This is going to sound wild, but sometimes the best movies put me to sleep. Everything Everywhere All At Once took me three nights to watch completely.
Let me elaborate on this further. I’ve recently learned that I’m ADHD, and high intensity emotion and other sensory stimulation sometimes causes my body to shut down, and just take a nap. I’ve fallen asleep during the first watch of several of my absolute favorite films and shows, from Twin Peaks (original and the Return) and Fire Walk With Me to Cyrano, to Black Bear, to Everything Everywhere All At Once. Most would assume this is my mind’s way of telling me that I’m uninterested, but for me it’s actually the complete opposite.
Everything Everywhere All At Once relies heavily on sensory input from many different sources, and to top it off a depth of emotion that sent me off the deep end into my feelings. My body’s way of allowing my mind to process this overstimulation is to shut down, apparently about a third of the way into the movie. And do you know what? It means I’m thinking on it, resonating, relating, connecting to a fictional universe throughout the night and even the following day. When I have the opportunity to catch up and watch what I missed, I jump at it. And in this case… I fell asleep AGAIN and repeated that process.
I really don’t want to give too much away, because a lot of the beauty of this movie is the unexpected. Our protagonist is a normal woman named Evelyn with biases, tax problems, and a struggling relationship with her husband and daughter. As she’s recruited to save the multiverse, she learns that even the most unremarkable people can do incredible, beautiful things.
Most of us can relate to the struggle for independence between a parent and young adult child. As a 28 year old with young children, my experience so far lines up more with Evelyn’s daughter Joy, trying to claim her own independence and foster a healthy relationship with a mother who doesn’t want to let go. However, I think my own mother would have a different perspective.
Every character is fully developed despite the initial chaos of the film. You find yourself rooting for everyone in their own way, and desperately wondering what will happen next.
Altogether, I think I have to give Everything Everywhere All At Once a solid 10/10 stars. I’m a bit of a harsh critic, but this film deserves it. It utilises storytelling methods that are bizarre, confusing, chaotic, comedic, and somehow it works.
Notable performances from all three of our leads really carried the film. Ke Huy Quan as Waymond absolutely stole my heart, and Stephanie Hsu’s intense performance left me wanting more. Michelle Yeoh of course, as the lead, carried the film with a complexity of character, even as you found yourself disliking certain aspects of the woman she was portraying. Despite those biases, you couldn’t help but love Evelyn and want her to succeed.
I’ve just gone back through the cast and realised that Jamie Lee Curtis plays one of our more antagonistic characters, and I have to add that her performance was impressive. Jamie Lee Curtis in many films is still Jamie Lee Curtis. In EEAAO, she breaks out of her typecast roles and gives you a complicated character you love to hate. Somehow despite this, you still end up wanting the best for her.
EEAAO is a masterpiece of a film. It’s overstimulating, emotional, complicated and rocky, and ultimately a sweet story about failure, relationships, family, and unlikely heroes.
I highly recommend it.
The Midnight Review 