Jumping Between Universes: A Review of 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'
In 2022, A24 released a stunning film, 'Everything Everywhere All At Once,' which explores the concept of parallel universes in a unique and thrilling way. Unlike previous films that tackle this theme, 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' features incredible action, dark humor, and absurd comedy that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The film follows Evelyn, a woman who makes a leap across multiple universes, and her family as they jump between worlds and encounter various challenges along the way. As you watch the story unfold, you'll find yourself wishing you could join in on the adventure. If you've seen the movie and want to read an article about it, you've come to the right place!
Spoiler alert!
It was literally a movie where you would say, "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
Everything Everywhere All at Once is the most successful film of 2022 and a film that transports viewers to completely different universes. Written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the American sci-fi movie has a great story that we won't find in an ordinary action and martial arts movie. Let's take a look at who is in this movie before we get to the story.
The cast of the film consists of a classic mother-father and daughter.
The film stars Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis. Michelle Yeoh plays the role of a Chinese woman named Evelyn Quan Wang, who emigrated to America with her husband and runs a laundromat. She leaves her home and builds a life with the man whom her family did not approve of marrying many years ago. Her whole job is to get the laundry done in the machine and manage the store's taxes. She's a pretty full-on character, that is, a woman who tries to do everything at the same time, but gets to the point of neglecting her family -especially her partner. Ke Huy Quan plays the role of Evelyn's husband Waymond Wang, a loving, docile and instead silly man. He doesn't have a problem with the life he's living, he's just someone who asks his wife to talk to him a little. It makes him very sad not to be able to communicate with his wife.
Their daughter is someone who has a completely different world in herself...
Evelyn and Waymond have a daughter named Joy Wang. Joy is a young girl who is withdrawn and overwhelmed by herself. The only thing going her way in life is her girlfriend Becky, whom she loves. Joy also has ice between her family; she has difficulty sharing things with them. Her mother has accepted that she is in love with a girl, but she keeps it secret from her grandfather. That's why Joy complains so much about hiding the truth about herself.
The grandfather of the film Gong-Gong is a dissatisfied father.
Evelyn's father, Gong Gong, is a classic father who is satisfied with nothing in life and expects too much from everyone -especially his daughter. The only thing that matters to him is that his demands are met. His daughter's happiness or success doesn't mean much to him.
Evelyn is a woman who has been stuck in a laundry business for years, and her life is going through difficulties.
Let's get to the real story... At the beginning, everything is very normal and ordinary. While Evelyn was struggling with their laundry business, her husband was overwhelmed by her apathy and wrote a divorce petition. But he can't give the petition to his wife because, as usual, Evelyn's mind is in a completely different place. As every year, there is a rush in the laundry to declare the expenses of the laundry to the tax officer. Evelyn's mind is disappeared between the accounts. She goes to the tax office with her husband and father, and things start happening even before she gets to the officer. There's something strange about her husband. While taking the elevator upstairs, he places a device on Evelyn with his smartphone and shows her how to live a life in other universes. Meanwhile, Evelyn's life is slipping away before her eyes like a storyboard. In the body of her husband Waymond, there is actually a man from another universe, not her husband.
Evelyn is learning to jump in the multiverse with a guy from another universe.
Alpha Waymond, who comes from another universe, wants to write down the instructions on a piece of paper and implement them during a meeting with the tax officer. Evelyn can't understand what's going on at first. The tax officer decides that there is a discrepancy in the accounts during the interview and gives time until business hours to arrange them again. Meanwhile, people from other universes arrive and attack Evelyn and Alpha Waymond. Alpha Waymond beats everyone there like a master martial artist with an ordinary fanny pack on his waist. Meanwhile, Evelyn has already turned her head to the tax officer and is trying to make sense of events, unaware of what will happen to her.
Evelyn's life in other universes is much more better.
Alpha Waymond, who comes from another universe, tells Evelyn about the multiverse and says that he actually needs Evelyn to save his own universe. It turned out that Evelyn was the one who was wanted to save the universe. Alpha Waymond teaches her to use the skill she gained in another universe by contacting any object. Evelyn is looking at the Evelyns in the multiverse. In fact, they are all living a happier life. One is a famous singer, one is a successful cinematographer, kung fu master, cook... When Evelyn looks at those universes, she also experiences how bad, how mediocre her current life is. Seeing that she envies their life in the other universe, Waymond warns her. ''You should only use the other universes to improve your skills.'' Evelyn learns martial arts such as kung-fu from multiple universes, skillfully knocking down the enemies in her real life.
"You are living the worst version of yourself in this universe right now, you have died in a thousand different ways in a thousand universes."
There are many different Evelyns in that multiverse. Like sausage finger hands! She realizes that if she had not married her husband years ago and not run a laundry business, she could have had a completely different beautiful life. Alpha Waymond confirms this already. ''You're experiencing the worst version of yourself in this universe right now.'' Waymond also explains why Evelyn was chosen while teaching her to jump between universes. Alpha Waymond has seen Evelyn in a thousand different ways in a thousand different universes. But Evelyn died in all of the multiverse. Including Waymond's universe, and in that universe Evelyn burned out a girl's brain and that girl turned into a character who switched between universes.
Evelyn is faced with an enemy that she does not accept at first.
That character she created, Jobu Tupaki, is building something to destroy the universe, and Alpha Waymond and his team are trying to destroy him. Later in the film, Evelyn finds out that this girl is Joy, her real daughter in her own universe. In fact, all the characters in the film are experiencing a universe jump. Joy can suddenly become Tupaki, Waymond can become a husband, Gong Gong can be a normal grandfather. Evelyn is constantly switching between universes, and so is everyone around. Even the tax officer woman can sometimes be an enemy and sometimes a friend in Evelyn's multiverse. We see a lot of martial arts shows in the film. At any moment, everyone can transform into a completely different person by doing a universe jump, even by peeing.
The film is very striking, it makes you think about the question "What would it be like if I had another life?"
And that's where Evelyn's real struggle begins. Alpha Waymond says that at least in this universe, she should kill Jobu Tupaki, her own daughter. Evelyn is going back and forth. Her husband is Waymond, and in her own way, Joy is trying to figure out what he's doing. At some point, Evelyn seriously thinks that the only way to get rid of Tupaki is to kill her daughter. Meanwhile, Evelyn is also jumping to other universes, of course. They really have such beautiful lives there! She even rejected Waymond in the universe where she is a movie star, and later meets him again at the movie premiere; they are both rich, they are both very successful, there is no such thing as a laundry. The viewer can also experience the contradictions that Evelyn experiences between universes in her own life. It makes us ask ourselves the question, if I hadn't made this decision and chosen another path, would I have had a completely different life.
Jobu thinks that human beings are not very important in the multiverse, so it wouldn't be a problem if they were destroyed.
The film then focuses on Jobu Tupaki, Joy's state in another universe. Jobu created a 'bagel'. Her goal is to destroy some things. We see towards the end of the movie that what she really wants is to go to that bagel and destroy herself. Evelyn doesn't want to kill her daughter, but she's trying to save her at this point. In the film, the theme of strong family ties and being close to the family in all circumstances outweighs. Even when Evelyn receives her husband's divorce petition, she is so shaken that she wants to divorce her husband in this universe, and suddenly she is trying to save her marriage. It is during these loving moments of the film that Evelyn's meek husband Waymond comes into play. He tells Evelyn that she should love people instead of fighting.
The main message underlying the film is to keep family ties tight and defend your family no matter what.
Evelyn approaches those who attack her with love and defeats them. While the side characters of the film jump between multiple universes, Evelyn makes them experience their happiest moments in the universe they are the happiest. The scenes are full of love and so absurd. While fighting a force hostile to the universe, the subject of the film goes as far as love, family ties and loving other people.
Even if a few very small moments are precious to Evelyn in the life she is living right now, she thinks it is worth living.
While Jobu is determined to destroy herself, she is trying to convince the woman who drove her crazy in another universe, her mother, to disappear as well. If she enters through Bagel's hole, Evelyn, all these meaningless universes will disappear; she will admit that man has no value in the universe, in fact, like Jobu. But Evelyn does not agree to this. According to her, no matter what universe she is in, even if it's a precious three or five moments, it's actually worth living.
The Chinese family solves their problems in the multiverse and comes together.
Even though she's going crazy in her own universe, her laundry business is going down, her husband wants to get a divorce, her father doesn't respect her, she still loves and respects herself. Even if Jobu Tupaki is her daughter, she owns her pain, her problems, her reality. In fact, the tax officer, who is often like her archenemy in the film, can even form an emotional bond with the woman. Because now she's starting to understand those around her.
The film is full of metaphors, and every viewer can find things that will make them question their own life.
From the point of view of a family that looks like a boring family, this movie actually makes a lot of people think. As I mentioned above, the movie makes us think about what we are in the universe, do I have a better life than I have now. Maybe we could even want to be in Evelyn's place. The film is an art work in itself with action scenes, universe jumps, absurd comedy and dark humor. The acting also reflects the shocks, transitions and emotions they experienced in the film quite well. It may be difficult when trying to follow the fiction, but it's still worth seeing this movie. Maybe we in another universe have already experienced this already.
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