Everything Everywhere All at Once: This is what the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded for the multiple virtues of this film

Everything Everywhere All at Once is already the most awarded film of all time and it actually has enough virtues for such an achievement. The film has emerged as the most unlikely heavyweight of the Academy Awards. An absurdist independent film combining existentialism and surrealism, released in March of last year, it has not only swept the Oscars, but is making history for its subject matter and originality. When "Everything Everywhere All at Once" was released in theaters, it revived the niche film industry after two years of pandemic, attracting moviegoers to art-house theaters and becoming the biggest box-office hit in that genre. But even then, talk of awards was extremely remote. It wasn't until late in the year, when it won Best Picture at the Gotham Awards that interest in the film began. And from then on, affection for it continued to build. Doubts that the film was too weird for older academy voters were dispelled. On the contrary, such originality was rewarded and celebrated by critics and audiences alike. The film won these Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Song.

These awards reflect a change in the cinematographic perspective, as several aesthetic concepts have been broadened.

An unbelievable story

Chaos is the order of the day in the story of Evelyn Wang a Chinese immigrant who runs a laundromat with her husband Waymond,who considers their marriage a hopeless case, accompanied by their daughter Joy, a girl in search of freedom. Add to this the fact that the business is about to be shut down by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and the plot seems to be very cruel to the protagonist. The plot uses this decadent situation as the polar opposite of the adventure on the way that Evelyn will have to face even when she doesn't want to: among so many versions of her found in different universes, to become "the chosen one", that is, the only person who can save the multiverse.

The absurdity is the most important thing in the film; it is the perfect balance between the seriousness of the interpersonal relationships of the Wang family and the extravagance of the multiverse with its ironic logic. It also works in touching on the main idea of the film: if our life is not important because the universe will keep moving despite our pains, then it is questioned whether it makes sense to strive to get ahead. The film suggests an ambiguous answer and leaves it up to the viewer.

Delirium

The comedy directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel and Daniel Scheinert is really simple, because the stupidest things are those that make us laugh the most; but this element is also used as a double-edged sword to disarm us and question us about our role in life. Everything Everywhere All at Once becomes a visual labyrinth between the nihilism and the madness of the main characters' problems, represented by a completely virtuous cast.

In the visual field, the amalgamation of the realities we see of the characters is complemented by great editing, which moves rhythmically to the needs of each scene,

The visual game, which changes style a couple of times per second, represents the intangibles of the story, for example, the emotions or qualities of the characters. Focus is given to the essence of each character and the engine that drives them to continue to exist; polar opposite situations are created and used according to the tone that the directors want to highlight.

The film combines science fiction, comedy, action, fantasy and adventure, and they break all possible logic to create a film as crazy as a feverish delirium.

Combats, pains, laughter and reflections come together to cohabit in the same vehicle: human existence.