Everything Everywhere All at Once

This year's EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE reminded me, in part, of that episode of Taxi where we see the alternate futures of the show's main characters.  The roads not taken.  It is one of the most intriguing notions in fiction, and in our own lives.  The big "What If".  We wonder what would have been.  Even the smallest decision we make could change the entire course.   Writers/directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Schweinert explore this idea to the nth, and far beyond.  Of the other dimensions and multiverse that co-exist with our own reality.  Infinite possibilities, and this film rather frantically tries to cover it all, leading to a wild ride, a visual assault that will challenge viewers already burdened with photosensitivity and seizures, and long memories.  For the latter I mean those who recall movies such as THE MATRIX, THE ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and the animated TV series Rick and Morty, to name a few, adding yet another interpretation of this film's very apt title.

 

I could try to summarize this movie, no simple task, but its multitude of surprises are part of the experience.  Essentially, a stressed Chinese-American woman named Everly (Michelle Yeoh), whose plate is more than full with a failing laundromat, an I.R.S. audit lead by a serious woman named Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis), a crotchety father named Gong Gong (James Hong), a bitter daughter named Joy (Stephanie Hsu), and a sweet, but at-the-end-of-his-patience husband named Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) who is reluctantly asking for a divorce, discovers there are in fact parallel universes, each subject to the choices one makes.  Evelyn will "verse-jump" - obtain powers to acquire the talents of her other universe counterparts, different versions of herself who did not marry Waymond.  This will come in handy to battle Jobu Tupaki - Joy's evil counterpart who threatens to destroy the entire multiverse, including the one where mother and daughter are played by a pair of rocks.   Her character is key to what this movie finally boils down to - mending relational fences.   Making sure to love one another, 'k? 

Statements reflective of Christianity? Buddhism? Positive nihilism, 'cos it's all meaningless anyway?

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, which resembles a bizarro entry in the MCU and also gives off a made-for-Netflix vibe, rarely takes a breath.  Fast frame rates, hit and run visuals, flashing, strobing, animation, numerous scenes of martial artistry.  If you didn't have ADD before this movie.....I was mostly engaged and even captivated by it all, something that undoubtedly has many onion layers to peel back.   I do question the strange predilection for phallic imagery,  represented by characters who have hot dogs for fingers and even, yes, a pair of dildos wielded by Jobu.  Oh, and another scene where in order to verse-jump a character tries to impale his rectum with an pointy desk object.  Perhaps this is some part of the film's aggressive embrace of political correctness to go along with the storyline of Joy's girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel) and Evelyn's alternate universe lesbian relationship (with a woman also played by Curtis).

I'm still pondering the implications/symbolism of that damned bagel, which more resembled a chocolate donut.   Or maybe a burnt bagel.    

I did admire the Daniels' film, but I felt it ultimately a one joke, er, idea affair.  Or maybe a million ideas.  The Less is More mantra would've been advisable. With its imagination and energy and kitchen sink mentality, I would've gushed over this movie in my younger, more impressionable years.   Now? Not as much.  Maybe if I was Asian (or more familiar with the culture) I would've understood more of the commentary here.   The science fiction and its breathless explanations throughout reminded me also of Pinto's marijuana fueled philosophical discussion in ANIMAL HOUSE - there are entire universes under our fingernails, man.