Words by Jeffrey Arthur
With 11 Oscar nods, Everything Everywhere All at Once is the film we can’t stop talking about.
Martin Scorsese knows a thing or two about films. So whatever he has to say about what counts as real cinema is worth listening to. Marvel doesn’t. According to the legendary director, they’re more like theme parks than real cinema. And Marty was right. If you’re one of the die-hard Marvel fans burning to give me a piece of your mind – don’t. This author has no interest in cinematic opinions contrary to Marty’s. His opinion got Marvel fans – and actors – real, real mad. The ‘true believers’ demanded an explanation. Scorsese gave them one.
His were pretty solid, too – at least as far as I was concerned: good cinema is an “art form that brings you the unexpected”, and it requires an “element of risk.” By that criteria, you’d struggle to name Marvel films that make the cut. They’re as predictable as they come, with every new instalment in the Marvel universe intent on being less funny and generally worse than the previous (Black Panther being the exception).
This ain’t no anti-Marvel piece (many films could also be described as theme parks), and you’d be forgiven for wondering what any of this has to do with the Oscars and Everything Everywhere All at Once (EEOAT), so I’ll get to it; To my mind, EEOAT is what Marvel films could be if they tried a little harder to do some actual filmmaking. It’s the film with the biggest Oscar buzz, sweeping up 11 nominations, notably in the Best Picture category. It’s not the prettiest film of the lot, and it doesn’t necessarily have all the elements of that make the ‘perfect film.’ But it is pretty damn good.
The story itself is pretty straightforward; how it’s told is not. A quick summary: It follows an exhausted Chinese-American woman, Evelyn Wang (played by Michelle Yeoh) who runs a laundromat with her equally exhausted husband, Waymond (played by Ke Huy Quan). Together, the pair work (without much luck) to hold off a formidable IRS auditor (Jamie Lee Curtis). In between her chaotic running of the laundromat, we’re told of her dreams of being everything from a singer to a novelist. But those dreams are just dreams, and she spends the first big chunk of the film concerned about the antics of her daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu) and her father’s (James Hong) visit from China.
To make matters worse, she’s having to decide between hiding her daughter’s sexuality from her father and declaring her love for her regardless of who she loves. Comprende?
It’s in the tax office – where her finances come under scrutiny – that things change. Evelyn’s husband, Waymond, is transformed into a sort of action-man version of himself from another multiverse, on a mission to find “the one” who can save everyone from the evil “verse jumper.” Evelyn’s the one, he declares, because she’s “capable of anything” precisely because she’s “bad at everything.” If you haven’t seen the film, this may all sound a little bit silly (Marvel-like, even). True say some moments are odd, but it all fits together pretty well.
In a little over 2 hours, the directors, the Daniels, manage to cook up something that is both genuinely hilarious and serious. There are sausage fingers, talking rocks and exploding policemen. But there are also messages about love, family, and the price to pay for missed dreams. For its multiverse madness, this is a film that does the serious stuff well, bringing its audience on a never-ending journey of surprises, laughter and sadness, without resorting to cheap tricks and silly gimmicks. It helps, too, that the characters are well-written, brought to life by actors with the capability to pull off a fairly complicated brief.
Over the past few years, the Oscars have fallen victim to predictability, with the same names and types of films dominating. That’s not always a bad thing – but neither is a bit of fresh air. In EEOAT, we have that and more. Plus the whole underdog feel surrounding the film and its cast makes its award-season success even better. There’s just something about Ke Huy Quan, for example, Hollywood’s delightful new darling. Videos of his kid in a sweet shop antics during various have been doing the rounds, sending the whole internet smitten with love. He’s just happy to be here, you know, especially after his fall from casting grace (he notably appeared in Indiana Jones). His co-star, Michelle Yeoh, has a similar story: out of favour for big-ticket jobs, despite possessing the same acting talents as some of Hollywood’s biggest names. That other actors and film enthusiasts seem genuinely happy about their success should tell you a lot. Consensus isn’t always a thing in the City of Angels – but on this, they all agree.
All roads point to success for the film at the Oscars. The Best Picture nod seems all but certain, Yoeh will most likely take her crown, and Huy Quan may well end up with a nod, too. And if he doesn’t, he’d be the first out post-event with the biggest smile, telling just about everyone he can find that whoever won it deserved it much more, and he’s happy just to be nominated. Whatever happens, the film’s global appeal all but cements its cultural relevance. This is a film we’ll be watching and talking about for years to come. Call it a stretch, but I’d go as far as to say it’s the north star for any picture seeking to strike the balance between entertainment and serious drama.
And so when the lights go up for the 93rd Academy Awards, Marty will be somewhere in the audience. I have no idea if he’s seen the film or not. If he has, then I know he’d call it real cinema – and he’d be happy to see the picture pick up some Academy Awards.