Agreed, that title is very weird. You, dear readers, may be scratching your head in confusion and bafflement. Honey, you don’t even know the half of it. Trust me, this was my first feeling when I saw the trailer for Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. The latest from distributor A24 in theaters, we should know a bit of what we are in for if you saw my reviews for The Lighthouse or The Green Knight. Arthouse and avant-garde are the best descriptions for their output. And this release is no exception.
Despite all the surreal trappings this film is, at its heart, a domestic drama. Michelle Yeoh plays Evelyn, the matriarch of a Chinese-American family, holding together their laundromat business and household. On the morning of the Chinese New Year, their holdings are under investigation by the IRS and are about to be audited. Her husband, played by Ke Huy Quen, is finding his life difficult. Trying to find her way, Evelyn’s daughter Joy wants to be open about her relationship with Becky. Everything seems to come to a head with an Internal Revenue agent, an unhinged Jamie Lee Curtis.
However, without warning, her husband changes personality and claims to be from another universe. A slip of the veil set in motion. Evelyn is asked to save multiple universes before it is too late, splinters that form and she must pull it all together along with her fractured family. Using ordinary objects like Bluetooth headsets and fanny packs Evelyn and others jump universes and gain skills to fight off minions with video game fervor. A version of her daughter is a villain within the greater cosmic order. It’s easy to see the many allegorical connections Evelyn makes manifest.
The filmmaking duo simply known as Daniels, in only their third feature film, find exponential possibilities within the art of cinema. In their first movie, Swiss Army Man, the main character was stuck on an island with a corpse hilariously played by Harry Potter himself. That dead body, however, is a tool for chopping wood and becoming a raft. Even its flatulence becomes useful. Bizarre as it is the corpse transforms into a fully-fledged character, a Friday to Paul Dano’s Robinson Crusoe. Here in Everything, Everywhere, we are in Oz.
Much like the 1939 film, more than Frank Baum’s novel, doppelgängers of Evelyn’s family members are her Tin Men and Wicked Witches. The directors’ great love of film history is clear as each universe are revealed. They stand on the shoulders of The Matrix, the films of Michel Gondry, music videos. A game of Where’s Waldo with references, the Daniels reward more for active participants. No passive viewers need apply. Asian influences are clear as well; the martial art spectacle of Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee, the almost-Monty Python humor of Stephen Chow and Wong Kar-Wai’s hazy romance.
But all this only works with the right cast. Michele Yeoh is the perfect choice here. Her range as an actress is stretched like a balloon animal, into varying shapes. A clearly underrated performer, the scenes between her family members are heart-wrenching. A smile is easy to have at the sight of Quan as her husband, a welcome return of an actor not seen since Indiana Jones and The Goonies. Stephanie Hsu shifts from alienated daughter to a manic antagonist with ease. In watching the credits, seeing the Russo brothers as producers makes sense. Having crafted the very conversational Marvel universe, you can see how they would admire what Dan Kwan and Daniel Sheinert are creating. A very expansive film about what our choices mean for us and others, it’s less about outer space and more about inner. Anywhere you splice and dice, we are presented with some happy viewing.
