Everything Everywhere All at Once
A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once is in theaters at time of publication.
SCREENPLAY: A
I took my son to see Everything Everywhere All at Once. It’s fun. It’s unpredictable. We loved it. When we got home, my wife asked us what it was about, and we had no idea how to answer that question. The film thunders and spirals and flips you around for 140 minutes. It’s wild. It nearly goes off the rails every second. It swings so far to the edge that you’re nearly thrown from your seat. It’s a roller coaster of a movie - you will arrive at the end a little out of breath, a touch nauseous, but grateful to be alive and telling all your friends they totally have to try it.
ACTING: A
Everyone is incredible. Michelle Yeoh is asked to do everything, everywhere, all at once and she nails it. all Her voice and her posture perfectly express her multiple states of mind, which at any moment could be anything. She said once she saw the script, she knew she had been waiting for this movie her whole career. Once I saw the movie, I felt the same.
Ke Huy Quan is back and better than ever. Stephanie Hsu is a revelation. Jamie Lee Curtis is a goddess who luckily for us acts in movies once in a while to pass the time. There are no misses in this category.
CRAFT: A
It’s always a joy to behold masters of absurdity wield their magic. The film starts off with a bang. A sweet shot of a family singing karaoke, reflected in a mirror. The camera dives through the looking glass and into the chaotic home office of two immigrant laundromat tax auditees. That camera move immediately announces that this film will be bonkers.
The editing drives that absurdity to race car velocity. Nothing stays on screen long enough for us to take a breath and ponder, “What does that mean?” or “Why is that there?” We’re off to the next bizarre thing too quickly. Luckily for us, anything important will be repeated once or twice again - a lifeline in a sea of lunacy.
Another lifeline is the costuming. Different Evelyns and Waymonds move through their different worlds in different ways. We first meet Evelyn and Waymond, those immigrant laundromat tax auditees, in outfits that possess zero fashion sense. Everything they do seems to be the bare minimum for functioning in this world. Their clothing is no different. Each time we meet a new Evelyn and Waymond, their unique essences are fully displayed by their varied wardrobe. We never need to stop and wonder which multiverse we’re in.
CONFUSION (Elective Class): A
Confusion can be a good thing or a bad thing. Wondering what the secret ingredient in Aunt Ginny’s Death by Chocolate is? Good confusion. Frantically trying to remember which pedal is the gas and which is the brake during your driver’s test? Bad confusion.
As I wrote a while back, Morbius was the bad kind of confusing. I compare that movie to a puzzle, where some of the pieces are missing. The pieces it does have are randomly shoved together. The final picture doesn’t make sense when compared to the picture on the box cover. It’s fun, but it’s a mess.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is the good kind of confusing. All of its pieces are there. They fit together perfectly. They produce the picture the filmmakers wanted. Sure, this picture is crazy, kooky, wacky, and dare I say, deranged. But it’s a complete picture, and it’s fascinating.
FINAL COMMENTS:
If there’s a fair criticism of this film, it’s that it tries to cram too many enormous ideas into one movie. I would say it depends. It all may be too much to understand completely, but it’s not too much to enjoy. Do you need to understand everything? If you can’t enjoy something without understanding it, you may find this film frustrating. If you can, prepare to be astonished, grossed out, and delighted at every turn - both in the movie, and in life.