Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) arrived in theaters as one of the most audacious and emotionally resonant films in recent memory, defying genre conventions while delivering a story about family, identity, and the infinite possibilities of existence. Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels, this A24 production became a cultural phenomenon that swept the 95th Academy Awards, winning seven Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. The film’s unprecedented success signaled a shift in mainstream acceptance of experimental, genre-blending cinema. The movie addresses questions that feel urgently relevant to contemporary audiences: How do we find meaning in an overwhelming world? What happens when generational trauma and cultural displacement collide with the mundane pressures of everyday life? How can we maintain connection with our loved ones when we feel pulled in countless directions? These existential concerns are wrapped in a wildly inventive package that combines martial arts action, absurdist comedy, science fiction multiverse theory, and genuine dramatic weight.
The film refuses to choose between being entertaining and being profound, delivering both in equal measure. By the end of this comprehensive review, readers will understand what makes Everything Everywhere All at Once a landmark achievement in modern filmmaking. The analysis covers the film’s innovative narrative structure, the career-defining performances at its center, the technical craftsmanship that brings its multiverse to life, and the deeper thematic currents running beneath its chaotic surface. Whether approaching the film for the first time or revisiting it with fresh eyes, this review provides context for appreciating why critics and audiences alike embraced this singular vision.
Table of Contents
- What Makes Everything Everywhere All at Once Worth Watching in 2022?
- Michelle Yeoh’s Career-Defining Performance as Evelyn Wang
- The Multiverse Concept and Visual Storytelling in Everything Everywhere All at Once
- Understanding the Generational and Cultural Themes
- Critical Reception and Awards Success for Everything Everywhere All at Once
- The Supporting Cast and Ensemble Achievement
- How to Prepare
- How to Apply This
- Expert Tips
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Makes Everything Everywhere All at Once Worth Watching in 2022?
The central question facing any potential viewer concerns whether Everything Everywhere All at Once justifies its ambitious scope and two-hour-nineteen-minute runtime. The answer lies in how effectively Daniels merge high-concept science fiction with intimate family drama. Michelle Yeoh plays Evelyn Wang, a Chinese-American immigrant struggling to keep her laundromat afloat while navigating a strained marriage, a complicated relationship with her daughter Joy, and the impending visit of her demanding father Gong Gong. When IRS auditor Deirdre Beaubeirdre threatens to bring down her business, Evelyn discovers she can access the skills and memories of her variants across infinite parallel universes.
The 2022 release timing proved fortuitous. Audiences emerging from pandemic isolation responded powerfully to a film about reconnection and the exhaustion of modern existence. The multiverse concept, already popularized by Marvel productions, received a treatment here that felt genuinely fresh and philosophically engaged rather than merely plot-convenient. Everything Everywhere All at Once succeeded because it trusted audiences to follow complex ideas while never losing sight of the human beings at its center.
- **Genuine emotional stakes beneath the spectacle**: Unlike many multiverse narratives that lose sight of character amid infinite possibilities, this film uses its concept to deepen rather than dilute its emotional core
- **Cultural specificity that achieves universality**: The immigrant experience, generational expectations, and mother-daughter tensions are rendered with such authenticity that they resonate across cultural boundaries
- **Tonal dexterity**: The film shifts from heartfelt drama to absurdist comedy to kinetic action within single scenes, maintaining coherence through sheer directorial confidence
Michelle Yeoh’s Career-Defining Performance as Evelyn Wang
Michelle Yeoh’s portrayal of Evelyn Wang represents the pinnacle of a career spanning four decades and multiple film industries. At 60, Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, a victory that recognized both her specific achievement in this role and her broader contributions to cinema. Her performance requires navigating dozens of alternate versions of Evelyn, each with distinct physicality, mannerisms, and emotional registers, while maintaining a coherent throughline that grounds the film’s more fantastical elements. The genius of Yeoh’s work lies in how she portrays Evelyn’s ordinariness.
In the prime universe, Evelyn is tired, overwhelmed, and often unkind to those closest to her. Yeoh plays these moments without vanity, allowing the character to be genuinely difficult before earning her redemption. When Evelyn accesses her variants, movie star glamour and martial arts expertise, Yeoh modulates her performance to show the same person discovering untapped potential rather than becoming someone entirely different. This consistency makes the emotional payoffs land with devastating effectiveness.
- **Physical transformation**: Yeoh performed her own stunts and fight choreography, demonstrating skills she developed across her Hong Kong cinema career
- **Comedic timing**: Scenes involving googly eyes, hot dog fingers, and raccoon puppeteering required absolute commitment to absurdity, which Yeoh delivers without condescension
- **Dramatic depth**: The film’s quietest moments, a parking lot conversation, a silent recognition of past hurt, showcase Yeoh’s ability to communicate volumes through minimal expression
The Multiverse Concept and Visual Storytelling in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Daniels approached their multiverse with distinct visual and thematic rules that separate it from similar concepts in mainstream cinema. Rather than treating parallel universes as mere plot devices, the directors use them to explore philosophical questions about choice, regret, and identity. Each universe Evelyn visits reflects a path not taken, her life as a movie star, a hibachi chef, a singer, and through these glimpses, she confronts the accumulation of compromises that defined her existence.
The visual effects work, completed on a relatively modest budget of approximately $25 million, demonstrates creativity over resources. Production designer Jason Kisvarday and visual effects supervisor Zak Stoltz developed distinctive looks for each universe while maintaining visual coherence. The “verse-jumping” sequences, where characters adopt behaviors from alternate selves, use in-camera practical effects alongside digital enhancement. The famous “everything bagel” representing Jobu Tupaki’s nihilistic black hole achieves genuine visual poetry through simple concentric imagery.
- **Practical choreography**: Fight coordinator Timothy Eulich and martial arts choreographer Andy Le created action sequences that tell story through movement, with each fighting style reflecting character psychology
- **Color grading differentiation**: Each universe maintains a distinct palette, from the washed-out reality of the laundromat to the saturated glamour of the movie star timeline
- **Sound design integration**: The film’s audio landscape shifts dramatically across universes, with composer Son Lux creating leitmotifs that track emotional rather than physical geography
Understanding the Generational and Cultural Themes
Everything Everywhere All at Once functions as a meditation on the immigrant experience and the particular pressures facing first-generation Chinese-American families. Evelyn and Waymond left their home in China seeking better opportunities, building a life in America that never quite matched their expectations. Their daughter Joy, played by Stephanie Hsu, represents the American-born generation caught between two cultures, never fully belonging to either. The film’s central conflict emerges from this displacement, misunderstandings compounded by cultural expectations and communication breakdowns.
The relationship between Evelyn and her father Gong Gong, played by James Hong, establishes the generational pattern Joy seeks to escape. Evelyn’s inability to accept Joy’s girlfriend Becky stems not from personal prejudice but from fear of her father’s disapproval, a chain of inherited silence and conformity. The multiverse conceit allows the film to literalize how children often feel their parents see every version of them except who they actually are. Jobu Tupaki’s nihilism represents the endpoint of feeling perpetually unseen and unaccepted.
- **Language as barrier and bridge**: Characters switch between English, Mandarin, and Cantonese, with subtitles deployed strategically to emphasize moments of connection and disconnection
- **Immigrant labor and the American dream**: The laundromat setting evokes the service industry work that often defines immigrant economic survival, with the IRS audit representing systemic pressure on small business owners
- **Filial piety interrogated**: The film neither dismisses traditional values nor accepts them uncritically, finding space for genuine change within cultural continuity
Critical Reception and Awards Success for Everything Everywhere All at Once
The critical response to Everything Everywhere All at Once proved overwhelmingly positive, with the film holding a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on over 400 reviews. Critics praised its ambition, emotional resonance, and technical achievement, with many declaring it an instant classic. Publications from The New York Times to Rolling Stone to The Guardian placed it among the best films of 2022, and it appeared on numerous year-end lists across mainstream and specialized film criticism.
The Academy Awards recognition proved historic. With eleven nominations and seven wins, Everything Everywhere All at Once became the most awarded film at a single ceremony since Slumdog Millionaire in 2009. Beyond Michelle Yeoh’s groundbreaking Best Actress win, Ke Huy Quan received Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Waymond, marking a remarkable comeback after stepping away from acting following his childhood roles in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies. Jamie Lee Curtis won Best Supporting Actress despite initial skepticism about her prosthetic-heavy role as IRS agent Deirdre.
- **A24’s continued ascent**: The victory cemented the independent distributor’s reputation for championing distinctive voices, following previous Best Picture winners Moonlight
- **Genre film legitimacy**: The Academy’s embrace of a science fiction comedy signaled potential shifts in traditionally conservative voting patterns
- **Representation milestones**: Multiple Asian and Asian-American wins in acting and directing categories represented unprecedented recognition at Hollywood’s highest level
The Supporting Cast and Ensemble Achievement
While Michelle Yeoh anchors Everything Everywhere All at Once, the film succeeds as an ensemble piece that elevates every performance. Ke Huy Quan brings unexpected emotional depth to Waymond, a character initially presented as naive but revealed as the film’s moral center. His speech about choosing kindness as a response to overwhelming chaos provides the thematic key that unlocks the entire narrative.
Stephanie Hsu navigates the demanding dual role of Joy and Jobu Tupaki, matching Yeoh’s intensity while carving out distinct space for her character’s pain and eventual healing. Jamie Lee Curtis disappeared into Deirdre Beaubeirdre, committing fully to the character’s bureaucratic menace and eventual transformation. James Hong, at 93 years old during filming, brought seven decades of screen experience to Gong Gong, imbuing a potentially one-note disapproving patriarch with unexpected humanity. The technical crew, from editors Paul Rogers to the Daniels themselves, functions as a crucial member of the ensemble, shaping performances through rhythm and juxtaposition that maximize every actor’s contribution.
How to Prepare
- **Accept tonal whiplash as feature, not bug**: The film moves rapidly between registers, and resisting this approach will diminish the experience. Early scenes establish the pattern, trust that emotional sincerity will emerge from apparent absurdity.
- **Pay attention to background details in early scenes**: Daniels planted visual and dialogue elements in the first act that pay off throughout the film. The laundromat setting, family photographs, and Waymond’s divorce papers all carry narrative weight beyond their immediate function.
- **Consider watching with subtitles enabled**: Even English-fluent viewers benefit from subtitles that capture dialogue during overlapping conversations and clarify the Mandarin and Cantonese exchanges that carry emotional significance.
- **Allow sufficient time without interruption**: The film’s runtime exceeds two hours, and its cumulative emotional effect requires sustained attention. Pausing mid-film disrupts carefully constructed momentum.
- **Manage multiverse fatigue expectations**: If previous multiverse films have left you exhausted by concept over character, understand that this film inverts that tendency, using its premise to intensify rather than evade genuine human connection.
How to Apply This
- **First viewing: Follow Evelyn’s journey** – Track her emotional state rather than trying to parse every multiverse rule. The film communicates its logic through feeling rather than exposition.
- **Second viewing: Observe Waymond and Joy** – Both characters contain dimensions that become clearer once the film’s destination is known. Waymond’s strength and Joy’s pain read differently with full context.
- **Discuss with others who’ve seen it** – The film generates productive conversation about its themes, and different viewers often connect with different aspects based on their own family experiences.
- **Explore the Daniels’ previous work** – Their music video for Turning Pages and their feature Swiss Army Man establish patterns and preoccupations that illuminate Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Expert Tips
- **The googly eyes aren’t random**: Every absurdist element connects to the film’s meditation on perspective and recognition. The jokes that seem most childish often carry the deepest thematic weight.
- **Watch for mirror imagery**: Characters frequently confront literal and figurative reflections, reinforcing the multiverse-as-self-examination metaphor structuring the narrative.
- **The hot dog fingers universe matters**: What appears to be pure absurdity becomes the setting for one of the film’s most emotionally direct scenes between Evelyn and Deirdre, demonstrating how Daniels use comedy as pathway to sincerity.
- **Listen to Son Lux’s score separately**: The three-artist composition creates a soundscape that rewards isolated attention and deepens appreciation for its integration with the visuals.
- **The everything bagel is a genuine philosophical concept**: The image literalizes the Buddhist concept of emptiness and the terror of confronting infinite possibility without meaning, making Jobu Tupaki’s nihilism intellectually coherent rather than mere plot device.
Conclusion
Everything Everywhere All at Once represents a singular achievement in contemporary cinema, demonstrating that experimental ambition and emotional accessibility need not be opposing forces. The film’s success, both commercially and in awards recognition, suggests audiences hunger for work that challenges conventional storytelling while respecting their intelligence and emotional capacity. Daniels created a work that functions simultaneously as martial arts spectacle, science fiction thought experiment, immigrant family drama, and meditation on finding meaning in an overwhelming world.
The film’s lasting impact extends beyond its individual merits. It opened doors for genre-blending narratives, for stories centered on Asian and Asian-American experiences, and for mid-budget original filmmaking in an industry increasingly dominated by established intellectual property. For viewers encountering it for the first time, Everything Everywhere All at Once offers an experience unlike almost anything else in mainstream cinema, one that rewards attention, repeat viewing, and genuine emotional engagement. The film asks fundamental questions about love, loss, choice, and connection, then provides answers that feel earned rather than imposed.
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