'Everything Everywhere': Everything you need to know about the Oscars' big winner
Jamie Lee Curtis at far left, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh and James Hong star in "Everything Everywhere All at Once." Credit: A24 Films / Allyson Riggs
The big winner at Sunday’s Academy Awards was “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which took home seven Oscars — and that includes the biggie, best picture. Those who haven’t seen it, however, might be wondering: What’s the deal with this crazy-looking movie? Here’s a quick primer on Hollywood’s latest and least likely success story.
WHERE CAN I SEE THE MOVIE?
Just about, well, everywhere. It's airing on cable's Showtime multiple times this week and is also on many streaming platforms, from Hulu to Paramount+. You can rent it digitally from Apple TV+, Vudu and Redbox. Theatrically, it’s a little harder to find: According to Fandango, the only Long Island cinema still showing it is the AMC Loews Stony Brook 17.
WHO MADE IT?
Writer-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, both 35 and known simply as Daniels. They met at Emerson College in Boston, then began directing music videos, notably 2014’s “Turn Down for What,” by DJ Snake and Lil Jon. Their debut feature, 2016’s “Swiss Army Man,” featured Paul Dano as a guy marooned on an island and Daniel Radcliffe as a corpse that washes up on shore.
WHAT IS THE MOVIE ABOUT?
The shortest synopsis might be: When laundromat owner Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) tries to do her taxes, she and her family enter a multiverse where anything is possible. Subplots include Evelyn’s relationship with her gay daughter (Stephanie Hsu), her mild-mannered husband (Ke Huy Quan) and a frustrated IRS staffer (Jamie Lee Curtis). Eventually, everyone’s fate hinges on an everything bagel — get it? — that has morphed into a cosmos-destroying singularity.
WHY DID PEOPLE LIKE IT?
In a movie marketplace flooded with familiar sequels and reboots, this unusual production stands out. For starters, it has an utterly original script (for which Daniels won the Oscar). It touches on many popular genres, including comedy, drama, action, sci-fi and even chopsocky. It has no A-list stars, but it does offer an appealingly diverse cast.
WHO IS KE HUY QUAN?
He was a child actor in the 1980s whose biggest roles came in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “The Goonies,” but his career faltered as he entered adulthood. Quan essentially gave up acting for decades, but the success of “Crazy Rich Asians” (also starring Yeoh) inspired him to try again.
WHO IS MICHELLE YEOH?
Most Americans know the Malaysian actress from 2000’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” She had a career in Hong Kong cinema before that, then came West for the 1997 James Bond entry “Tomorrow Never Dies.” Her more recent credits include “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Last Christmas” and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” At Sunday’s Academy Awards, she became the first Asian woman to win the Oscar for best actress.
WHAT’S THE MOVIE’S LONG ISLAND CONNECTION?
The film features the 2000 hit song “Absolutely (Story of a Girl),” from the Suffolk County rock band Nine Days. Frontman John Hampson — now an English teacher at Wantagh High School — was contacted by the directors for permission to use a bit of his lyrics as dialogue, then wound up recording two new versions of the song. One can be heard in a scene involving a raccoon, the other in a scene with a dominatrix.
WHAT’S WITH THE HOT-DOG HANDS?
You’ve probably seen the elongated, sausage-like digits in trailers for the film. If you were watching Sunday’s Oscars, you probably saw David Byrne waggling them while performing the theme song, “This Is a Life,” alongside Son Lux and Stephanie Hsu. Basically, the floppy fingers are a disconcerting evolutionary hallmark of a particularly weird alternate universe, but they may also represent the wisdom of embracing imperfection. At any rate, you can order your own latex Hot Dog Finger Gloves from A24’s online store for just $36 a pair.
