Everything Everywhere All at Once is a jaw-dropping, surrealist masterpiece

Everything Everywhere All at Once is a film that truly lives up to the infinite potential of its title. The latest from the writing-directing team of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as Daniels), the film stars the iconic Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) in a bonkers sci-fi drama that puts the multiverse of the MCU to shame.

Yeoh stars as Evelyn Wang, a stressed woman struggling to keep the family’s laundromat afloat. Her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan, of The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom fame) wants a divorce, her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) is trying to get her to accept her new girlfriend, and her demanding father (played by the legendary James Hong) has just arrived from China to visit the family. If that wasn’t enough stress for one day, the family has an appointment with the IRS to review their filings, and they are also scheduled to throw a Chinese New Year party at the laundromat for the community.

Things boil over when Evelyn and the family arrive for their IRS audit. While enduring a condescending lecture from an agent (Jamie Lee Curtis), Waymond suddenly has an urgent message for Evelyn. The message is in fact from “Alpha Waymond,” a version of Waymond from a parallel universe who has come to warn Evelyn of the dangers her daughter has wrought in a parallel universe.

As we quickly learn, every choice the characters make splinters off a new parallel universe; once Evelyn has that knowledge, she can quickly unlock every possible skill set from her infinite selves. She can even transport herself into the film and “real life” of Michelle Yeoh, including unlocking her martial arts skills from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (and some other surprises we won’t reveal here).

That soon comes in handy as she is forced to fight off intruders from another dimension in a thrilling battle at the IRS office that easily ranks as one of the most exciting and unexpected action sequences in years.

From there we are off to the races as Evelyn and her parallel daughter battle across countless universes where their powers, skills, and physical bodies can change in the blink of an eye. Daniels run totally wild with this idea, creating a kung-fu action spectacular that feels like a live-action Looney Tunes cartoon. The film moves so rapidly through each new incarnation that it’s nearly impossible to keep track, but Evelyn fighting with hot dogs as fingers gives you an idea of just how wacky this film gets.

If you can get on the film’s wavelength, Everything Everywhere All at Once is an overwhelming and wondrous experience that’s like nothing audiences have ever seen before. The action sequences are astounding, the screen feels like it’s exploding with energy, colour, and vibrancy, and the heart of the film is a moving story about the very specific Asian mother-daughter dynamic.

An audacious, hilarious, and ultimately moving film, Everything Everywhere All at Once is a singular viewing experience and marks Daniels as one of the most exciting filmmaking teams working today.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is in theatres now.