thrown into this multiverse of wonder, and I didn’t want to leave. Everything Everywhere is the very definition of a masterpiece. 5-stars.

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There's a great evil spreading throughout the many verses. And you, may be our only chance of stopping it.

Actors Stephanie Hsu, Michelle Yeoh, and Ke Huy Quan.

Where do I even begin with this gift of a movie? Everything Everywhere is a joyous experience of wonder and ecstasy overflowing throughout the theater. The directing duo simply known as the Daniels (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) have created a richly rewarding experience that overloads the senses. Known for their quirky 2016 directorial debut (Swiss Army Man), the sophomore film from this duo has grown in all levels of filmmaking. What weird or absurd concepts that started within Swiss Army Man have been dialed up to 11 in Everything Everywhere. This is a movie that I saw last Thursday, and I am still trying to process it. Everything Everywhere is a movie that moves fast and talks fast, throwing our viewers right into the experience. Everything within this movie felt incredibly refreshing and undeniably imaginative. The scope and scale of this picture was enormous.

Yet, this is also a picture that felt strangely intimate and emotionally resonate. Everything Everywhere is a film from an Asian American perspective, putting a Chinese American family front and center. Actress Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies, Sunshine, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is our fierce protagonist, who just desperately wants to pay her taxes. Evelyn Wang (Yeoh) and her husband (a charming Ke Huy Quan) own a laundromat and are currently being audited by the IRS after Evelyn incorrectly filed her taxes. Evelyn and Waymond (Quan) have a daughter named Joy (a knockout Stephanie Hsu), who has been trying to get her mother to accept her girlfriend, Becky (Tallie Medel). Evelyn's father (the legendary James Hong) also lives with them. I won't go much farther into the plot, but things escalate, and the fate of the universe rests in Evelyn's hands. It was a delight to see Yeoh as our main action protagonist in a Hollywood picture.

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So, even though you have broken my heart yet again, I wanted to say, in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.

Actor Ke Huy Quan

Quan, who is best known for his childhood roles as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and  Data in The Goonies, has made his comeback return to acting with Everything Everywhere. Quan took a break from acting and spent many years behind the camera for Hong Kong and Hollywood. Seeing Quan back on the big screen again was a real joy. He was the film's heart and soul. I also cannot forget about the additional supporting cast, which consists of Jamie Lee Curtis, Harry Shum Jr., and Jenny Slate. What was also refreshing to see was how the Daniels blended a multilingual story into the script. Everything Everywhere used three different languages (English, Mandarin, and Cantonese) throughout the movie. The blending of these languages came off as authentic and natural. Many people and many families are multilingual. My sister, Tatiana, is bilingual and can easily jump back and forth between Spanish and English. The representation in this movie is also important. Here we have multigenerational stories from the perspective of Millennials, Boomers, and LGBTQ characters. On top of that, the Daniels brilliantly mixed multiple aspect ratios into the different storylines. It was a meditative experience.

The humor was also a sensation throughout this film. The Daniels' zany and quirky humor blossomed, and I laughed multiple times during the 139 minute runtime. The emotional core and the story's heart shine brightly throughout, leaving one a little choked up at the end. The Daniels' directing is a force unmatched. Their keen filmmaking skills and craftsmanship that went into this picture are worthy all on their own. In addition, the camerawork and editing were spectacular scene after scene. I also cannot get over the superb mixing of genres into this film. It was a combination of action, drama, comedy, science fiction, and martial arts. What an electrifying film that's one for the ages. As of right now, this is the best movie I have seen this year. And it will be hard to top this one. Everything Everywhere is a sensational picture that is beautiful, imaginative, and bold. I hope people are talking about this movie until the end of time. In the end, Everything Everywhere All At Once is everything I wanted from a movie and more, googly eyes and all.

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Across the multiverse, I've seen thousands of Evelyns. If you imagine it, somewhere out there it exists.

Actress Stephanie Hsu

Everything Everywhere All At Once is rated R (Restricted) For Some Violence | Sexual Material | Language.

Experience this masterpiece only in theaters.

Directed by Daniels

Starring Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, and Jamie Lee Curtis.