Starring Michelle Yeoh, A24’s newest sci-fi comes from the crazed creators of Swiss Army Man and is a trippy journey through the multiverse. First reviews of Everything Everywhere All At Once are glowing, with critics praising the movie’s originality and outstanding performances; and following the success of After Yang — A24’s most recent sci-fi — many can’t wait to see it for themselves. From the cast and crew of Everything Everywhere All At Once, to its impressive soundtrack, here is everything you need to know about the movie: spoiler-free.
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Everything Everywhere All at Once is written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Schienert, collectively known as Daniels. The filmmaking duo is known for their music videos — including DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down For What” — and their 2016 adventure comedy movie Swiss Army Man (colloquially known as the farting corpse movie). Also distributed by A24, Swiss Army Man stars Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe as Hank and Manny.
Lost an island, Hank is about to attempt suicide when he spots Manny, a corpse, washed ashore. Hank befriends Manny and the two embark on strange, often hilarious, adventures. The movie was a critical success, receiving two Independent Spirit Awards nominations and winning the Sundance Directing Award.
Unsurprisingly, Daniels’ second feature film together is just as bizarre as their first. Everything Everywhere All at Once had its world premiere at SXSW on March 11 and, according to reviews, the surreal sci-fi is as chaotic as its title and trailer suggest. A story about family as much as it is about the multiverse, Everything Everywhere All at Once follows stressed-out laundromat manager and matriarch Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) who must use her skills from across the multiverse to save the world — and do her taxes.
The action-packed trailer for Everything Everywhere All at Once sees Evelyn become a master chef, movie star, kung fu disciple, and more, as her husband and daughter adopt alter egos too. These scenes of universe-hopping and fighting off attackers are intercut with heartfelt interactions between Evelyn and her family that look to ground the movie.
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh plays the lead role of Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Yeoh, whose career spans multiple decades, has starred in many movies (Memoirs of a Geisha, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Crazy Rich Asians), but is best known for her roles in the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies, and the Oscar-winning martial arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in which she performed her own stunts. Stephanie Hsu stars as Joy, Yeoh’s on-screen queer daughter who is distant from Evelyn. Hsu and Yeoh co-starred together in Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings, though she is most recognizable as Mei Lin in seasons 3 and 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Joining them in Everything Everywhere All at Once is Ke Huy Quan who plays Evelyn’s husband, and Joy’s father, Waymond. Like Yeoh, Quan also starred in Crazy Rich Asians and is best known for his roles in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Other cast members include James Hong (Big Trouble in Little China) as Evelyn’s father, Jenny Slate (Obvious Child) as a rude laundromat customer, and Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween) as IRS inspector Deirdre. Press surrounding Everything Everywhere All at Once has focused on Curtis’ transformation as slovenly Deirdre, as the actress refused prosthetics for a more authentic portrayal.
Everything Everywhere All at Once has an impressive 49-track soundtrack scored by American experimental band Son Lux. Artists featured on the album include Talking Heads’ David Byrne, Indie musician Mitski, and rapper André 3000, who appear together on the single “This Is a Life.” Randy Newman, Moses Sumney, and many more also lend their talents.
Music can make or break a movie, and in A24’s case, it tends to be the former. From 20th Century Women’s fantastic post-punk soundtrack — featuring the likes of Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Raincoats, and Suicide — to Lady Bird’s nostalgic 2000 hits, A24 rarely misses. The same goes for their TV productions, namely Euphoria. Many viewers agree the teen drama series wouldn’t be the same without Labrinth’s haunting, psychedelic score.
Everything Everywhere All At Once will be in theaters on March 25th.
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