These days, filmmaker Daniel Kwan says, much of art is broadly struggling to confront two things: “One is this feeling of everything happening all at once—how can you put that in a story in a way that is meaningful? And the other is climate change.”
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” is most obviously Daniels’ attempt at trying to encapsulate the first part, but you can sense the latter lurking in the background as well. Of course, in Daniels’ language, if climate dread is an inspiration, it takes on a decidedly different look: in Jobu’s (Stephanie Hsu) evil plan, everything bagel-void threatens to swallow the multiverse and destroy us all. “This project came out of our own anxieties about living in the modern world, and I think everyone I know is trying to capture that,” Kwan says.
The feeling was already there when they were writing it in 2016, before the Trump Era and the pandemic. “We already felt overwhelmed. And, and as we were writing it, we were like, ‘Oh my God, what is happening? It’s getting worse—how could it possibly get worse than this?’” Kwan says. “Everyone is trying to process that feeling, the backdrop of doom, the backdrop of chaos.”
Daniels don’t have a grand answer to a radical new path, but “Everything” at the very least offers a simple hope in response to the chaos. “One of the most powerful things you can do for someone is to pay attention to them,” Kwan says.
For Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh), she has to confront a multiverse on the brink of collapse—an extreme manifestation of the sensory overload that the modern world is increasingly defined by—to see the family that has always been there. “You have to go to the end of the world to find out what really matters to you: your daughter, your husband—would you make another choice?” Michelle Yeoh ponders.
It’s a question and a reminder of sorts for the audience, too: to see what’s in front of you, to reach out, to be kind. That’s what the film became in part for the Daniels themselves. “I would love if audience members take away the idea that kindness can be a powerful way to fight. I think telling this story definitely made us reflect on the idea that,” Daniel Scheinert says, slipping into a “Bill and Ted” voice, “like, ‘Oh yeah, kindness—sick!”
Now, Filipinos can catch this one-of-a-kind film with their loved ones, especially their moms! “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is now showing in over 80 cinemas in the Philippines:
Alabang Town Center
Ayala Capitol Central
Ayala Center Cebu
Ayala Circuit
Ayala Feliz
Ayala Legazpi
Ayala Manila Bay
Ayala The 30Th
Ayala Vertis
Bonifacio High Street
Centrio
Cinema ’76
Commerce Center Alabang
Eastwood Mall
Fairview Terraces
Festive Walk
Fishermall Malabon
Fishermall QC
Gaisano Davao
Gaisano Tagum
Gateway
Geege Ozamis
Glorietta 4
Greenbelt 3
Greenhills
Harbor Point
KCC Gensan
KCC Marbel
KCC Zamboanga
Lucky Chinatown
Magicstar Tarlac
Marquee
NCCC Davao
Newport
Powerplant Makati
Powerplant Santolan
Robinsons Antipolo
Robinsons Butuan
Robinsons Calasiao
Robinsons Cebu
Robinsons Ermita
Robinsons Galleria
Robinsons Gentri
Robinsons Iligan
Robinsons Ilocos
Robinsons Jaro
Robinsons Las Piñas
Robinsons Magnolia
Robinsons Malolos
Robinsons Naga
Robinsons North Tacloban
Robinsons San Pedro
Robinsons Santiago
Robinsons Tuguegarao
Shang Red Carpet
SM Aura
SM Bacoor
SM Baguio
SM BF
SM Cebu
SM Clark
SM Dasma
SM Davao
SM Fairview
SM Grand Central
SM Legazpi
SM Manila
SM Megamall
SM Mindpro
SM Moa
SM North
SM Olongapo Central
The Podium
SM Seaside
SM Southmall
SM Sta. Mesa
SM Telabastagan
Solenad
Southwoods
Sta. Lucia
Trinoma
Uptown Mall Taguig
Venice Grand Canal Mall
Join the conversation online using the hashtags #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce , #BestSeenInCinemas , and #ProudlyTBA. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is exclusively distributed by TBA Studios in the Philippines. It is Rated R13 by the MTRCB (only 13 years old above can watch in cinemas). Check out TBA Studios’ Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for more updates.
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