Joy in the Chaos: A Review of EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

Rating: 🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯

Every day, every decision we make (or don’t) creates a path unexplored. Often, as I daydream, the “what ifs” of my life can turn into small, unknowable universes swirling away in my mind. It’s a bittersweet, but dizzying concept: multiple selves existing simultaneously across space and time. Everything Everywhere All At Once takes the heartbreaking, mind-melting, and sometimes silly potential of being able to actually step into those selves and finds the connection and joy in it all in the face of an indifferent universe. 

Average Chinese-American business owner Evelyn Wong (Michelle Yeoh, in a stunning turn), learns about the existence of the multiverse on the same day her family business is getting audited by the IRS. An already stressful day becomes overwhelming as she learns from a different version of her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan, in a welcome and incredible return to the screen), that there is a powerful being threatening all of the multiverses in the universe and this specific Evelyn is the only one who can stop it. Using technology that allows her to access the memories and talents of her alternate selves, Evelyn confronts the full chaos of the universe — and we’re along for the ride. I won’t say much more about the plot, because it’s too weird and wonderful to spoil here (I haven’t even talked about Jamie Lee Curtis, who’s wonderful in this), but I can talk about the deep love and awe I felt watching it.

The duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as DANIELS, previously known for their 2016 feature Swiss Army Man), have done something truly radical here. They went full force on the multiverse on their own terms, unbeholden to IP demands or conventions of what a multiverse story should be, and built something meaningful in the madness. The worlds they create in Everything, the worlds the Wongs inhabit across time and space, are so rich, so varied, and so silly, they are destined to not work together — and yet they do! Here there is room for everything: there are hot dog fingers, butt-plug martial arts set-pieces, a romance in the style of Wong Kar-wai, and it all makes sense. It’s a love letter to all kinds of movies, but it’s also an earnest reminder that in the chaos of our existence, the most powerful thing we can do for each other is care for one another. There is no part of this movie that could be taken out, because the whole point of the movie is that the chaos of life goes hand-in-hand with joy. It is all essential! It's through our connection with each other that we can get through the challenges of being alive.

Ultimately, it's empathy, love, and care for each other that can help us all move through our universes with joy. In anyone else’s hands, this point might be corny or saccharine but here it’s a message that resonates. Everything insists that even when it feels like nothing matters, it's how we pause and care for each other that does. When things feel like they never make sense (basically every waking moment as of late), there is value in holding onto and savoring the moments that do. There is power in combating the nihilism of our existence with connection and empathy! Even if the universe is indifferent, we don’t have to be — we can face it together with chaotic, joyful defiance. If that isn't enough to carry you through multiple universes, or at least get you to go see this movie, I don't know what to tell you.