Movie Details
Movie: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Director: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis
Movie Genres: Sci-fi/Action
Release date: 11 March 2022
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
Languages: English, Mandarin and Cantonese
Duration: 2h 19m
Trailer
Synopsis
Enthusiastic responses from critics and the viewing community also required the release in Czech cinemas, although otherwise no one expected much from this obvious alternative from the A24 studio. The Daniels duo (specifically Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) also impressed the Karlovy Vary audience six years ago, to whom they presented the obscure existential comedy Swiss Army Man . It is perhaps more than clear that the creators behind such a subject could not hold back even a second time.
This time they come up with a topic that has received a lot of attention in the last six months. Thanks to Marvel, the theory of parallel universes (or multiverse for short) has become very popular, but as we discussed in connection with the second Doctor Strange , the comics did not go down the ideal path. In the outlined concept of the multiverse, basically everything is possible, so there is almost nothing to play for. And so, although the Daniels have been dealing with the idea of filming parallel universes for more than a decade, Marvel has overtaken them and they now have to face a huge competition – which they fight more than worthily, since their idea of alternative realities is significantly fresher and more meaningful than in the case of a comic book corporation .
Unlike cartoon supermen and super cats, the heroine here is a completely ordinary woman. On the threshold of sixty, Michelle Yeoh got the role of a lifetime as the owner of a laundromat, who has to face both crumbling family relationships and uncompromising checks from the lamb. Her husband Waymond (after a long time in a major role Ke Huy Quan, known mainly as Shorty from the second Indy ) is thinking about divorce, and her rebellious daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) reminds her mother of the generation gap that exists between hard-working immigrants and the modern generation Z. Offered the space in the supporting role is also used in a fascinating way by the disguised Jamie Lee Curtis as a stubborn clerk from the financier.
Into these unpleasant, but still mundane worries, enters an alternate version of Waymond, who begins to imagine many parallel worlds to the frightened Evelyn. The replaceable aging woman not only learns that in all other realities she has managed to achieve greater success, but what is worse, she is the one who must save the entire multiverse. There is no need to reveal why and how, but she is closely connected with the mad creature Jobu Tupaki, who can destroy all being. The bizarre plot gradually changes many more times, tangles and unravels again, runs into unexpected directions, but still manages to result in a non-banal family drama.
At the same time, the Daniels manage to touch many other genres. The sympathetic core of the relationship is surrounded by a number of well-timed and well-pointed scenes from the comedy matinee, which are connected by battles with careful and imaginative choreography. Some passages seem to have fallen out of an existential horror film, and the whole theme does not deny its sci-fi roots. The amalgam of genres brings to mind The Matrix , Kill Bill or even The Family on Flashlights and thanks to clear references to well-known pop culture motifs, they manage to work with the expected clichés in a novel and subversive way – as soon as the viewer feels that they understand the outlined situation, the authors deliberately ignore the call of conventions and turn the course of the scene in a completely different direction. The space is thus given to hidden raccoons on the head, hotdogs instead of fingers and a bagel as a symbol of nothingness: an endless circle, but in the middle of which there is emptiness. It sounds crazy, and it really is – but it’s also very thoughtful, clever and catchy.
True to its title Everything Everywhere All at Once is a rare example of a film that does everything right – but in the end, perhaps does too much of the right thing. It is surely no coincidence that Evelyn was originally supposed to suffer from ADHD, i.e. attention disorder, the symptoms of which, according to her own words, are shown by (at least) one of the directors. The 140-minute epileptic ride thus becomes so exhausting over time that it becomes an almost superhuman task when fully appreciated for its relational depth. At least a half-hour shortening of the footage (paradoxically, especially in the overly drawn-out finale) or occasional moments of slowing down would definitely benefit the overall experience.
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