Everything Everywhere All at Once is a lot of things: A sci-fi adventure, a martial arts action movie, an absurdist comedy. But above all else, it’s a film about one family and its matriarch, Evelyn Wang , who embarks on a trip through the multiverse that tests her relationships with her husband, Waymond , her daughter, Joy , and her father .
That shot you’re talking about actually wasn’t originally in the script. That was one of the few pickup shots that we did when we realized people weren’t fully grounded in the family. Specifically in the Stephanie Hsu and Michelle Yeoh relationship. We were like, “Oh, we need to make sure everyone knows that this is what the movie is actually about.” So we went back and we shot her just driving. It’s very validating to hear that it was worth going back just for that shot.
Was it always the plan to open the film with a shot of Evelyn, Joy, and Waymond together in their living room?Daniel Kwan: It’s embarrassing how long it took to get back to just a family portrait. Daniel Kwan: It’s a completely different tone. It feels like it’s from a different movie, but it shows how much we explored.
Daniel Kwan: Yeah, I was like, “I’ve never seen this feeling in a movie before.” As a filmmaker, you’re always looking for those magic moments where you capture lightning in a bottle and her face in that moment … what it felt like even on set made us both say, “This is incredible.” Daniel Kwan: Just a black screen for an hour [laughs]. I feel like this movie already feels like a triple feature, and I feel bad for anyone who has to watch it with another movie. It just seems unfair. But what would you say?
Daniel Scheinert: My documentary would be Jasper Mall, which is a movie that some friends of mine made about a mall in Alabama and the people who like hanging out there, and that’s it. It’s just a gentle film.
And how dafuq is this a “digital trend”