Part 1 of a series on this year's Oscar nominated films. This one is on "Everything Everywhere All At Once." Coming next: "An Island off the Coast of Ireland" (on "The Banshees of Inisherin")
What strikes me about the film is that it can be seen as nothing but an internal nightmare. Evelyn is tormented by the slow realization that daughter Joy has a girlfriend and Joy has complementary nightmarish thoughts. Note that everything in the universe works out as Evelyn accepts her daughter's sexuality. I'm saying this because I had an experience similar to this when Noah came out as transmasculine. Even though we thought we had fostered a relationship based on honesty, he didn't tell us. We found out through his Instagram account. When I saw that post, I had an experience similar to the montage of faces that recurs through the film. Irrationally, I tried to understand what I might have done to bring this about--my life and its alternatives started to flash in front of me. Once past this, I was able to reconcile with our son and our relationship is better than it has ever been. So, I had a positive reaction to the movie that was personal. I also liked the music and I'm a big Jamie Lee Curtis fan.
After I wrote this, I also thought about how strange, evil, and yet nonsensical Joy became in Evelyn's mind. That took me back to when our son was still identifying as a girl and came out as a lesbian. Like Evelyn, I tried to repress the thought that I might have done something wrong while trying to understand this strange creature that had rejected the usual path in life and had so much power over our sense of balance. Again, this was a very personal reaction to the film.
I understand personal responses like this. And thank you for sharing—your comment was more interesting to me than the movie! I have a feeling a lot of people related to the film in personal ways. (Another FB friend said it was just like her own nervous breakdown condensed into 2 hours. ) I find people’s personal responses to it fascinating. What bugs me is the elevation of the film to the status of art. Or philosophy. Or “the immigrant experience” etc.
Interestingly, we watched this film because it was on a playlist made by our son, which also included Disclosure and Arrival. He is clearly aware of the effect of trans awareness on our perception of the universe. I liked the movie for a number of reasons, but I agree with you about the hype. I found it heavy-handed, overlong, and repetitive. Unless you were completely drawn into the relationship between mother and daughter, which I was, I could see just saying "all right already!"
I doubt that I will see this film, and yet I still very much enjoyed the review! It's one of those reviews that covers lots of territory, and offers analysis and opinion on some cultural escapades of the last few decades that have been interesting as well as maddening! Great to see that material talked about.
Thank you! I wondered if you’d seen the movie. It truly was hard work to get through it, and apparently lots of other people thought so too. What a strange Oscar year this is!
What strikes me about the film is that it can be seen as nothing but an internal nightmare. Evelyn is tormented by the slow realization that daughter Joy has a girlfriend and Joy has complementary nightmarish thoughts. Note that everything in the universe works out as Evelyn accepts her daughter's sexuality. I'm saying this because I had an experience similar to this when Noah came out as transmasculine. Even though we thought we had fostered a relationship based on honesty, he didn't tell us. We found out through his Instagram account. When I saw that post, I had an experience similar to the montage of faces that recurs through the film. Irrationally, I tried to understand what I might have done to bring this about--my life and its alternatives started to flash in front of me. Once past this, I was able to reconcile with our son and our relationship is better than it has ever been. So, I had a positive reaction to the movie that was personal. I also liked the music and I'm a big Jamie Lee Curtis fan.
After I wrote this, I also thought about how strange, evil, and yet nonsensical Joy became in Evelyn's mind. That took me back to when our son was still identifying as a girl and came out as a lesbian. Like Evelyn, I tried to repress the thought that I might have done something wrong while trying to understand this strange creature that had rejected the usual path in life and had so much power over our sense of balance. Again, this was a very personal reaction to the film.
I understand personal responses like this. And thank you for sharing—your comment was more interesting to me than the movie! I have a feeling a lot of people related to the film in personal ways. (Another FB friend said it was just like her own nervous breakdown condensed into 2 hours. ) I find people’s personal responses to it fascinating. What bugs me is the elevation of the film to the status of art. Or philosophy. Or “the immigrant experience” etc.
Interestingly, we watched this film because it was on a playlist made by our son, which also included Disclosure and Arrival. He is clearly aware of the effect of trans awareness on our perception of the universe. I liked the movie for a number of reasons, but I agree with you about the hype. I found it heavy-handed, overlong, and repetitive. Unless you were completely drawn into the relationship between mother and daughter, which I was, I could see just saying "all right already!"
Thank you Susan. I posted on my FB page. Keep those reviews coming in!
Thank you Angela! I appreciate your spreading the word.
I doubt that I will see this film, and yet I still very much enjoyed the review! It's one of those reviews that covers lots of territory, and offers analysis and opinion on some cultural escapades of the last few decades that have been interesting as well as maddening! Great to see that material talked about.
Thank you! I wondered if you’d seen the movie. It truly was hard work to get through it, and apparently lots of other people thought so too. What a strange Oscar year this is!