Introduction

Everything Everywhere All at Once played at the HUB this past weekend, so I thought it would be only appropriate to talk about my favorite movie to ever exist. Now, I am a big believer in going into movies with little to no information before seeing it. Walking into this film, all I knew was that it was about a women doing her taxes. This description of the movie was perfectly plain and although accurate, was deceptively misleading. Before I talk about the whirlwind that is Everything Everywhere All at Once, I highly suggest watching it before continuing with this blog. With that said, be warned there are a lot of spoilers ahead.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is the insane story of a women who gets sucked into the multiverse while trying to do her taxes. Each character learns about themselves and what they can accomplish. The New York Times describes the movie as “a metaphysical multiverse galaxy-brain head trip,” that is also “a bittersweet domestic drama, a marital comedy, a story of immigrant striving and a hurt-filled ballad of mother-daughter love.” It tells a strange tale with even stranger plot points, from multiverses where people have hot dogs for fingers, to the beautiful and stoic ‘rock universe.’

Cast

The cast lineup for this movie is highly decorated with well-known actors such as Jamie Lee Curtis who plays Deirdre and Michelle Yeoh who plays the main character, Evelyn Wang. One of the most interesting casting choices was Ke Hu Quan as Waymond Wang. In an interview with GQ Magazine, Quan explains his brief acting stint in the late 90s and early 2000s but then ultimately decided to quit acting due to the lack of roles. Although nervous, Quan delivered an incredible performance switching between two completely different personas that his character had to embody. Michelle Yeoh also gave an exhausting and heart wrenching performance of a women stuck in her mundane life who realizes her full potential.

Not to mention, the incredibly detailed and difficult fight scenes that each actor had to perform. Stunt coordinator, Timothy Eulich, told Insider that the fights were inspired by “classic kung-fu movies with a modern twist.” The scenes required a lot of wire-work as well as an extensive amount of editing (which was done by only a 5 person team).

Soundtrack

In addition to the movie’s top-notch cast, the score of the film includes some notable artists such as Mitski, David Byrne, and Moses Sumney. This soundtrack includes a total of 49 songs; music plays a huge role in this movie as characters develop and plots advance. Pitchfork describes this expansive playlist as ranging from “zaniness, hilarity, darkness, and hope,” following the movies highs and lows. This article also discusses the fact that tunes are carried throughout the movie. “Clair de Lune” can be heard in many of the songs as a background melody and the score in its entirety can be described as “an achievement of ingenuity”.

The final song “This is Life” ends the movie on a perfect note. Sitting in the dark theater, this song plays and sends goosebumps down your body. You want to cry and laugh and feel every emotion in between. The producer, Son Lux, perfectly utilizes ethos and evokes emotions through sounds in every part of the movie.

Conclusion

Overall this movie is a life-changing experience. The almost 2 hour movie is worth every second- you won’t want to miss a second of it. I can remember having my eyes glued to the screen in theaters, crying at the infamous rock scene, and sitting in my car after the film was over, unable to drive because I still couldn’t process what I had

just seen. I think that some people are skeptical of the movie because it just sounds so bizarre, but it works! I would recommend this movie to anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed, anyone who has been a daughter, an immigrant, or a person who has felt like the world was working against them. This movie truly is everything, everywhere, all at once- and I wouldn’t want it any other way.