Everything Everywhere All at Once is a 2022 American absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. It follows a woman being audited by the IRS who discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from causing the destruction of the multiverse. I would just like to say that I loved this film. The film is a funny yet deeply profound look at life and the hilarious wonderful absurdity of our own existence.
The Direction in the film is great. All the actors do a great job in the film of both questioning and accepting the absurdity of the advents that play out throughout the film. The mood of the film perfectly fits into this with it being over the top and crazy but genially funny throughout. The film makes a great use of stylization. The absurd nature of what is happening in the film is put on full display and really sells the heightened reality of the film.
The acting in the film is great. Muchelle Yeoh does a great job as Evelyn Quan Wang, a dissatisfied and overwhelmed laundromat owner. She plays a character who is ultimately dissatisfied with her life and doesn’t want to deal with the fate of the universe at first but over the course of the film she becomes firstly a unreluctant hero then a surprising savour of humanity. Stephanie Hsu does a good job as Joy Evelyn’s daughter. She is ultimately dissatisfied with her life and a rift has been created between her and her mother which ultimately drives the plot. Ke Huy Quan does a good job as Waymond Wang Evelyns husband who acts both as a comedic character and as someone who helps Evelyn through the multiverse. Jamie Lee Curtis does a good job as Derdre an IRS inspector and a sort of villain of the film.
The writing in the film is good. The plot is complex however I never felt lost or confused within the story. The film manages to balance comedy and drama perfectly. The film delves into genuinely deep and philosophical themes whilst also keeping a funny light-hearted tine thought-out the film. The cinematography in the film is good. The film has a create creative use of visuals. The use of camera angels and edit are great and really help to sell the surreal world of the film.
The special effects are also good. The film utilises a lot of visual styles in the film and all of them are pulled of well. The film feels truly unique in its vials and to pull of this varying degree of unique style all situation on film is a big achievement.
Overall, Everything Everywhere All at Once is a great film. It is a funny, surreal, and moving celebration of the absurdity of life.