What I’m watching: an amazing science fiction film with heartDate: 4/18/2022 In theaters: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) is having a very bad day of her not-so-good life. She is trying to put together business receipts in order to stave off IRS action against her floundering laundromat. Her loving and mild-mannered husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) is threatening divorce as a way of forcing a discussion about their marriage. Her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) is dealing with her mom’s passive aggressive behavior about her sexuality. To complicate matters more, her disapproving and judgmental father Gong Gong (James Hong) is in from China.
Her life is about to take the most unexpected turn of events, though. Her husband has suddenly become another person, a person who explains that there are many universes and all of them are threatened by an all-powerful villain Jobu Tupaki, who is their daughter. This world’s Evelyn is seen as the only person who could stop Joy from destroying the universes.
Evelyn has trouble understanding what is happening and rejects the idea that she can do anything, but her role as the savior of the universes is thrust upon her.
Evelyn literally jumps into the skin of other Evelyns, including one who is a glamorous movie star, while another is a restaurant chef. Through all of the worlds Evelyn must fight the efforts of Jobu Tupaki to destroy existence.
The way Evelyn manages to combat the evil and reverse its effects is very unexpected and forms the core message of this film.
Writers and directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert structured this film, so the audience and Evelyn are on the same page in the first half-hour or so: confused. The situation in which Evelyn finds herself reveals itself gradually. Once fully introduced, I will venture to say that in a cinematic environment in which “multiverses” are increasingly common among superhero blockbusters, this multiverse is the location for a very human story.
This is a commercially bold film. About half of the dialogue is in Chinese with subtitles, which makes perfect sense with the story and characters. It’s an audacious move, as many audiences don’t care much for subtitles.
It’s also unusual for having a cast in which all but one of the performers is Asian or Asian-American.
Finally, it’s also unusual to have a major role played by a 93-year-old actor. I almost applauded when James Hong made his entrance. He’s great in a key supporting role.
If Yeoh does not make all of the award lists for best actor next awards season it will be a major injustice. A former Miss Malaysia, Yeoh has had a lengthy career in martial arts films, which is how I first came to know of her work.
While I and many others value the skill that goes into that genre of film, it wasn’t until she appeared in the James Bond film, “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997), followed by “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000) and “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2005) that mainstream critics and audiences got to see the depth of her talent.
She has reached a new wider audience with her role in the new Star Trek series, “Discovery.”
This is an involving story with great humor and heart. While the first half-hour is indeed confusing, bear with it as there will be an enjoyable payoff once the film allows you — and Evelyn — to understand what is going on.
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