A Beautiful Descent into The Multiverse
In a Slew of Multiverse Movies, Everything Everywhere All At Once Makes its Mark
[Spoiler warning for the film Everything Everywhere All At Once.]
Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known together as Daniels), A24’s new sci-fi blockbuster Everything Everywhere All At Once is a colorful absurdist trip through the multiverse with equal parts style and substance. The general premise involves Evelyn, played by Michelle Yeoh, a struggling laundromat owner being audited who is launched into a multiversal battle against an all-powerful threat. Utilizing classic science fiction gadgetry, Evelyn is able to collect the skills and experience the lives of alternate versions of herself from other universes. With a runtime of nearly two and a half hours, it’s a densely packed movie discussing existentialism, nihilism, quantum death, butterfly effect, and mathematical probabilities. But it’s not really about any of that. At its core, Everything Everywhere is a movie about navigating relationships: romantic relationships, parental relationships, and most importantly the relationships we have with ourselves.
Sci-fi novelist Ursula K. Le Guin once said that “Science fiction is not predictive; it is descriptive.” Following that note, Everything Everywhere does an exceptional job of describing the diasporic Chinese experience with an authenticity rarely seen in science fiction. From the mix of Mandarin, Cantonese, and English spoken by the characters to the wardrobe of quilted sweater vests and fanny packs, the film paints a family that is familiar to many Chinese Americans. Even so, Everything Everywhere may be the first of its kind in Hollywood with an almost all Asian cast in a movie with no inherent relation to “Asian culture.” We’ve seen all Asian casts in mainstream productions before with Crazy Rich Asians, Shang-Chi, and The Farewell, all of which center around Asian culture and identity stories. But Everything Everywhere is a sci-fi blockbuster with a premise that could have been applicable to a multitude of castings. However, by employing a nearly all Asian cast, the film opens the door for Asian actors to take on mainstream roles within a genre that was traditionally white dominated. In doing so, the film also rejects the notion of colorblindness, where the characters' backgrounds are ignored, instead choosing to keep it front and center. It doesn’t ask, “What if we made these characters Chinese?”, but rather, “How would it look if these sci-fi shenanigans happened to a Chinese American family?” As such, Everything Everywhere tells a story that can resonate with everyone but holds a special significance for the immigrant community.
The film also borrows influence from an unique assortment of inspirations and homages. With a plethora of movie references from The Matrix to Ratatouille, Daniels also loops in cinematic homages from Chinese cinema. When Evelyn lives her alternate life as a movie actress, the cinematography and dialogue takes on a greenish tint and melodramatic tone reminiscent of Wong Kar Wai’s classic In the Mood For Love. The action sequences in the movie also pulls inspiration from Michelle Yeoh’s own filmography by mixing wuxia classics like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Clan of the White Lotus with Jackie Chan’s trademark slapstick kung fu. But what’s more important in terms of the film’s meta-commentary is the casting of Ke Huy Quan who plays Waymond, the deuteragonist and the emotional heart of the film. Ke Huy Quan, a former child actor once known in Hollywood for starring in Indiana Jones as Short Round and The Goonies as Data, drifted away from the public eye when he got older and realized there were no roles in Hollywood for Asian men. Inspired by the success of Crazy Rich Asians, Quan decided to return to acting after a decades long hiatus.
“Those two characters are not your typical stereotypical Asian characters. Short Round is courageous, he saves Indy’s life. Data is one of the gang. But as I got older, there were not a lot of offers, and even when there was one, it was very stereotypical. It wasn’t fun to audition for those.” - Ke Huy Quan, CinemaBlend
Despite his long departure from acting, Quan steals the spotlight in a cast of heavyweights by playing different versions of Waymond, Evelyn’s mild-mannered and good natured husband. Quan’s performance is impressive, jumping from different personalities and body languages within an instant. In one of film’s most beautiful scenes, Evelyn breaks down and gives in to all her self-destructive tendencies: she destroys her own laundromat and is subsequently arrested. Waymond then calmly asks the officers to release Evelyn and slowly starts sweeping up the glass shards caused by Evelyn’s tirade, a silent but profound gesture of love. This ability to portray such nuance as he switches from action hero to comedic relief to loving husband all came from Quan’s dedication for the role.
“I also hired a dialogue and a voice coach to help each version of Waymond sounding a little different. And emotionally, I poured my life into the 3 different Waymond” - Ke Huy Quan, Reddit
Seeing Ke Huy Quan’s triumphant return to the screen begs the question of what could’ve been in a universe with a less racist Hollywood where actors like Quan received instrumental roles in mainstream movies. It’s important to note that amidst this momentum of Asian castings, this success didn’t derive from some sort of natural progression in equitability in Hollywood. Instead, it’s the culmination of Asian talents vying for positions like directors, producers, and screenwriters that allowed for films like Everything Everywhere to be made. Without Crazy Rich Asians, Ke Huy Quan may not have returned to acting. Without Parasite, forcing audiences to read extensive subtitles for certain scenes would have been unfathomable. Without decades of international Asian cinema, the film wouldn’t have its unique charm and homages. Meanwhile, it was also Quan’s own seemingly small roles as a child that may have created a butterfly effect for his own return.
“Over the years, I’ve met a lot of Asian talent now working in Hollywood. They always thank me and say, ‘Man, it was so great to see you up there on the screen, because I was able to see myself. Thank you for paving the way for us to be here.’ And, of course, it’s really interesting because they’ve paved the way for my return. My return to acting is the direct result of the progress made by them.” - Ke Huy Quan
Beyond Quan’s character, we also receive an emotional performance from rising actress Stephanie Hsu who plays Eveyln’s daughter Joy. A main conflict of the film focuses on the tension and struggle that Evelyn has with Joy being a lesbian. It’s a trope that’s made more vivid and specific when intersecting that struggle with common problems for the Asian diaspora like language barriers, generational trauma, and an indirect love language. When Evelyn attempts to apologize for hiding Joy’s sexuality from her father, she struggles to find the right words and eventually settles on the awkward “you're getting fat, you should eat healthier.” Although the exact situation may be foreign to some audiences, it perfectly captures the brutal struggle of communicating with immigrant parents raised in environments where emotional engagement was never the norm. Evelyn’s pained relationship is also a two way street when she admits not only her mistakes but also airs out her grievances such as her daughter only calling when she needs something. As Evelyn’s argument with her daughter culminates in the finale, Michelle Yeoh utters words that may have been catharsis for an entire generation telling her daughter: “No matter what, I still want to be here with you. I will always, always want to be here with you.” While not fully engaging this tension to its full extent, Everything Everywhere does open the door in asking the audience to confront and evaluate their own relationships and trauma.
“Everything Everywhere All At Once, was a dream about reconciling all of the contradictions, making sense of the largest questions, and imbuing meaning onto the dumbest, most profane parts of humanity. We wanted to stretch ourselves in every direction to bridge the generational gap that often crumbles into generational trauma.” - Directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Everything Everywhere All At Once tells us that our choices have consequences. Maybe if you never put down that trumpet in high school, you could’ve been the next Mile Davis. Maybe if you scored slightly higher on the SAT, you would be graduating from your dream school right now. But none of that really matters because none of those possibilities are real. The choices we make are not always perfect in hindsight but they are valuable in molding us. To quote Evelyn, “In a universe where we only have hot dogs for fingers, we get really good with our feet.” Everything Everywhere rebukes the fatalistic nihilism associated with our regrets and urges the audience to make peace with the opportunities that pass us in favor of the choices we can make in the present. And the most important choice we can make moving forward can be boiled down to a simple declaration from Ke Huay Kuan’s character: Be kind. Be kind to our loved ones, to our children and parents, even to that antagonistic IRS clerk, but most importantly be kind to yourself.
For More Insights Into The Movie, Check Out:
New York Times | How ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Helps to Heal Generational Trauma
Vulture | Daniels Unpack the Everything Bagel of Influence Behind Everything Everywhere All At Once
Slate | Asian Men Needed a Movie Like Everything Everywhere All At Once
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