Everything Everywhere All At Once is a scientific, comedy, and drama directed and written by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. The film was released on March 25, 2022 in the United States.
First, you meet Evelyn Quan Wang (played by Michelle Yo), a middle-aged Chinese American immigrant who runs a laundromat with her husband Waymond (played by Ke Huy Quan), and together they have a daughter Joy (played by Stephanie Hsu). Her laundromat is being audited by the IRS while Raymond is trying to get Evelyn to talk about their marriage by trying to show her divorce papers. Her daughter Joy is not making her life easier as she finds her daughter's lesbian relationship with her non-Asian girlfriend Becky.
As she’s meeting with the IRS inspector, Waymond’s body gets taken over by Alpha Waymond from the “Alphaverse.” As you would think, your different choices create a new universe. This Alphaverse is threatened by Jobu Tupaki or Alpha-Joy. Wayomd tells Evelyn she needs to hop across the multiverse to defeat Jobu. Jobu wants to destroy the multiverse with her black hole known as the “everything bagel”. She then meets her Alphaverse father who tells her she is the only person that can defeat Jobu. He also tells Evelyn to kill her daughter which she refuses. She continues to search for this “Jobu” they speak of until she finally reaches her. She expects to fight but instead, doesn’t. Jobu wanted to find an Evelyn that, as she does, sees that nothing matters and that we are all going to end up as nothing in the end, killing all the other Evelyn’s that don’t believe the same way she does.
Jobu brings Evelyn to the “everything bagel” and shows that she is hurting herself and others and that both of them could truly die. She was about to go in when Waymond from another dimension pleads that everyone stops fighting and instead be kind, even if life doesn’t make sense. Somehow, she follows Waymond’s words and uses her multiversal powers to fight with empathy and bring happiness to those around her. Doing so she repairs the damages in other universes and stops Jobu.
Evelyn, back in her own original universe, reconciles with her husband and finally accepts her daughter's relationship with Becky, even telling her father about it. Waymond was able to convince the taxpayer to let them redo their taxes. The family has improved their relationship and all is well.
What I really liked about this movie was the relationship between the mother and the daughter. Like turning red, Evelyn had standards that she wanted her daughter to follow. When she didn't follow them she started to fight back causing countless arguments, tears, etc. LGBTQ relationships in the Chinese community aren’t talked about much as they are seen as taboo. Not being able to have children and pass on the bloodline is seen as a sin. Many times parents will not accept these types of relationships and shun their children, disowning them for such an act. What I really loved about this movie was that the mother at the end was trying to get to her daughter, speak to her, and try to understand her. I also loved that the daughter throughout the movie was trying to find a mother that understood her. Daughters want to be something their parents can be proud of but also want their parents to understand that they aren’t their parents and that they have their own path they want to take and things they want to do, even if their parents disagree.
This movie was sort of confusing if you don’t watch the whole thing front to back. It is not for everyone but this movie provides a beautiful story about family, love, and the multiverse. Oh, and don’t forget that everything bagel!
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