#24: EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

Starring Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis. Written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. Budget $25 million. Running time 140 minutes.

This is perhaps the most unique film you'll see all year, or even decade. A film that is bewilderingly inventive, refreshing and very entertaining. A film whose plot can't be safely explained, except for the fact it concerns a woman's battle with her frantic home life, her failing marriage, a visit from her aged father all the way from China, her fractured relationship with her lesbian daughter and an IRS audit all told across one day and several million alternate universes. And yet at its core is the story of a family slowly coming apart at the seams through the sheer pressure of everyday life.

And I've already said too much. 

This is Michelle Yeoh's film from the moment it begins 'till it ends. And she's ably supported by the cast, all of who give terrific performances and praise should be heaped on the heads and shoulders of the two Daniels who wrote and directed this astonishing film.

That said, it's not an unquantified success. It's a film of three distinctive parts signposted by the use of caption cards. The first card, 'Everything' carries the majority of the film and does the most heavy work introducing the incredible concept, and the multiple characters. It all builds wonderfully and concludes with a continuous action sequence that is as inspired as it is relentless, all coupled with a wonderful sense of humour. And suddenly, jarringly, that first act ends with such finality that the film loses all of its glorious momentum and grinds to a complete dead-stop. Then, the plot starts up again and struggles to claw back all that wonderful energy it once had. The film finds itself bogged down by the drama at its core as the various multiple story threads slowly start to pull themselves back together again.

It is a very talky film, and each character gets given a chance to explain and dump exposition, as well as punch and kick their way out of an endless army of situations. It's also a film that is heavy on meaning and subtext, a film that finds a new way to explore the core relationships at its very centre. 

Me personally, I loved that first act but got worn down by the second and by the time we finally get to the third act, I just wanted it all to end. It's too long and frankly exhausting, but that said it's still a fantastically original and gloriously inventive movie that thrilled the whole family.

It seems that the whole concept of a multiverse is the movie biz's next big 'high-concept' obsession and this, the third film in almost as many months to avail itself of the limitless possibilities of parallel worlds is without doubt the most unique of them all! 

Go and see it, not just because you'll never see anything like it again, nor because it's funny, life-affirming, witty and rarest of all original, but because in a sea of mediocrity this stands like a big shiny beacon of hope.  8/10