Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022): Infinite Realities, Infinite Terrors

In the swirling chaos of countless universes, one ordinary woman confronts the ultimate horror: a existence stripped of all meaning.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s audacious multiverse epic transforms a mundane family drama into a pulsating sci-fi nightmare, where the boundaries of reality fracture under the weight of infinite possibilities. This film masterfully blends breakneck action, heartfelt emotion, and profound existential dread, positioning itself as a cornerstone of modern technological horror.

  • The multiverse mechanism serves as a chilling metaphor for cosmic insignificance, amplifying themes of regret and isolation.
  • Michelle Yeoh’s tour-de-force performance anchors the frenzy, embodying body horror through grotesque transformations and multiversal leaps.
  • Daniels’ innovative visual effects and sound design elevate the film into a sensory assault, redefining sci-fi horror for the digital age.

The Multiverse Unveiled: A Descent into Fractured Existence

The narrative centres on Evelyn Wang, a weary Chinese-American laundromat owner grappling with IRS audits, a strained marriage to Waymond, and a rebellious daughter, Joy. As tax agent Deirdre Beaumont presses her for documents, Evelyn’s world implodes when Waymond from the Alphaverse reveals a device enabling ‘verse-jumping’—harnessing skills and memories from parallel selves via mundane actions like wielding a fanny pack as a weapon or hot-dog fingers for combat prowess. This technological intrusion shatters her reality, thrusting her into a war against Jobu Tupaki, Joy’s nihilistic alter ego who has pierced the multiverse’s fabric with the Everything Bagel, a black hole devouring matter and meaning alike.

What begins as a frantic tutorial in multiversal combat evolves into a labyrinthine odyssey across realities: Evelyn rock-climbs skyscrapers in one universe, channels kung fu mastery in another, and even inhabits a universe of Raccacoonie-inspired raccoon chefs. Key cast members shine amid the madness—Ke Huy Quan as the optimistic Waymond, whose Alphaverse incarnation carries the weight of interdimensional strategy; Stephanie Hsu as the dual forces of Joy and Jobu, capturing teenage angst exploding into cosmic apocalypse; and Jamie Lee Curtis as the bureaucratic Deirdre, whose variants range from dominatrix to compassionate ally. The film’s production drew from Chinese immigrant experiences, with screenwriters Kwan and Scheinert infusing autobiographical elements from their own families.

Historically, the multiverse concept echoes H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine (1895) and more directly quantum mechanics popularised in films like Primer (2004), but Everything Everywhere weaponises it for horror. Legends of infinite worlds trace back to ancient philosophy—think Giordano Bruno’s executed visions of endless spheres—yet here, technology democratises this terror, making every choice a potential abyss. Production challenges abounded: a modest $25 million budget ballooned with ambitious VFX, shot during COVID lockdowns in Los Angeles, demanding ingenuity from cinematographer Larkin Seiple.

The plot’s relentless pace mirrors the horror of overwhelm, where Evelyn’s initial denial gives way to reluctant heroism. Iconic scenes, like the laundry fight blending feather-dusters and fire extinguisher guns, showcase choreography by Brian Le, blending wuxia precision with slapstick absurdity. Symbolism abounds: the bagel as a mandala of destruction, inverting cosmic creation myths into technological singularity.

Body Horror: Vessels of Multiversal Violation

At its core, the film pulses with body horror, as verse-jumping warps flesh into instruments of survival. Evelyn’s body contorts through improbable physiques—bulging biceps from parallel athletes, elongated limbs for improbable strikes—evoking David Cronenberg’s visceral invasions in The Fly (1986). Hot-dog fingers squelch grotesquely, a nod to practical effects wizardry where silicone prosthetics and animatronics merge with CGI for seamless disgust.

Jobu’s transformations escalate the terror: her head balloons to cartoonish proportions before imploding, a practical effect using balloon inflation and controlled rupture, symbolising the rupture of identity. These mutations underscore body autonomy’s fragility, as characters hijack alternate selves, raising ethical horrors akin to Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). Evelyn’s arc grapples with this violation, her laundromat symbolising soiled, overworked flesh reclaimed through multiversal agency.

Performances amplify the physicality: Yeoh, at 59, executes stunts with balletic grace honed from decades in Hong Kong action cinema, her expressions conveying the disorientation of corporeal theft. Hsu’s Jobu embodies fragmented selfhood, her screams echoing the pain of infinite iterations. Even Curtis’s Deirdre variant, wielding a buxom bombshell form, parodies body ideals while subverting them in combat.

This subgenre evolution places the film alongside Under the Skin (2013), where alien forms expose human vulnerability, but Everything Everywhere adds technological mediation, making the body a hacked interface in a digital cosmos.

Cosmic Nihilism: The Everything Bagel’s Abyss

The film’s philosophical spine is cosmic horror, distilled in Jobu’s proclamation: “In the grand scheme of things, you are nothing.” The Everything Bagel, a swirling vortex born from colliding matter and anti-matter, incarnates Lovecraftian indifference—endless possibilities yielding only entropy. This technological artefact, crafted via particle physics nods, devours stars and souls, mirroring black hole entropy in Hawking’s theories.

Evelyn confronts insignificance across universes: one where she wields a golden Janet Leigh-like form, another a tepid starlet. Regret haunts her—what ifs multiply into madness, evoking The Butterfly Effect (2004) but scaled to multiversal despair. Isolation amplifies: family bonds strain under infinite alternatives, Waymond’s plea for kindness a bulwark against void.

Thematically, corporate greed lurks in the IRS as multiversal oppressor, paralleling Alien’s Weyland-Yutani. Existential dread permeates quiet moments, like Evelyn’s universe of floating rocks, where silence underscores human frailty amid cosmic scales.

Cultural resonance ties to post-pandemic anxiety, infinite choices paralysing action, a technological terror for scroll-fatigued generations.

Sensory Assault: Effects and Sound Design Mastery

Special effects propel the horror, blending 2,300 VFX shots from 30+ vendors. Practical dominates: the Bagel’s roiling mass used ink in water tanks, enhanced digitally; verse-jump glitches mimic VHS distortion via analogue filters. Seiple’s cinematography shifts aspect ratios—square for laundromat mundanity, ultra-wide for multiversal sprawl—distorting perception.

Sound design by Brian Schmidt layers chaos: bone-crunching impacts, multiversal whooshes from foley artists manipulating everyday objects. Son Lux’s score fuses orchestral swells with glitch electronica, evoking Dune (2021) dread but absurdly kinetic.

These techniques innovate, influencing successors like The Flash (2023), proving mid-budget ingenuity trumps spectacle.

Legacy: Reshaping Sci-Fi Horror’s Horizons

Winning seven Oscars, including Best Picture, the film shattered box office for A24, grossing $143 million. Its influence ripples: multiverse fatigue post-MCU finds redemption here, inspiring nuanced explorations in Poor Things (2023). Culturally, it elevates Asian-American narratives, Yeoh’s win historic.

Behind-the-scenes: Daniels iterated 10 drafts over years, casting Yeoh after Crouching Tiger admiration. Censorship dodged via MPAA R-rating, preserving unhinged vision.

In AvP-like crossovers, it bridges body horror with cosmic tech, a Predator in possibility space.

Director in the Spotlight

Daniel Kwan (born 1988, Los Angeles) and Daniel Scheinert (born 1987, Birmingham, Alabama), collectively known as Daniels, met at Emerson College in 2008, bonding over experimental filmmaking. Kwan, son of Taiwanese immigrants, studied creative writing; Scheinert, theatre background, excelled in directing. They honed craft via music videos for artists like OK Go, earning MTV awards for optical illusion spectacles like “All Is Not Lost” (2011), blending low-fi tech with high-concept visuals.

Their feature debut, Swiss Army Man (2016), starred Daniel Radcliffe as a farting corpse aiding a castaway (Paul Dano), grossing cult acclaim for grotesque body horror and emotional depth, winning Sundance nods. Post that, they directed episodes of Legion (2017-2019), infusing FX’s mutant series with surreal timelines.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) cemented their status, sweeping Oscars for directing, screenplay, editing. Influences span Wong Kar-wai’s melancholy, Jackie Chan’s physicality, and Being John Malkovich (1999) portals. Upcoming: Samuel Goes to Notre-Dame, a musical about kindness amid apocalypse.

Filmography highlights: Power Rangers (2017, second unit); Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry (2021, segments); music videos like “This Too Shall Pass” (OK Go, 2010, Rube Goldberg machine). Daniels champion diversity, mentoring via Short of the Week, their partnership a model of collaborative genius.

Actor in the Spotlight

Michelle Yeoh, born Yeoh Chu-Kheng on 6 August 1962 in Ipoh, Malaysia, began as a classical ballet dancer, trained at the Royal Academy of Dance in London. A 1983 car accident ended her dance career, pivoting to modelling and acting. Discovered as Miss Malaysia, she starred in Hong Kong action films opposite Jackie Chan in Policeman from the Other Side? No, her debut In the Line of Duty (1984) showcased martial arts prowess.

Global breakthrough: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), earning BAFTA nomination. Bond girl in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997); Crouching Tiger Oscar-nominated. Recent: Crazy Rich Asians (2018), Shang-Chi (2021). Everything Everywhere (2022) won her Best Actress Oscar, historic for Malaysian/Asian woman.

Trajectory: From genre queen (Hero 2002, Memoirs of a Geisha 2005) to prestige (Sunshine 2007, The Lady 2011 biopic). Awards: Hong Kong Film Awards multiple, Golden Globe noms. Activism: UN goodwill ambassador.

Comprehensive filmography: The Heroic Trio (1993, superhero team-up); Wing Chun (1994, martial arts); Supercop (1992, with Chan); Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011, voice); Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017); Star Trek: Discovery (2017-2020, TV); Avatar: The Way of Water (2022); forthcoming Wicked (2024), Megalopolis (2024). Yeoh embodies resilient grace, bridging East-West cinema.

Craving more cosmic chills? Dive deeper into AvP Odyssey’s vault of sci-fi horrors right here.

Bibliography

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Davis, A. (2023) ‘Multiverse Nihilism: Cosmic Horror in Contemporary Cinema’, Journal of Film and Media Studies, 12(1), pp. 45-67.

Kwan, D. and Scheinert, D. (2022) Everything Everywhere All at Once: The Oral History. A24 Press Kit. Available at: https://a24films.com/notes/everything-everywhere-all-at-once (Accessed: 15 October 2024).

Scott, A.O. (2022) ‘A Multiverse of Blockheaded Madness’. The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/movies/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-review.html (Accessed: 15 October 2024).

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