When Everything Everywhere All at Once first hit the screen last year, nobody saw it turning into the cultural phenomenon it is today. Of course, any movie that has the backing of A24 Studios should not be ignored. EEAAO (it’s going to be the abbreviation from this point on) had the initial buzz thanks to its director duo, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, popularly known as The Daniels. The duo, back in 2016, made a huge splash in the Indie movie circuit with their maiden work, the fantastically weird “Swiss Army Man,” starring Paul Dano and, most essentially, Daniel Radcliffe as the “farting corpse.”
Six years later, the Daniels returned with their second film, which centers on a Chinese-American immigrant woman trying to prevent the destruction of the “multiverse” from a powerful being while also being audited by the IRS. As strange as that might sound, the sophomore effort of The Daniels was much less whimsical compared to “Swiss Army Man.” It also had a clear narrative structure, making it more accessible to a larger audience.
Upon its premiere at the SXSW (South by Southwest, the annual conglomeration of parallel films and many other forms of arts), followed by a release in the theater of the United States in March 2022, EEAAO was received warmly by the critics and the audience alike. Everything from the writing, editing, performance of the cast, and of course, audaciously brave out-of-the-box presentation style earned a lot of appreciation.
But the first surge of real popularity came sort of “Strangely” for the movie when Sam Raimi’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” was released in May 2022. The Marvel tentpole blockbuster, having the same “multiverse” concept, brought EEAAO into the limelight again. People started comparing it with the superior “Multiverse” movie released just a few months ago, i.e., EEAAO, and various memes featuring both movies started to appear on the internet.
Cutting back to the present, January 2023. EEAAO leads the upcoming Academy Awards nomination list with 11 nominations in almost every significant category, including the coveted best picture. The rousing success story of the movie has not only made The Daniels a force to reckon with, but it has opened a door filled with infinite possibilities for so many small indie movies with big ideas.
“EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE…” CAST:
Chinese Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh is leading the cast as Evelyn. Her performance in the film has already received widespread critical acclaim, including a Golden Globe for best actress in the comedy category. Needless to say, at the upcoming Oscars, Yeoh will be one of the front runners in the best actress category.
The supporting cast is led by Ke Huy Quan, who plays Yeoh’s screen husband and what EEAAO has done for Yeoh. It has also done the same for Quan by bringing him back to the limelight after so many years. The very talented Vietnamese-American actor who once worked with the likes of Spielberg as a child actor. But then had to wait for work for more than two decades and finally got his due with a brilliantly written significant character role here. And he has hit it out of the park and deservingly received the Golden Globe in the supporting category. We can bet on Quan picking up the Oscar in March.
Along with Quan and Yeoh, the much talented Stephanie Hsu (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) has done a praiseworthy job with the veteran Jamie Lee Curtis playing a pivotal character.
WHERE TO WATCH AND STREAM EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE ONLINE?
If you still have not managed to experience EEAAO yet, then you definitely should, and I am happy to let you know that you have plenty of options to stream it online right now.
The movie is currently available for streaming on Paramount+. Along with that, you can also stream it on Showtime with an add-on subscription if you are already subscribed to Prime Video. Not to mention, you also have the buying option at Vudu and Amazon Prime Video.
