Absolute Absurdity

A review of the film Everything Everywhere All at Once

Everything Everywhere All at Once is an award winning absurdist Sci-Fi Comedy film by A24 that was released on March 25, 2022. The story follows Evelyn Quan Wang, played by Michelle Yoh, who is an exasperated Chinese immigrant mother and wife that is trying to maintain her everyday life while keeping her laundromat out of the hands of the IRS. 

The movie provides a unique take on the multiverse with a humorous, but somewhat heart-warming plot littered with quotable one-liners and tear-jerking themes. The viewers get to observe Evelyn work through all different types of trials and tribulations, like saving the universe from seemingly impending doom or addressing one of the most complex things in the word: mother-daughter relationships. 

New York Times via A24

From being a famous opera singer to having hotdogs for fingers to the existence of an everything-bagel-shaped Black Hole, this film has no limits or bounds when it comes to creativity or absurdity.

One of the most notable forms of this creativity in the film is its absolute jaw-dropping costume designs. Jobu Tupaki (played by Stephanie Hsu), was one of the characters that had the most astonishing and distinctive clothes that could capture the attention of any individual. Referencing a multitude of different eras of history, culture, and fashion, costume designer Shirley Kurata was able to bring the film to life with her mind-blowing style and artistic influence.

The film was also able to showcase its creativity through the usage of out-of-the-ordinary props to assist the main characters. Having to commit unusual acts like eating chapstick or using fish-tank gravel as a weight for fanny-pack nunchucks to “verse-jump”, or momentarily link one’s consciousness to another from a different universe to gain knowledge or experience, the film was able to incorporate the most unexpected props in unthinkable ways.

IMDb

Some might claim that the movie seems all over the place, but the chaotic nature of the film only places stronger emphasis on the theme by being quite literally everything, everywhere, all at once. 

Whether it’s the memorable quips or the moving storylines, Everything Everywhere All at Once is the kind of movie to make you sit and think after watching it. Overall, the film is an unforgettable experience that would entertain and entice even the most apathetic individuals.