Everything Everywhere All at Once: What You Need to Know

TL;DR: Just go see Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Every once in a while, there is a movie that comes along that doesn't need any help at all. The vast majority of even very good movies could have used some tweaks or a couple of scenes shot or reshot just to fill in some gaps and that's ok.  No film, or, I should say very few films, are perfect. Everything Everywhere All at Once is an exception to that. 

While you could take issue with some of its crassness or its occasional sub-par effects, I think such flaws aren't flaws because it's obvious what directors, Danial Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, were trying to do and they pulled it off. Everything Everywhere All at Once is perfectly titled because it largely means what it says.  I was at a screening with a Q&A where "The Daniels" answered questions from the audience. The first question from an audience member was "What didn't you put in this movie?"

These directors and everyone they worked with to make the movie took every idea they had and went for it. As a result, every thing in this movie works, because the realities the film takes us to are so intense and exaggerated, anything becomes possible/acceptable. So even the two imperfect things you could actually criticize about this movie, simply don't matter.  

If every movie was made this way I wouldn't be writing this blog/newsletter (blogletter?). If everyone made films where the filmmakers went for it with every choice like the Daniels and their cast and crew did, we'd be living in a golden age of cinema. I'm not saying every film should have whacky, silly, alternate reality stuff, but if every one just took their choices further than their initial ideas, all films would be better. Instead of telling a story about a guy who is sad because his girlfriend left him, he should be sad because she left him for someone he admires as a person. Instead of telling a story about a woman who is happy, tell the story of a woman who is happy because she's doing something no woman has done, like leave the solar system in a spaceship, or cure her own mom's cancer.  These are all called "strong" choices or at least "stronger" choices.

Technical stuff, aside, the film also has a pretty great message--fight with kindness. In a world where everyone seems to be argumentative or otherwise ready to take down their opponent at a moments notice, this movie suggests that we should find a way to be kind, or even love those we see as opponents. I think that's pretty cool.

So, if you haven't already, GO SEE THIS MOVIE IN THE THEATER! Don't wait for streaming. This movie will be perfectly amazing on the small screen, but the big screen is where you will have the best possible experience with it.  Seriously, it's a film where you won't believe you are seeing what you are seeing and you will be amazed that it got made or written at all. 

Was Everything Everywhere All at Once entertaining? Yes and you should go see it immediately.