Want to inject your next date night or friends’ night out with a dazzling dose of cinematic – well – everything?
Everything Everywhere All at Once could be the film for you. A treat for the senses from A24 Studios, this achingly modern story follows Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh), a struggling Chinese American mother, wife, and business owner, as she is thrust from the bleak concerns of her ailing life into new possibilities unlocked when she accesses versions of herself from alternate timelines. Ultimately, her ability to move between them pits her against a force that threatens to destroy everything.
It is a rare feat for one film to boast (all at once) excellent representation, the gloriously choreographed fight scenes of a Marvel movie, a plot steeped in emotionally discerning metaphor and Ladybird-like gravitas and visual whimsy that never lets the watcher brood for too long. Among many favorite moments were a masterful 2001: A Space Odyssey reference, a drawn-out close shot of a man chomping down on a tube of Chapstick and a fourth wall-shattering movie theater scene.
“I thought the way they explored the possibilities of existing in multiple dimensions was super interesting,” said audience member Payton Asch. “Overall, a really fascinating premise.”
While the film runs slightly too long at around 140 minutes and certainly earns its R rating through visual gags and violence, in the end they don’t detract from the timely focus of the story: changing family dynamics, the increasing sense of overwhelm that permeates modern life, and where on earth (or maybe, more fittingly, in alternate timelines) we can ever expect to find fulfillment that feels real.
Movie times: click here for showtimes
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Director: Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Writer: Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Stars: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis
Rating: R
Running Time: 2h 20m
Trailer:
