A Tale of Love, Family and Existentialism through a bagel hole of chaos: Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

 

Photo credit A24 

Gozie Agbo in conjunction with A24 and Leyline productions decided to bless us in 2022 with this intricately written and beautifully directed film by buddies, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

 

This aptly titled film which really is about Everything from Family to life in general and has the chaotic feel of Everything happening everywhere at the same time applying the concept of Multiverses coupled with existentialism and stars Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, James Hong, Ke Huy Quan, Harry Shum Jr from Glee and Jaime Lee Curtis. 

Photo credit: A24. 

On the surface, Ms. Yeoh plays Evelyn, an incredibly worn out and dissatisfied, Chinese immigrant laundromat owner in her mid-life dealing with her "rebellious" young adult daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu) her timid husband (Ke Huy Quan) and aged ailing father, Gong Gong (James Hong)

We get to witness her marriage and relationship with her daughter crumble before her while she tries unsuccessfully not to annoy taxwoman, Diedre (Jaime Lee Curtis) as she struggles with her taxes.

 

Photo credit: A24. 

The action begins at about 35minutes into the film when Evelyn is in the IRS building lift with her husband on their way to sort their taxes when something bizarre happens to her husband. This eventually leads to a ridiculously hilarious fight scene that would have audiences wondering why this is happening. Now, because of the hype following this film and my total refusal to research it before viewing, I was almost going to walk out 40minutes in because I didn't understand what was going on and the comedy felt a tad too juvenile and was distracting from the story at that point i.e.: the lewd jokes (buttplug award) and "don't let them know your next move challenge" moves done whenever the characters wanted to connect to their multivariate personalities.

 

The film moves from Chinese immigrant drama to Kung Fu comedy reminiscent of Stephen Chow’s works, to sci-fi horror, to an existential art piece, and back again. Then it loops faster and faster, trying not to lose its impatient audience who might be wondering where the directors are going with the story. Unfortunately, as much as this elevates the film out of the usual and ordinary, this could be too much for certain audiences.

 

Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn and Waymond Wang.

The reward comes in almost towards the end of the film when you view the second part titled "Everywhere", which contains one of my favourite scenes that inspired me to eventually publish a very old personal poem of mine which I originally wrote in 2013. It is until after you finish, that the entire thing begins to make sense and then a second viewing becomes much more pleasurable.

 

 The best parts of this film are the acting, cinematography, editing, art direction, and cohesive storytelling, due to how it wraps up neatly in the end. They were no weak characters in this at all. Michelle acted her guts out and Stephanie Hsu stood head-to-head with her incredible performance, especially as Jobu Tupaki, and I hope they get all the positive recognition and praise for this. The entire cast was superb.

 

Michelle Yeoh and James Hong as Evelyn Wang and Gong gong. 

It's quite ignorant when people compare independent films like this with Marvel's “Doctor Strange” once they see Multiverses being featured in them. Meanwhile, films like “Cloud Atlas” and “The Matrix” which this film borrows from have been in existence way before the Multiverse of Madness. And unlike the films it borrows from, EEAAO is quite dark, hilarious, weird, surreal, and yet full of heart.

Having said that, I'm going to end this review by saying that this film is not for everyone. It is going to have polarizing audiences. But if you enjoy absurdist films, appreciate metaphors, and are a huge fan of experimentation in cinema, the experience you will have seeing this would be nearly orgasmic. However, people with ADHD and photosensitive epilepsy should be careful going into this because certain scenes can be quite jarring. I don't know why I'm yet to see any public warnings about this since its release. Also, this film is not suitable for children because of the complexity in which it tells its story and the heaviness of certain themes explored. Some of these include depression, sex, sexuality, familial relationships, divorce, fate, intergenerational differences, and struggles between the old and young. 

Stephanie Hsu and Michelle Yeoh as Jobu Tupaki/Joy and Evelyn Wang. 

Although I'd recommend this as a family film especially for Mothers and daughters, and fathers and sons to see together, if you have preteens, take them to see Disney's "Turning Red" instead.

 

P.s: Resist the urge to not see this on the big screen. This is not the kind of film you stream or watch on small portable devices. You have been advised.

 

                                                                                     written by GodsownM