I just watched Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. I’ve wanted to watch it since it came out, but life is busy and tiring, and I wanted to see it without distraction when I could steal some uninterrupted time. It’s my birthday today. So I took the day off work, and had plans to spend the day with my boys doing some activities. But, as happens with me from time to time, my senses are simply overloaded. I was over-stimulated this week with sound, and obligations… and I just needed to ask for some alone time instead to watch this movie and eat junk food in my bed.
So I watched the movie. And I think I needed to watch the movie. It is ridiculous and silly, first of all. But that’s because it needs to be. You have to remove any ego you carry as you slide into this movie, and simply allow it to take hold. Don’t try to actually figure out what is going on, or attempt to place constraints on what is actually physically or metaphysically possible…
If you let go, the movie will guide you and itself to the ultimate point, which of course, I won’t give away, but will say, yes it does actually have to do with googly eyes and hotdog fingers.
Along the ride, be prepared for your feelings to be churned up, and brought to the surface for you to look at, identify, and decide what to do with. Themes of intergenerational pain and guilt, long term marriage issues, family strain, and financial ruin abound in this film. The feeling of being trapped in the ordinary or average, when maybe life could have looked very different if different choices had been made probably speaks to many viewers. The question, “does any of this really matter”, and the echoing ‘NO’ hurled back, leaves the watcher at times helpless and vulnerable, waiting for the moments that the film pulls you back from that edge, offering instead the whisper of, “so what if it does or doesn’t”.
During the rock scene, I felt it when one rock understands the other by responding, “we are all small and stupid.” In the infinite landscape of the universe, I mean, we are. We really, really are. And this assertion should maybe be a depressing viewpoint, but somehow in the creative dance between the mundane and the extraordinary, this film demonstrates how being small and stupid isn’t depressing at all because as we learn by the end, “we can do whatever we want. Nothing matters.” And because nothing matters, at the same time, also everything does.
As for the relationships and dynamics between the characters, it is as much about the “flawed” but charmed marriage, the parent/child push and pull, as it is about relationships with strangers that you walk in parallel with during your timeline, in this universe and in all the others. Each relationship is relevant to your story.
Overall, the movie got me unsurprisingly, as I am easily pulled into clever fantasy scripts doubling as social commentary. It reminded me of some of my other favorites including the poem Desiderata, (whoever wrote that – the credit varies), and my favorite line:
“For all it’s sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world…”
And of course, my go to show, particularly when the world is offering me anxiety on a silver platter, The Office. I read that people often find this show soothing when everything else feels out of order. It is dependable for some reason. We fans might just have a weird sense of humor, but I tend to agree. The last line of the entire series is my favorite. Pam ponders why they decided to make a documentary about a small company for so long, finally sharing, “There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kinda the point?”
And so on this ordinary day, that happens to be a kind of special day for me and all those born today too, I watched a movie that showed the extraordinary side of being an ordinary person. And I loved it. And I ate donuts in my bed, and some popcorn, and I didn’t rise and shine or seize the day. And that is ok with me.
Rachael Coughlin 