Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

     The magic of Dr. Strange and the Scarlett Witch may have transported audiences through Marvel's conception of the multiverse but this new film takes a more scientific, yet fun, approach to the concept and does it brilliantly.  Written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (together known as 'The Daniels"), the film is epic in scale. It throws so much absurdist fun, emotional drama, martial arts, and questions of life itself, into one story that you will leave the theater exhausted but thrilled at having your mind blown.

      Michelle Yeoh stars as Evelyn Quan Wang, who along with her husband Waymond (played by Ke Huy Quan) own a failing Laundromat, and are about to be audited by the IRS.  The legendary James Wong plays Evelyn's father and Stephanie Hsu plays their daughter, Joy. Co-starring are Jamie Lee Curtis as the IRS agent from hell, Tallie Medel as Joy's girlfriend, Harry Shum Jr. as Chad, and Jenny Slate as Debbie, the dog mom. It's a great cast but Ms. Yeoh and Mr. Quan really stand out. Their characters go through multiple transformations but they manage to keep it all grounded no matter how crazy things get and trust me, things get pretty crazy.

       The "Daniels" make it a point to try to explain the existence of a multiverse in a fun and almost believable way. Using trigger points that get more absurd as the film goes on, characters then "jump" between realities ultimately trying to stop a threat to the entire multiverse. While this all sounds completely gonzo (and it is), the plot is actually easy to follow and it all ends up making sense in a weird way.

       It's really great to see Ms. Yeoh take center stage, especially in film that show her full range, from comedy to drama with martial arts in between. She is just brilliant and Mr. Quan, a famed martial arts stunt director, is just as good in what I think may be his first starring role. The film will make your head spin (but in a good way) and is, so far, my favorite film of the year.