In Swiss Army Man, the debut film from Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan (collectively and fitting known as Daniels), Hank (Paul Dano) and his corpse friend Manny (Daniel Radcliffe) shoot out of a river propelled on the power of Manny's farts. As they fly through the air, they sing a song to each other that goes: "You just have to remember that we're all here for a purpose, and the Universe picks its time. Everything, everywhere matters to everything." While Swiss Army Man only lightly touched on this idea, six years later, Daniels' second film Everything Everywhere All At Once almost makes this verse a mantra amongst a cavalcade of insane multiverses, unlimited possibilities, and endless creativity. Daniels has given audiences a wholly unique vision that literally feels like everything everywhere all at once.
Leading this trip is Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh at maybe her all-time best), who runs a struggling laundromat with her overly-optimistic husband Waymond (an equally fantastic Ke Huy Quan). When we first meet Evelyn, she's surrounded by receipts, thanks to the laundromat getting audited, her husband is putting googly-eyes on bags of laundry, and it doesn't take long for Evelyn to embarrass her daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu) when introducing her girlfriend to Evelyn's father, Gong Gong (James Hong). To make matters worse, Evelyn doesn't know Waymond has divorce papers, and IRS inspector Diedre (a hilariously wild Jamie Lee Curtis) accuses the laundromat of fraud. As someone tells Evelyn later in the film, Evelyn is living her worst you.
But that's not to say Evelyn hasn't tried to escape her monotonous life. We learn she's wanted to be a singing coach and an author, amongst other interests that became hobbies instead of life-altering careers. But Evelyn's life irrevocably changes when a version of Waymond tells Evelyn that she is just one of many Evelyns, yet she's the only one that can defeat a powerful villain named Jobu Tupaki, who could destroy all the universes (and there are a lot of universes).
Leading this trip is Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh at maybe her all-time best), who runs a struggling laundromat with her overly-optimistic husband Waymond (an equally fantastic Ke Huy Quan). When we first meet Evelyn, she's surrounded by receipts, thanks to the laundromat getting audited, her husband is putting googly-eyes on bags of laundry, and it doesn't take long for Evelyn to embarrass her daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu) when introducing her girlfriend to Evelyn's father, Gong Gong (James Hong). To make matters worse, Evelyn doesn't know Waymond has divorce papers, and IRS inspector Diedre (a hilariously wild Jamie Lee Curtis) accuses the laundromat of fraud. As someone tells Evelyn later in the film, Evelyn is living her worst you.
But that's not to say Evelyn hasn't tried to escape her monotonous life. We learn she's wanted to be a singing coach and an author, amongst other interests that became hobbies instead of life-altering careers. But Evelyn's life irrevocably changes when a version of Waymond tells Evelyn that she is just one of many Evelyns, yet she's the only one that can defeat a powerful villain named Jobu Tupaki, who could destroy all the universes (and there are a lot of universes).
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