What if all life was put onto a bagel, and you stood outside watching, would life still matter to you? The Oscars Best Picture, Everything Everywhere All at Once, challenges this notion in a stunningly chaotic way. Premiering on March 11th, 2022, and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the film stunned the crowd and was ultimately nominated for eleven Oscars. They proceeded to win seven of them! They completely swept the Oscars, making history in many ways, but namely, its history was shown in its mostly Asian cast. In every way I can mention, screenplay, acting, costume design, and soundtrack, this movie is perfect.

Let’s discuss the screenplay first. Everything Everywhere All at Once focuses on the idea of love, family, and nihilism, following the Wang family. Evelyn Wang is our main character, with another major character being her daughter, Joy. As the movie makes its way through the family’s struggles, it introduces a villain named Jobu Tupaki. The way the film navigates their issues is brilliant, keeping everyone in the audience focused and feeling emotions along with the characters. When chaotic scenes that help us understand Joy and Jobu occur, the music is all over the place. Noises are loud, and our head is filled with all the trouble that is in theirs, then, all of a sudden, the movie will cut to silence. Leaving the characters to think, and us to think with them.

One of the most notable actors from this film is Ke Huy Quan who plays Waymond. At the most recent Oscars, he was nominated for and won best supporting actor. Making his debut when he was young in classic films such as The Goonies and Indiana Jones, Ke showed so much talent, however, he disappeared from acting for two decades! Surely enough, Hollywood did not provide Asian talents with enough acting positions, and he found himself at a standstill.

It was a very impulsive decision for him to audition for Everything Everywhere All at Once, but there is no better Waymond. No better actor to encompass each and every personality he did, to give a monologue in different universes, and to break our hearts all at once. His comeback in this movie gave him his first Oscar, and it is well deserved. It wasn’t just him who shined through; Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, and 95 year old James Hong, played Evelyn Wang, Joy Wang, and Joy’s grandfather respectively. They performed stunningly.

Of all the things I could say, this isn’t even half of it. The movie is revolutionary, and an amazing watch. Their “Oscar Sweep” is well deserved, and I recommend this movie to everyone who’s up to the challenge of watching it, interpreting it, and experiencing it. If life has no meaning, then we alone decide which things mean the most. To me, the actors, the directors, and many others, this movie means something. You should give it a try, and maybe enjoy yourself a bagel while you watch.