Everything Everywhere All at Once

Rarely do I ever get the feeling that a film might rise to the heights of Donnie Darko for me: a classic cult film which I adore more with each subsequent screening. But I have a clear feeling about that with Everything Everywhere All at Once. Directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert create a multiverse world where each main character lives thousands of lives in alternative universes. In the original universe Michelle Yeoh’s Evelyn inhabits a sad existence running a failing laundromat with her husband who’s about to serve her divorce papers while they are audited by IRS. The agent is played by a fabulously unrecognizable Jamie Lee Curtis. Stephanie Hsu plays Evelyn’s lesbian daughter Joy whose multiple characters become a huge force in the film. Ke Huy Quan plays Evelyn’s husband Waymond, the soul and teacher of the story. There are also wonderful featured roles from Tallie Medel as Joy’s girlfriend Becky, Harry Shum Jr. as Chad the chef, and James Hong as Gong Gong, Evelyn’s Dad. I’m not sure how much plot I really want to give away in this review. I will say this – Evelyn’s called upon to assist the entire multiverse system. Her other lives explore all different paths she might have taken and provide dazzling glitz to this frenetic Sci-Fi extravaganza of a film. Full disclosure, I first watched this after working a full week and then working a Saturday, so I fell asleep first try. But then watched it eyes wide open the following day, fully awake and am in awe. The great thing about Everything Everywhere All at Once to me is they take some majorly recognizable Sci-Fi/Action/Adventure tropes and turn them inside out. The real power is not in violence but in love and kindness. I cheered over the film once I realized where it was taking me. What a ride. You owe it to yourself to check out the glorious, genre-busting deliciousness of Everything Everywhere All at Once. Just go ahead and hand Michelle Yeoh all the acting awards for this year. There another sassy sentence I want to add to this review, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise, so for now my lips are sealed. 5 out of 5.

Everything Everywhere All at Once currently streams for a rental fee on various platforms and is free on disk from your local public library.