Review of Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) by Dawdlingpoet — 15 Sep 2022

This is a pretty frantic, colourful, somewhat madcap film, with some scenes featuring almost Matrix style choreography and the plot and pacing making me think of something like a constant neon coloured pinball machine, with the ball pinging about from one corner to the next. I liked that its set in such a domestic, dare I say particularly boring setting as an IRS office. The visual effects are great - I liked the cartoon strip feel to some effects in particular (I won't elaborate so as not to provide potential spoilers). I found it difficult to follow all the plot details but I certainly wouldn't say that affected my enjoyment of the film overall. Watching the fast paced fight scenes reminded me a little of kung fu or samurai films of the 1970s. At times Chinese songs are played in the background and it was nice to see the various family members speaking in their (I assume) mother tongue. As over the top as it undoubtedly is for the most part, there is a point in which things slow down significantly - that is somewhat poignant. I should perhaps note that a fair amount of the dialogue is in either Mandarin or Cantonese, hence subtitles are often present, which may or may not put you off it. Its a very engrossing and yet also somewhat baffling film, with a quirky, arty feel to it to an extent but enough mainstream CGI to entertain the audience well, I reckon. It's definitely a film to re-watch, as I was left thinking 'what did I just see?' by the end.

Needless to say, I would definitely recommend this film, yes.