There aren’t many guarantees in life beyond these three: death, taxes, and (maybe) never-ending laundry. At least, that’s where the protagonists of “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once,” a new film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as the Daniels), start out. But then they go through the looking glass into the multiverse and have an emotional, philosophical, extremely bizarre experience where they gain metaphysical insight. Michelle Yeoh provides a masterful performance as Evelyn Wang, the tired owner of a laundrette who is the subject of an Internal Revenue Service audit, in this ode to the genre film. When we first see her, she’s sharing a joyful moment with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) and their baby Joy (Stephanie Hsu). We look at a mirror on the wall of their living room and notice their happy reflections.
Evelyn’s smile fades as the camera pans beyond her in the mirror and focuses on her sitting at a table covered in invoices from her business dealings. She is concurrently trying to prepare cuisine for a Chinese New Year party that will suit the exacting standards of her visiting father, Gong Gong, and meet the auditor’s auditing requirements (James Hong, Wiley as ever). Evelyn’s glum daughter Joy wants to invite her boyfriend Becky (Tallie Medel) to the party, while Evelyn’s husband wants to discuss the status of their marriage and Evelyn is already stressed over her father’s arrival and the tax audit. Whenever Evelyn starts to feel overwhelmed by life, another form of Waymond from the “Alpha verse” shows up to cheer her up. In this world, humanity can “verse leap” and face off against Jobu Tupaki, an agent of chaos from across the multiverse. All of Evelyn’s preconceived notions about her life, her failings, and her love for her family are soon challenged as she is thrown into a universe-hopping journey.
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The bulk of the story takes place at an Internal Revenue Service building in Simi Valley (which, as a Californian, had me in stitches), where Evelyn faces off against IRS agent Diedre (Jamie Lee Curtis, having a blast) and a squadron of security guards, as well as potentially everyone she’s ever known. Jason Kisvarday, the production designer, creates a seemingly unending workplace packed with cubicles where everything from a paper trimmer’s blade to an auditor of the year trophy in the shape of a butt plug is fair game in a quest to preserve the cosmos. The rapid pace of the editing by Paul Rogers is a perfect fit for the rapid-fire dialogue in the script, which sees many worlds collapsing into one another and driving Evelyn further on her inward trip. The worlds are linked together in a smooth and consistent manner thanks to the match cuts, and the film’s core comedy is highlighted by the humorous cuts.
Each universe has its own visual style and atmosphere, influenced by the decisions made and not taken by the player, with cheeky cinematic allusions ranging from “The Matrix” to “The Fall” to “2001: A Space Odyssey” to “In the Mood for Love” to “Ratatouille.” It also pays tribute to Michelle Yeoh’s own career by referencing her time in Hong Kong action films and the wuxia classic “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Andy and Brian Le’s combat choreography has a balletic elegance to it, thanks to cinematographer Larkin Seiple’s use of wide views that fill the screen with entire bodies. Yeoh is the film’s main attraction; her part highlights her extensive acting chops, from exquisite martial arts to superb comic timing to the capacity to explore unfathomable layers of complex human feeling, often with only a glance or a reaction. She’s a big deal in Hollywood, and the filmmakers of this film are well aware of it. Seeing her light up the room and plainly enjoy herself moved me to tears more than once.
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Similar to how Evelyn draws from Yeoh’s mythology, Quan’s singular career might be seen to include echoes of Waymond. His comedic timing as young actors in “The Goonies” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” is evident in his portrayal of Evelyn’s nebbish husband. Alpha’s smooth action hero, who can use a fanny pack to take out a swarm of assailants, is a testament to his profession as a battle organiser. You may find him in the world where he plays the smooth one who got away even during his stint as an associate director on “2046” with Wong Kar Wai. Quan expertly handles these variants, infusing each with sadness and acting as a subtle reminder that compassion is powerful. Joy, Evelyn and Waymond’s daughter, turns out to be the pivotal character as their parents’ love goes through ebbs and flows throughout alternate realities. With a career-defining turn by Stephanie Hsu, Joy is a metaphor for the widening gap between the generations.
Evelyn’s broken bond with her grandfather and the unfulfilled promise of the American ideal are burdens that Joy must bear. Her mother found her daughter’s sexuality as strange as the nation itself when they first met. All that Eveyln had given up for her to have better opportunities in life made her aimlessness all the more of a letdown. Because of this tension, a revolt of epic proportions breaks out, reaching beyond universes to a place where a gigantic everything bagel looms like a black hole, poised to swallow everything up. The Daniels argue that unconditional love passed down through generations may help fill the hole caused by accumulated trauma, but only if we prioritise empathy and understanding over criticism and scorn. Even if an order can be restored only temporarily, it’s such times that we should treasure most. Happier times were shared with friends and family. They might develop gradually at times. Sometimes, they all occur simultaneously. This report was written directly from the premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. The movie will be released to the public on March 25.