Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress (x2), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Original Song, and Best Original Score  I put off seeing this until the nominations were out because it was so hyped I felt like it could only be a disappointment.  Happy to report that everything you heard was true.  This is a great movie.

Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) is struggling with a failing laundromat, an IRS audit, and a Lunar New Year party with her emotionally distant father (James Hong), her perennially optimistic husband (Ke Huy Quan), and her depressed daughter (Stephanie Hsu).  Then she finds out that she's one of an infinite number of Evelyns in an infinite number of universes but that the universes are imploding because of a mysterious threat named Jobu Topaki and her other-universe husband (Ke Huy Quan) thinks she is the key to stopping it.  And THEN she finds out that her home-universe husband wants a divorce.  And that she can access the skills and experiences of her alternate versions.

This isn't about the multiverse.  That's old hat at this point.  Hell, even the bagel joke has been done.  This isn't about novelty or googly eyes or hot dog fingers.  The glory, the joy, and what will be the enduring nature of this film is in its connections.  It is a simple story told in a complex way.  It is the story of generational trauma, of conflating kindness with weakness, and how you can look but not see even when it's right in front of you.  I admit, I did not feel any emotional connection to this movie until the last 15-20 minutes, but then I was ugly-crying until the credits rolled.  Everybody in this is great.  Michelle Yeoh is (and always has been) incredible.  Ke Huy Quan is the emotional backbone.  Jamie Lee Curtis is game for anything, bless her, but I would give the edge to Stephanie Hsu, who had to walk a much finer wire between versions of her character.

Screenplay could go anywhere at this point.  I haven't seen the other nominees yet.  Song and Original Score I wouldn't hold out hope for, but Costumes has a fighting chance.  Editing, I'm reserving judgment.  Best Actress?  Supporting Actor?  Supporting Actress?  On lock.  And it's a definite frontrunner for Best Picture.  I think Best Director is a long shot.  It's currently streaming on Showtime but I bought it on blu-ray because I knew I was going to love it.