95th Academy Awards · 2023
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Directed by Daniel Scheinert & Daniel Kwan
“The universe is so much bigger than you realize.”
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The story
An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what's important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.
What critics & audiences say
Tomatometer93%Fresh#38 of 98 winnersIMDb7.7663K votes#54 of 98 winners
Metacritic81/ 100#60 of 93 winners
TMDB7.7/ 10
Famous lines
The only thing I do know is that we have to be kind. Please, be kind. Especially when we don't know what's going on.
So, even though you have broken my heart yet again, I wanted to say, in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.
When I choose to see the good side of things, I'm not being naive. It is strategic and necessary. It's how I've learned to survive through everything.
Of all the places I could be, I just want to be here with you.
Joy Wang: Here we only get a few specks of time where any of this makes any sense.
Evelyn Wang: Then I will cherish these few specks of time.
I know you see yourself as a fighter. Well, I see myself as one too. This is how I fight.
Now, you may only see a pile of receipts, but I see a story. I can see where this story is going. And it does not look good. It. Does. Not. Look. Good.
But you, here, you're capable of anything because you're so bad at everything.
If nothing matters, then all the pain and guilt you feel for making nothing of your life goes away.
Evelyn Wang: I cannot be the worst. What about the hot dog one?
Waymond Wang: No. Can't you see? Every failure here branched off into a success for another Evelyn in another life.
Quotes via Wikiquote
Fun facts
- The script was originally written for Jackie Chan, until the Daniels reconceived the protagonist as a woman. The lead was then named Michelle Wang after Michelle Yeoh, who objected and had her renamed Evelyn.Wikipedia · Casting
- The Daniels thought of casting Ke Huy Quan after seeing a meme that showed Andrew Yang as a grown-up Short Round. Quan had quit acting in 2002 for lack of roles, and his Goonies co-star Jeff Cohen negotiated his contract as his attorney.Wikipedia · Casting
- While researching the lead character, originally a professor with undiagnosed ADHD, Daniel Kwan discovered that he himself had undiagnosed ADHD.Wikipedia · Development
- Marvel invited the Daniels to develop the first season of Loki, another multiverse story, but they declined because they were about to shoot their own multiverse movie.Wikipedia · Filming
- The visual effects were made in-house by a team of just eight artists led by Zak Stoltz, working mostly in Adobe After Effects.Wikipedia · Visual effects
- Studios asked whether they should try a white actor, Kwan said, and the Daniels had to "put our foot down" and insist the film was written for a Chinese family.Wikipedia · Casting
- It was only the third film to win three of the four acting Oscars, and the first of those to also win Best Picture. Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian Best Actress winner, and Ke Huy Quan the first Vietnam-born actor to win an Oscar.Wikipedia · Accolades
- Jamie Lee Curtis based IRS auditor Deirdre's look on a photo of a real IRS agent that Kwan found online, and she used her real belly rather than a prosthetic.Wikipedia · Casting
- The film was shot in just 38 days, mostly in Simi Valley, California. The fanny-pack fight took only a day and a half to film, and the first cut ran around 170 minutes.Wikipedia · Filming
- Its Hong Kong title translates literally as "Weird Warrior Woman Fucks Around And Saves The Universe," while the Taiwanese title is a double entendre meaning either "Mother's Multiverse" or "Fucking Multiverse."Wikipedia · Theatrical