Everything Everywhere All at Once

The 2016 film Swiss Army Man is a buddy movie about a man and a gassy corpse. There, I can describe it in a single sentence. I have, and you will have, difficulty distilling directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's (known together as Daniels) follow-up film, Everything Everywhere All at Once, in a single sentence. Let's see why.

Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) has a lot on her mind. Tax Day is coming, her dad Gong Gong (James Hong) is here, her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) has just brought her girlfriend, Becky (Tallie Medel) home and her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) wants divorce. And then the Multiverse decides to get involved.

The "Alphaverse" is at war with the reality warping Jobu Tupacki. Jobu distilled all her knowledge of the multiverse in a Bagel-shaped black hole that could destroy everything. The Alphas can "verse jump" to access an alternate self's skills (usually by doing something unbelievably idiotic). Evelyn learns all this when Alpha Waymond possesses her Waymond. She gets the means to verse jump to fight Jobu and her minions. Did I mention Jobu is the Alphaverse Joy? So, it's awkward. 

This is a delightfully gonzo film. It starts normally, albeit with a frenetically verbose family scene. Any sense of normalcy disintegrates when Alpha Waymond appears. It leads to universes with hot dog fingers, no life but rocks, a Ratatouille parody with a racoon (Randy Newman), the really stupid ways to verse jump and a fight with a verse jumper (Jenny Slate) who uses her Pomeranian as a flail. Even the tax agent Deidre (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a verse jumper. The fight scenes are some of the best martial arts lunacy since Scott Pilgrim. What's astounding is that only twelve people manned the effects department.

There's a compelling tale amidst the surreality. Evelyn's multiversal journey helps her mend her multiversal relationships. Take Jobu, for instance. Far from a megalomaniac, she's actually a lonely young woman looking for meaning. Evelyn helps her - and Joy - find happiness. Evelyn's climactic battle against Jobu and her minions has her defeat them with kindness. That and her chasing Jobu as rocks embodies the film's love of Bathos.

Yeoh has a lot to do in 138 minutes from comedy to drama and dramedy. She's stellar as the reluctant heroine and her alternates (who are also her). She's just as flummoxed by the crazy as any unprepared viewer. It's quite a ride to see her rise through it all. Quan makes a welcome comeback as Waymond - whether as a bumbling dad with hidden depths or his more assertive alternates. Hsu is equally compelling as Joy and Jobu. One of Hong's best moments as Gong Gong is him meeting Becky, where we see he's much more progressive than Evelyn thinks. Curtis is unrecognizable as Deidre, who similarly is much more sympathetic than we think. I can go on, but I won't.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is a ludicrously profound movie. What's crazier than a woman making sense of her life? Her making sense of all of her possible lives! That's quite a method to the madness. It's one of the most bizarre family stories you'll ever see. It's just as moving as the normal ones. You'll just have to see it for yourself. See it soon.