Everything Everywhere All At Once

Official Australian release date: 14/4/22.
Viewed: 16/4/22.
Directors: Dan Kwan & Daniel Schinert
Actors: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis
Genre: Action / Comedy
Rating: MA

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ is a simple story about a family’s search for meaning. It also happens to be a mind-bending, multiple-universe, kung-fu, sci-fi epic! Evelyn (Yeoh) and her husband Waymond (Quan – Short Round from ‘Temple of Doom’!) run a laundromat and have some issues with their marriage, their daughter Joy (Hsu) and Evelyn’s father, Gong Gong (Hong). What starts out as a family drama doesn’t take long to turn into a fight to save the multiverse when another Waymond shows up to enlist Evelyn’s help.

From the directors of ‘Swiss Army Man’, “the Daniels” sure know how to do surreal well, but make sure there’s plenty of laughs and idiosyncratic comedy. The alternate realities are explained quickly and simply – no time is wasted and the plot and action is always moving along. Yeoh, Hsu and Quan are all great, as is Jamie Lee Curtis in her role(s). Yeoh should get extra credit both for the stunts/fights at her age (it is 20 years since ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’!), as well as pulling off both a martial arts expert and boring housewife at once.

While there’s plenty of bonkers thing going on – Hsu’s costumes are excellent, some hilarious sex jokes, great/unexpected use of “Absolutely (Story of a Girl)”– the heart of the film is the relationship between Evelyn & Joy and Evelyn & Waymond. There’s some sad moments and some beautiful ones, especially the quiet desert scenes, but we’re left with a great underlying message of love and kindness giving the world meaning.
 
Overall: Poignant, unique, fun, interesting, heartfelt – a must-see!
 
Gav’s Rating: 4 stars.