My wife, my 13-year-old daughter, my 14-year-old niece, and I went to see this movie last night. It’s the most fun I’ve had at the movies in many years: utterly bonkers, beautifully filmed, hilarious, and with a genuine emotional arc that fueled all the insane action.
There was some scenes that made me uncomfortable taking two young teenagers to see it–e.g., when a cop is beaten to death with a pair of floppy dildos. In retrospect, I laugh at my self for squirming at the “dildos” and not at the “beaten to death,” but what can I say, it’s in the culture.
Other bits were breathtaking. The rocks were like nothing I’ve seen before. The reveal of the doomsday device. The final fight sequence. So much goodness!
Anyway, I don’t think there was a thread about the movie yet, so here it is.
Okay, so if you haven’t seen the movie, stop reading the thread and just go watch it without spoiling yourself. Don’t watch trailers, don’t read reviews, don’t read the rest of this post, just go. It will be best if you just throw yourself into it.
I just saw it and it was so bonkers that I’m still trying to process it. This is story that legitimately can make people cry because someone plays a piano with their feet because they have hot dogs for hands, or when one rock with googly eyes chases another on a lifeless planet. A film where a fight is brought on by a guy jumping, cannonball style, on a buttplug and two men are defeated by pulling trophies from their assholes while it also pontificates credibly on finding meaning in a random and meaningless existence.
I’ll leave it at that for now and let it bounce around my brain for a bit before I write more. This is one of those movie experiences that I think will really affect you and you won’t forget watching it for the first time.
Come to think of it, it might be something that you should watch for the first time high if that’s something you do. I can only imagine it would add to the mind blowing experience.
My wife and I got back from seeing this. First movie my wife has gone out to see since the start of the pandemic! (I saw Spider-Man with our adult kids.)
Another same old same same old formulaic …
Wow! Goofy deep moving exciting absurdist funny beautiful.
I’ll definitely watch it again when I can stream it.
I heard about the movie when a picture of Ke Huy Quan as Data from The Goonies (my favorite movie) was posted on the “data is beautiful” subreddit on April Fools Day. Normally it’s a place celebrating visual representation of data, like charts and infographics.
I watched the trailer once, and knew I had to see it. I invited my movie-buff friend to watch in a theater. I didn’t look for anything more about it, didn’t watch the trailer again, or see any other promotional stuff. I think it’s best that way with certain movies, and Everything Everywhere All At Once is one of them.
This week definitely be suited in my memory banks along with several unforgettable theater experiences.
If you haven’t seen it, do what you’re doing and buy a ticket.
Saw it, thought it was brilliant!
There’s definitely some funny lines in there aside from the absurdist quirks - such the the one about being the ‘best’ version of herself because she was the “worst version of yourself”. (meaning she had access to that many more possible versions of herself than the others)
Part of me wonders about gender-swaps for anyone younger than the main character (such as having a son instead of a daughter) but perhaps that would have been too outside the accessible network of realities. (no possible link to a reality where that happened) Which makes me wonder, if the Donut of Despair had worked as the Alphaverse warriors suspected, would it have affected the ENTIRE multiverse or only a subset where the main characters existed?
On the other hot-dog hand, they could access worlds where humanity never evolved (and a quick glimpse of an Anime reality, how could THAT work?), so at least Evelyn and Joy ought to have been able to see their lives as male (or other) identities.
Admittedly, that would have gone even farther to risk losing the viewers - it was challenging enough to keep up near the end. The rock scene was not only a lovely out-there situation but a breather for the audience to process and let everything sink in.
Anyway, loved it, will watch again on streaming. I bet there’s some nifty alter-realities like the Anime one that’ll only be decipherable on freeze-frame.
Yeah, I think that line will resonate with a lot of folks in middle age, who have seen their dreams pass them by. The epiphany that she’d made the loser choice at every possible juncture was devastating, and weirdly freeing, and although I don’t think I’ve done that, still it’s a monster-under-the-bed fear in the middle of the night.
Given that I went with my 13 year old son, I could have done with fewer dildos, buttplugs, and ballgags. However, the movie’s ability to make scenes with two silent rocks interesting and emotive took me by surprise.
This was definitely one of the more out there movies I’ve ever seen, and in a really good way. The hand sanitizer bit was hilarious.
I just have to add to the rest that this is a really great movie.
Just when I thought there really couldn’t be anything truly original anymore we get this. About as original as they come and I am amazed it got made (but very glad it did).
As others have mentioned try not to read much if anything about it. Not terrible if you do but part of the fun is being surprised by what you are watching and having some surprise moments (in a good way).
Evelyn is still learning how to setup a link and is told she has to tell Dierdre that she loves her and mean it (while Deirdre is advancing on her trying to kill her). Evelyn says she cannot do that, is there something else she could try? She is told she can break her left arm or take a nap.
The first 40 minutes or so of the movie are totally overwhelming in terms of sensory overload, but that is intentional. It’s designed to demonstrate the title of the movie. As it progresses, you begin to get the message it is designed to convey, and it ends in a very powerful and touching way. Michelle Yeoh was nothing less than fabulous in an exhausting role that required a constant output of energy throughout. I give it 4 stars and consider it nothing less than a fabulous movie.
…the rock scene was brilliant. It was unexpected and took the frenetic pace down to zero and gives us all a much needed chance to catch our breath. And, it managed to be funny and drive home the whole multiverse thing in one tidy package. Brilliant. It takes some courage for directors to put a scene with only rocks in their movie. I wonder if they left that out of the original pitch meetings?
Yes, it’s incredible and the hype is well earned. Can there be a movie this year that is better? I’ve rarely thought I saw the year’s best movie this early in the year. This is probably it.
It’s maybe the best movie I’ve see in 20 years–or at least the movie that most perfectly slots into my brain. I don’t know if anything since City of Lost Children has been so deliciously weird and moving.
Seriously, Universe: I want less Marvel Movies, and more fucked up gimcrackery like this.
Racoocoonie, holy shit, that was great. Not at all surprised that a ‘Chinese Kill Bill’ comes 20 years after Tarantino’s American hommage to Hong Kong martial arts movies, one with its own movie references (this time to American films), knowing nods to cinematic conventions, break-neck action and pacing, and a story which is surprisingly sweet in the resolution.
I took someone who is not at all versed in the literature of film and she enjoyed every bonkers moment of this one.
I cannot expect a better movie this year as this would be hard to top.
