Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) is struggling under the weight of her life. Her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) is considering divorce, her father’s (James Hong) expectations seem impossible to meet, her daughter (Stephanie Hsu) is beginning to slip away from her and she needs to prepare for a tax audit from the IRS for her busy Laundromat. But then another version of her husband from an alternate universe arrives to tell her that her destiny is to save the multiverse from a threat that could destroy everything. 

The defining factor in Evelyn being the chosen one to save the multiverse is just how poor she has been at following any of her dreams. The fact that she has so many successful versions of herself in close proximity to her own universe makes her able to draw on their skills. Because ‘verse-jumping’ allows you to tap into the knowledge of alternate versions of yourself. It also means she can get a little lost wondering about what could have been if she made other choices. 

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a lot! In terms of its originality and its out there “everything including the kitchen sink” mentality to what is on screen it reminded me of the originality and humour of a Lord and Miller animated film such as Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, The Mitchell’s Vs The Machines, The Lego Movie or Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse. Whilst wrapped up in its core is a story about family and the need to let your children express themselves. 

The film features some inventive Kung Fu fighting, some crazy references to other films and some inventive and weird alternative universes featuring hot dogs and stones. But honestly what stood out to me the most was the brilliant editing that brings glimpses of all the different universes whilst ensuring you do not lose your place in the one the film takes place. 

But and it feels like a huge shame to say this given the originality on show, this film for me was just “fine”. The two main issues I can pin this down to are firstly that the hit rate on the humour was middling at best and secondly that the moral hammer was swung so many times in the final act that I felt like I was the nail being hit. 

Of course both of those facets of the film may work better for you though and given the originality on show I strongly urge that you find out for yourself if that is the case.