Everything Everywhere all at Once released in the United States May 25 to an avalanche of positive reviews. Fans raved about the masterful editing, costumes and the story at the heart of it all. 

Going into this movie, I expected it to be good. I had seen a bunch of reviews and every single one had been positive. I didn’t think about what the movie would actually be like — I just had a vague impression that it wouldn’t disappoint, and it didn’t. 

Rarely is it that movies that have such spectacle are also moving in such an essential way — Michelle Yoon, Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan are a spectacular trio, playing both a believable immigrant family and a dangerously cool group of superheroes and villains. 

The plot follows Evelyn, a laundromat owner in Los Angeles. She and her family are in trouble with the IRA, and have to meet with an auditor to fix it. In the elevator on the way to the meeting,  Evelyn’s husband Waymond reveals the existence of a multiverse, and Evelyn’s ability to jump between universes and harness the skills of alternate Evelyns. He explains there is a “great evil” spreading through the multiverse, and they need Evelyn to help stop it. This call to adventure happens simultaneously with the meeting with the auditor, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. Shenanigans ensue, and Evelyn “verse jumps” for the first time.  

This movie starts out with more energy than one would expect, especially not me. It’s stressful how fast everything moves. This is a good way of imparting the characters sense of urgency and general lack of rest. We as an audience understand and empathize with their life, even when there’s people with hot dogs for fingers on screen (this actually happens). 

Something that especially stood out to me was the art direction — the costumes of the movie’s villain, Jobu Tupaki, are beautifully strange and the sets are gorgeous even when they’re not meant to be. There is beauty everywhere in this movie.

The story is at heart about a broken family. Not literally — Evelyn is married to Waymond the entirety of the movie, if only on the brink of divorce. But on an emotional level, the family is cracked. Evelyn cannot accept her daughter’s sexuality or behavior, she doesn’t love her husband and she is dissatisfied with her life. Her salvation and growth comes from this peak into the multiverse — from the idea that maybe nothing matters. More accurately, it comes from the contradicting truth that because nothing matters, we might as well be nice to our family. 

“Everything Everywhere all at Once:” ★★★★★