Jack Aling’s review published on Letterboxd:
Laundry and Taxes
Expectations for films can make or break an experience.
Sometimes your expectations are so high that simply being average can tarnish the whole experience. Sometimes a film with no expectations can take you by surprise and blow you away.
Everything Everywhere All At Once dropped an intriguing trailer out of nowhere in December and gradually has been rolling out across the world in limited release with the buzz for this independent film growing by the day. I jumped at the first available UK preview with sky-high expectations… and somehow it surpassed them.
Everything Everywhere All At Once is a touching and hilarious film with large ambitions that seemingly pulled off the impossible with the recourses and budget it had. Daniels has managed to create a film that feels limitlessly original forcing you to experience rather than be a spectator. Every possibility is explored from the heartfelt to the nauseating but despite the frequent insanity, it manages to be controlled with a poignant lesson at the centre of it all.
The cast is on top form - Michelle Yeoh leads the madness showing why she is a master of her craft. Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan are both astounding as the integral supporting cast. Even Jamie Lee Curtis looks like she is having the time of her life.
In a world and industry obsessed with Multiverses, this delivers by the bucket load without feeling imposing. It's a film that feels truly special, which is a feeling that doesn't come around very often. Celebrating life and all of its quirks, finding beauty in the mundane, and embracing the unknown.
