Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

I find it quite interesting that my return to this blog came from three movies that have formed a little trilogy of the themes of Multiverses and Choice. Ok, maybe Doctor Strange is a little bit of stretch on that, but all three movies; Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time, and now finally Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, have some level of multiverse to them and some level of the power of choice.

I’d like to say I planned this, but I really didn’t. Doctor Strange was me nerd-complaining, Evangelion was me running on insomnia, and Everything is me trying to highlight a great film that has been missed by many for how well it does things that the first movie discussed just didn’t, whilst still telling a compelling, character driven story like the best of the second.

Interestingly, they also all have really long titles.

EEAAO, to save typing and reading, really was missed. A short cinematic release just before the big guns of Top Gun, and around the time of Doctor Strange, Northlander (also highly recommended) and Sonic 2. The marketing seemed sparse to the point I didn’t even hear about the recommendation to watch it until after it had left cinemas. I’ve since picked it up by other means, but this one I’ll be picking in physical format as soon as I can. That may sound silly in this fancy cloud-driven on-demand everything-is-a-service era (no I don’t have any bones to pick), but I like to have copies of things I like so I know I can return to them whenever I need to, without having to worry about licensing, subscription fees or servers shutting down.

I’m a luddite I know.

Before I go too much further into EEAAO, I’m going to simply say that you should just go watch the damn film. I’m going to endeavour to keep it spoiler free, but it'll be pretty difficult to discuss what I want to discuss without giving things away, and witnessing this film first hand without knowing what’s coming is something special.

So go. Go now. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.

…

I hope you enjoyed it. There’s a hell of a lot going on here, it’s a tremendously dense movie, and in spite of a lot of the “sillier” aspects of it, none of it is wasted. Every word and action seems to have been placed purposefully, unlike so many other movies recently where off-hand comments and random actions just happen without comment or reason. The paint universe in Doctor Strange comes to mind. We get a brief fun flash of Strange and America being paint, then a quick mention as a joke, and nothing of it. That’s not saying that it has too, but with the all universes featured in EEAAO, not one is there as a passing comment and all has a use and point and adds to the story.

With me complaining so much about the wasted potential of Doctor Strange 2, to see this movie so soon afterwards only increases that feeling. I praised the actors there, but I think EEAAO has it beaten here too. It may be because the script is better, but Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, James Hong, Ke Huy Quan (yes, frickin Short Round is in this and he’s actually amazing), and Jamie Lee Curtis all knock it out of the bag. Originally, this film was supposed to feature Jackie Chan and Awkwafina at different points in production (replaced by Yeoh and Hsu respectively), but I can honestly say the casting changes were for the better. 

The main reason I love this whole thing however is that it all comes down to choice. Every new universe is explicitly created from a branching choice. The characters can gain the skills of their own alternative-choiced-selves by performing ridiculous actions to slingshot themselves across the timelines temporarily, experiencing and living both. It’s the key mechanic in bringing many of the film’s action scenes, which retain that Jackie Chan style of improvisation and a fast-pace in really effective and engaging ways. 

For all of the wackiness and kung-fu however, the core of the story still revolves around the choices, or lack thereof of the family of Evelyn, Waymond and Joy. It’s about responsibility for your actions and choices, and how you don’t have to do everything on your own. It’s about appreciating what you have, without losing sight of moving forwards, and has an aspect of anti-nihilism.

It’s very heartwarming as we see the characters finally choose to try understanding one another, and begin to communicate properly. Sitting on the edge of annihilation juxtaposed against the simple act of talking to your family in a carpark.

Then there’s Joy’s loneliness. For all that nothing matters to her, that she’s so done with being aware of everything that she wants to end it all, the whole time she’s reaching out for someone to share even that with. And it can’t just be anybody, it has to be someone who understands the why of it, who has experienced what she has. She’s someone who knows everything and can do anything, and yet feels so small.  

That she picks Evelyn, her mother, is an expression that you can believe begins as a form of payback. Alpha-Evelyn clearly puts a lot of pressure and demands on Joy, to the point of making her what she is now. Initially it seems clear that the main Evelyn we follow is the same way, but it’s hinted that wasn’t always the case, and there is love there. It just takes everything that happens going on to demonstrate that. Refreshingly, it calls her Joy out on her own bullshit even as the story is focused on Evelyn’s faults. The breakdown of the relationship isn’t solely due to Evelyn’s choices, it’s a confluence of both of thiers, alongside Weymond’s and Gong Gong’s. For the latter of whom, the choices are decades old and yet have had far-reaching effects. 

It really goes to show how the clashes of ideas and desires can create conflict, but also something beautiful.

I can understand why some may not like this film, that certain parts may take them out of it enough to miss the messaging it displays within all the seeming nonsense, or in the quieter moments between setpieces. I do think the seeming mundanity of the early scenes is enough to ground you and keep you following the characters as things ramp up and get weird however. They’re very fully realised, enough that every choice they make is consistent with their character. No mean feat considering that we’re often dealing with variants in other universes. There’s depths to this movie that feels authentic, rather than cheap one-liners and unearned payoffs.

It’s refreshing, and I’m looking forward to watching it again.

Thank you for reading. If you’ll excuse me, I have some googly eyes to stick on things.