When the Daniels started writing their script six years ago, no one would’ve thought that a movie centering on a Chinese American immigrant family would be marketable. But it did.
Ever since its release, the movie“Everything Everywhere All at Once” became a phenomenon and a hit among audiences, critics, and box offices. On Rotten Tomatoes, both ratings from the Tomatometer and the audience reached 97%. And on April 5, the movie has officially become the highest-rated movie of all time on Letterboxd.
During its limited release in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, it grossed over half a million dollars, breaking A24’s opening record of the year. In fact, the movie has become A24’s best launch since “Uncut Gem” and one of its best. According to Gold Derby, the movie has already brought in $1.8 million by April 6, with only being in 36 theaters. “It broke into the top 10 despite being in 1,000 fewer theaters than any other movie in the top 10.”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as the Daniels. The A24’s latest film is a fast-paced sci-fi adventure that presents a multiverse world where every decision of your life creates a distinct possibility and hence a brand new universe.
The movie tells a story about Evelyn, played by Michelle Yeoh, a Chinese American laundromat owner with complicated tax issues and a crumbling marriage who finds herself bearing the mission of saving the multiverse world and bringing things back to where they used to be.
It starts with a chaotic scene right before Evelyn meets the IRS agent Deirdre Beaubeirdra, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. The beginning introduces Evelyn’s family: her “silly little husband,” Waymond, played by Ke Huy Quan, her rebellious daughter Joy, played by Stephanie Hsu, and her demanding, traditional father, Gong Gong, played by James Hong.
In the scene, Evelyn is trying to sort out her tax report while preparing breakfast for Gong Gong, dealing with customers coming into the laundromat, and talking to her daughter Joy’s complaints and anger towards Evelyn’s unaccepting attitude towards Becky, Joy’s girlfriend. When the audience thinks the woman is having the craziest time of her life, things get worse — the IRS agent Deirdre informs Evelyn that she needs to redo her taxes to avoid liability issues.
Meanwhile, during all the chaos, Evelyn meets the alternate reality version of her husband from the Alpha-verse, Alpha Waymond, who urges Evelyn to take on the responsibility of defeating Jobu Tupaki, the source of chaos behind all the destructions in other universes. From Alpha Waymond, she learns the existence of other universes and how to do “verse-jump” — a way to gain power from the alternate reality selves.
And as Evelyn becomes more familiar with “verse-jump” and slowly discovers her potential, she realizes that Jobu Tupaki is her only daughter, who has had a love-hate relationship with her all along. It turns out that Jobu Tupaki is Joy from another universe, in which Evelyn pushes Joy too hard that her brain becomes fractured, allowing her to exist in all universes at the same time. And the ultimate source of chaos and destruction is an everything bagel created by Jobu Tupaki, and it is capable of absorbing everything into its black hole.
The above description sounds crazy and makes no sense. Yet, it is exactly what the movie is trying to tell: a way of coping with existentialism and nihilism, especially in a social environment nowadays where all information seems to flood in simultaneously. According to the Daniels, the movie is a response to the society in 2016, when Donald Trump got elected as president of the United States and people’s mental state going through social media. This cyber environment is not at all strange to people, because we feel similar sentiments on a daily basis, to a point where a lot of people might feel numb about negative news and social issues. The Daniels throws the question to their audience while presenting the big black bagel: why do we care if the world is going wild and we are just silly little humans worrying about things that are not even going to impact others? Why not just give up and let go? The same questions are also opposed to the protagonist, Evelyn, who has to make a choice of whether to join Jubo Tupaki and destroy herself or find an alternative path that gives her and her family the faith to keep on with their lives.
The movie also reflects the classic parent-child relationship in East Asia, in this case, specifically Chinese families. This movie presents two parallel relationships: Gong Gong and Evelyn, Evelyn and Joy. From the surface, it seems like these are two separate relationships within the same family, yet the fundamental structure is the same: the child seeking the parent’s validation and approval while the parent is too stubborn and unable to express their love language fully. For Evelyn, she is practically disowned by Gong Gong after deciding to move to America with Waymond, because her decision does not align with Gong Gong’s expectations. And for Joy, her being a “hot mess” because of her mental health and struggle to connect with her family has failed to achieve Evelyn’s expectations, not to mention all the other topics regarding sexuality and body ownership. Everything that Joy does seems to be the contrary to “honoring the family.” As the mother, Evelyn is worried, but all she can do is comment on her diet habit and her weight.
All these issues, whether it’s an existential crisis or toxic Asian parenthood, bring up a lot of resonance with the audience. And thankfully, the Daniels didn’t leave those topics unattended. Instead, they gave a rather warm and loving ending: although the world is wild and senseless, at the end of the day, Evelyn chose to be with her daughter, her husband, and her father. She eventually accepts her mediocrity and learns to cherish the small moments that make her life somewhat meaningful. Instead of total destruction, she chooses to fight Jobu using love and affection, which eventually saves Jobu (and Joy) from disappearing from the big black bagel.
What makes this movie so special is its highlight on the power of family and the impact of generational trauma. When Evelyn is trying to save Joy and pulling her away from the black bagel, she, Waymond, and Gong Gong are working together in a line. It is incredible how the Daniels overwhelm their audience with all the bizarreness and absurdness of the film at first, yet manage to give them a big, warm hug at the end.
SAMPAN, published by the nonprofit Asian American Civic Association, is the only bilingual Chinese-English newspaper in New England, acting as a bridge between Asian American community organizations and individuals in the Greater Boston area. It is published biweekly and distributed free-of-charge throughout metro Boston; it is also delivered to as far away as Hawaii.
