Michelle Yeoh stars as an ageing Chinese immigrant swept up in an insane universe hopping adventure from Swiss Army Man directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, better known as The Daniels.
Yeoh is Evelyn Wang, the owner of a struggling Chinese laundromat with an impending tax inspection. As she juggles to maintain strained relationships with her husband Waymond, her daughter Joy and judgemental father Gong Gong, she is contacted by an alternate version of Waymond, who claims she alone can save the world from a malevolent force. To do this she must explore alternate universes and harness skills from the other lives she could have led.
Wildly imaginative writer / directors The Daniels, throw themselves wholeheartedly into the multiverse premise also explored in last months Doctor Strange film.
Here the pair push the boundaries even further, creating a bizarre and vibrant Sci-fi world, whilst delivering a thematically dense film packed full of inventive action sequences.
Yeoh is perfectly cast as the overworked and jaded Evelyn, equally at home with the films occasionally puerile comedic sequences, as she is with it’s touching emotional scenes.
Be it with her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu), overbearing father Gong Gong (a delightfully unhinged James Wong) or husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) Evelyn’s uneasy relationships with her family is what drives the film and provides an emotional core on which to build the madness.
Ke Huy Quan who rose to prominence as a child actor in iconic 80’s films The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, makes a welcome return to the screen and barely misses a beat with a triumphant turn as the endearing Waymond. With such a likeable screen presence, we can only hope the actor is back to stay this time around.
Jamie Lee Curtis rounds off the cast as Deirdre the unscrupulous tax inspector and appears to be having the time of her life, fully committing to the over the top insanity of the film.
With shades of the Matrix in its ‘chosen one’ narrative, Everything Everywhere All at Once is as weird as it is entertaining, featuring people eating chapsticks, a Kung-Fu fight with a Bum-Bag and a world in which humans have evolved with sausages for fingers.
Part absurdist comedy, part Sci-Fi thriller, the film has already beaten distributor A24’s record at the US box-office and is poised to do the same worldwide.
With the Daniel’s creativity shining through, the pair effortlessly blend genres to create a visually stunning film, which is laugh out loud funny, packed with action, but also laden with themes of empathy and kindness.
The stand out film of the year so far.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Paul Steward
@Grittster
30/05/22