Everything Everywhere All at Once

**Bloated nonsense, overlong and meaningless.** If this movie wasn't so overhyped and so overrated, I would just dismiss it as a meh kind of movie. But as it is so overhyped and overrated, I kind of start to hate it. But to not waste a lot more time on this nonsense, I will just point out the main reasons why the movie failed for me. 1.) The movie failed to establish an emotional connection between the viewer and what is happening on the screen i. E. in the movie. One of the reasons for that being: the movie was driven by nonsense. Whenever the main characters are stuck in a situation, the have to perform some nonensical bullcrap, so that they can crazy-deus-ex-machina their way out of the situation. Again and again and again and again and again. 2.) The other reason for the failed emotional connection is that there were no sympathetic characters given to connect with. Everyone is just a self-absorbed a-hole or douchebag. What they are fighting for is a chaotic piled up mess (because they are unable to fix anything and to improve, so they prefer having a meanignless mess to having nothing). So, my main problem was: I just didn't care for anything happening in the movie. If you think that it is a profound philosophical question to ask how your life would be if you would have sausages for fingers (just to give you an example), this may be a movie you. But if you think that such a question is just stupid and stopped being funny since you turned 8 years old, maybe you should avoid spending timeor money on this movie. But there are some few reddeming qualities of this movie, hence I gave it 4/10. Which are: - The cinematography isn't bad. - It doesn't look like a trash movie production-value-wise. - Some of the acting wasn't too bad, if you can look past the garbage mess the actors had to work with. - It has some funny moments, if you can take the nonsense and the stupidity. But again, at the end of the day, I didn't care for the pile of nonsense that the movie is.

**A magnificently anti-nihilistic and brutally well-executed film, with a cast of deeply committed actors and an insane story.** I just saw this film and felt an irresistible need to talk about it and comment on it. However, I recognize that a text of just a few thousand characters is completely insufficient to make a fair assessment. This is one of the most complex films I've seen, and so I'm going to try to make an extra effort not to spoil it, even though I feel like I'm going to need to address some things in more depth to be able to write what I need. Let's start by saying that the film was an overwhelming success, both at the box office and with critics, and that it is worth every cent of our cinema ticket. He was also acclaimed at the 2023 Oscars ceremony, with seven statuettes (Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay) in ten nominations. And in addition to the Oscars, many other prizes and awards that seem completely justified to me. The script is one of the most creative and insane I've ever seen: it all starts with a middle-aged Chinese lady who tries to deal with the organized chaos of her normal life: a half-bankrupt business, a marriage in ruins, a bad relationship with an authoritarian father and a lesbian and protesting daughter. And problems with income tax. It is in the midst of this that she discovers that there are billions of other universes, with several other versions of the people she knows, and that she needs to help defeat an evil, an evil force that threatens to destroy them all. The film starts from very bold physics premises, where there are some theories that address the possibility of universes parallel to ours, with our alter-egos living there, and goes further, stating that these universes are born from our multiplicity of options and decisions every day. For example, I'm here writing this, but in another universe, another version of me chose not to watch any movie and sleep. I'm not going to explain much more, not even how the main character discovers this, nor what kind of evil entity that is, but I can say that, deep down, the biggest message I took away from this film is the need to live in the present, but also have faith and cultivate love and good feelings, instead of futile sensations or meaningless nihilism. In effect, the main character needs to believe in herself and in the abilities she doesn't know she can have, in order to combat that malevolent force, which is, in itself, a good representation of nihilism, the feeling that nothing in this life it's really worth it. Still regarding the script, I believe it is fair to say that it was precisely closer to the end that I felt the inspiration running out, the creative overdose of the directors and screenwriters. This is, after so many bizarre and unusual things, the apparently simple ending (even though it wasn't) seemed strangely anti-climactic to me. There's so much to say about the technical aspects of this film... directed by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, it's a surprisingly cheap production (a budget of around thirty million dollars, for Hollywood and considering what this film is, it's a small bag of pennies and quarters), which works incredibly well. On a visual level, it's one of the most devastating films I've ever seen, with cinematography and editing worthy of being studied by film schools. And then, we have the great work of designing sets and costumes, and the impressive work of the action doubles and makeup, among many other subtle details that are so tiny that we almost don't notice them, and that show the detailed, patient nature and commitment of directors and their team. The soundtrack is also a very positive point, with an atmospheric and sometimes very discreet sound. There are lots of references to aspects of pop culture, such as martial arts or even technological gadgets, and the fight and action scenes were made with maximum attention to detail, including sudden stops of the image in the most intense scenes, a style of cinematography very characteristic of kung fu films. The work of the cast deserves praise. By playing a wide range of cinema styles in the same character, from comedy to physical action, Michelle Yeoh embarked on a tour de force so challenging that it would make any renowned actor think twice. The way she gives herself to the character is total, absorbing. Stephanie Hsu follows her closely and offers us profound work, full of feeling and emotion. Ke Huy Quan is also impressive and does a remarkable job. In smaller characters but still worthy of mention, we have the veteran James Hong, and the prestigious Jamie Lee Curtis, in a performance so far out of her comfort zone that it seems unimaginable for this actress, and yet it could become pivotal to her career from now on.

Thematically, this movie has something to chew on. Unfortunately the metaphor used to explore the theme is constructed in a sloppy way that falls apart under any scrutiny. Well performed actions sequences are irrelevant to the progression of the theme and only serve to mark time between the tidbits of character drama spread out over the movie. The superficial plot and setting similarities to The Matrix also bring these shortcomings into sharp focus. Whereas the former takes pains to communicate it's ideas to the audience with precise foreshadowing, EEAAO tries to throw as many ideas at you as fast as possible hoping that you won't notice they have no substance, and ultimately don't matter. The former has action scenes that are relevant to the theme, progress the story, and matter to the character's journey. The later simply has me waiting until they're over for the story to pick back up. It's not that there's nothing this movie has to say, it's simply afraid to say it without constant 'lol so random!!' memes.