Everything Everywhere All At Once

Directors: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., Tallie Medel
Running Time: 140 min.
Rating: R   

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

With a still growing reputation that precedes it, such a deafening buzz surrounds Everything Everywhere All at Once that by the time you get around to watching it, it's easy to be intimidated by all the build up. Starting conventionally enough, we're introduced to the Chinese American immigrant family the story revolves around, accompanied by a certain amount of relief that this may not be as insane or unintelligible as everyone's saying. Then it happens. There's an early moment that forces us to reevaluate that notion, as there's barely enough time to process our thoughts before the ride actually starts, careening off the rails with reckless abandon. 

The story goes in a number of crazy directions, dipping in and out of dimensions, parallel universes and multiverses while crossing over various genres not strictly limited to sci-fi or fantasy. But the most shocking thing is that despite pummeling our senses with a frenetic onslaught of dark comedy, domestic drama and martial arts for nearly two and a half hours, there's a method to the madness. It somehow makes sense because the film remains at its core about a family's relatable struggles, no matter how that happens to manifest itself at any rapidly changing instant. 

Much like the many universes and choices not taken by the protagonist, you could envision an another take on this story that would function as a straightforward character drama examining the Asian immigrant experience. It would still probably be a great achievement, but unnecessary considering we get that anyway, on top of everything else. Writer/directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known collectively as "Daniels") take a huge, ambitious swing for the fences that pretty much guarantees it won't all work, which is okay. Then again, it's hard to expect anything less from the team who concocted 2016's bizarre, far from forgettable Swiss Army Man, of which this shares similar, yet entirely different DNA.   

Years ago in China, Evelyn Quan Wang (Michelle Yeoh) fell in love with Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan), eventually eloping to the United States against her strict, traditional father Gong Gong's (James Hong) wishes. Now running a family laundromat that's currently being audited, they're struggling to make ends meet, as Waymond plans to serve Evelyn with divorce papers. With her dad wheelchair bound and living with them, she has also a seriously strained relationship with gay daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu), who wants her mother to accept her relationship with non-Chinese girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel), a detail Evelyn hides from Gong Gong. 

Following a disastrous meeting with sullen IRS auditor Deirdre Beaubeirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis), Waymond's suddenly overtaken by an another version of himself from an alternate universe (the "Alphaverse"). This "Alpha-Waymond" must recruit this Evelyn to use "verse-jumping" technology to access skills and memories of her parallel selves to defeat the villainous Jobu Tupaki, who's created a black (bagel) hole that threatens the multiverse.  As Evelyn uses her newly acquired powers to fight Jobu and an army of followers, her consciousness spans across wildly different universes, as she's given glimpses of into what could have been. In coming face-to-face with Jobu she soon realizes the enemy she was battling wasn't who or what she thought, and it might not be too late to save her family from surrendering to a nihilistic, self-destructive existence.

Any description will make the film sound substantially more convoluted and inaccessible than it actually is, but that fact still doesn't make this any less of a challenge for viewers, from which a lot is demanded. Practically from the jump, the story moves at a breakneck, unrelenting pace before the actual craziness really kicks in. Part of why most of this works is because the Daniels seamlessly introduce this family's dynamic and set the table well enough that you're invested in their plight right away, especially Evelyn's. From that point on, you're willing to follow them through whatever rabbit hole they're dragged down. And there's many of them.

Buried in piles of receipts and completely oblivious to the kind but meek Waymond's half-hearted attempt at initiating a divorce, Evelyn's life is a mess, made no better by a difficult relationship with her father that's now repeating itself with daughter Joy. It's all prologue to what unfolds in that IRS office, when her existence is turned upside down with the arrival of Alpha-Waymond, briefly entering an awkward period where we're trying to figure out if sensational kung fu fights, fanny pack attacks and a villainous auditor of the month stalking the Wangs like Godzilla are meant to be taken literally. It turns out they are. 

Once that's established, what follows becomes a bit easier to take in, with characters popping in and out as actors take on different roles and the multiverse concept provides endless opportunities for a dizzying amount of callbacks and gags. These range from hilarious (A Ratatouille parody with a raccoon, rocks with googly eyes), to intentionally repetitive (hot dog hands), or sometimes just plain disgusting (you know the ones), but there's a usually a narrative reasoning behind them that exceeds mere shock value. 

The martial arts fight scenes are mind blowing in how even some of the cheaper CGI works to further enhance and reflect the film's tone and style, almost as if anything that looked better would only defeat the purpose. Kwan and Scheinert definitely make the most of what they have, and considering the budget, much of what we see on screen does looks very good, with all the dimension hopping containing moments of recognition and joy that will have you leaning forward in your seat. 

The biggest beneficiary is Yeoh, who not only gets to use all the skills that's made her a top action star, but gets to flex certain dramatic and comedic muscles that have gone completely unexplored in any previous role. Struggling with her own shortcomings and disappointment in fully connecting with her family, Evelyn even has a timeline wherein she's a movie star not unlike the actress playing her, as actual red carpet footage and clips of Yeoh are briefly but smoothly inserted in.

Sometimes when an actor makes a big return after a long layoff it can result in disappointment, competing with audiences' memories of how they were once perceived. And if they were a child, it's only further compounded by that seemingly insurmountable nostalgia factor. These unfair expectations are moot in the case of Ke Huy Quan, or as he's best known, Short Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Data from The Goonies. What's so wonderful about his performance is that all the enthusiasm and comedic likability he brought to those roles has not only been entirely retained as an actor over fifty, but fully woven into the fabric of Waymond's character.

That Quan worked as a stunt choreographer had to help in the many action scenes but it's how he manages to balance these different versions of the character from scene-to-scene that leaves the most lasting impression. Whether he's Beta-Wayond goofing off in the laundromat to make his wife's day brighter or Alpha-Waymond guiding Evelyn toward unlocking her full potential, we're buying every second of it. And as an alternate, more debonair Waymond, he delivers the film's most powerful line as both he and Evelyn attempt to make sense of their unmarried existence in a scene reminiscent of a Wong Kar-wai film. At first, 93-year-old legend James Hong initially seems as if he'll be relegated to the sidelines until his Gong Gong emerges as a key antagonist, enabling the veteran actor to also cleverly send up up his most famous role in Big Trouble in Little China. 

Stephanie Hsu is the big breakout, albeit in a far different capacity than Yeoh. The antithesis of her name, Joy's given up all hope and believes nothing matters in the face of her mother's constant criticisms and disapproval. Playing dual roles, Hsu gets to do more than wear crazy costumes and kick ass, somehow merging two seemingly disparate personalities into one, often heartbreakingly. It's only as the film wears on that we realize how important Hsu's performance is to the movie's themes as a whole, which in between its laughs goes dark enough to earn serious consideration as a timely metaphor for suicidal depression. And deftly handling a supporting part unlike anything we've seen her in, Jamie Lee Curtis figures into the equation in constantly surprising ways, delivering a delightfully odd turn. 

You have to wonder what directors like Richard Kelly, David Robert Mitchell, Edgar Wright and Darren Aronofsky must be thinking right now, having each gone down a similarly ambitious route with follow-up projects just as visionary and off-putting, only to be met with varying degrees of ridicule that impacted their careers. But if it's any conciliation, without those titles there's a decent chance we wouldn't have gotten this, or at least the uncompromising version of it that A24 released. That it's broken through like this probably has a lot to do with the universal themes of humanity and culture it hits on, as well as the complicated relationship between mothers and daughters. hammered home with an ending (or two or three) that feels earned for the characters.

Undeniably lengthy and sometimes overly reliant on gross-out toilet humor, Everything still manages to come together beautifully, subverting the tropes currently associated with overblown superhero spectacles. It also provides an enduring lead showcase for a long overdue talent while featuring one of the most welcome acting comebacks in years. This won't be for everyone, as the rest test comes in repeated viewings when we discover whether it really is too much and could have used a more focused, disciplined approach. That's possible, but the entire experience just wouldn't be nearly as much fun without all the chaos.