Everything, Everywhere All At Once: Nothing Matters, it's up to us.

I recently rewatched Everything Everywhere All at Once because I was talking to someone who had never seen it. Like me, they’re interested in ideas about time and the universe and honestly, I genuinely just wanted to see how they would react. With zero convincing, we watched it. It’s one of those films that sparks such incredible discussions, and it reminded me why I love movies, television, media, and, most importantly, connection.

The first time I watched Everything Everywhere All at Once was right after I finished my undergraduate degree. It was one of the reasons I pursued my postgrad degree because it reminded me how much I love unpacking questions about life, people and the world through a philosophical lens. This rewatch reaffirmed why it resonated so deeply with me. I’ve decided to make it one of my yearly rewatches (alongside Legally Blonde, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and, soon, About Time - which happens to be my all-time favorite movie).

I’m not joking when I say I love! this! movie! I have such a soft spot for movies that explore the concept of time, especially how seemingly small decisions can completely shape the course of our lives. It’s something I’ll probably dive deeper into when I eventually write about About Time. (Fun fact: I first heard about that movie from my friend Joe from undergrad, who studied math and philosophy and recommended it in first year while we ate pizza on Gower Street.) Another concept I’ve been thinking about recently is liminal spaces - transitional spaces, the space between where you are and where you want to be. It’s quite new to me, but I want to explore more films and books that discuss it. When I do, I’ll come back and write about it.

On Everything Everywhere All at Once!

A Quick Recap

The film falls under the absurdist-comedy-drama genre and follows Evelyn, a Chinese immigrant who runs a laundromat with her husband, Waymond. Their life is chaotic. The film starts with Evelyn juggling different crises - her laundromat being audited by the IRS, Waymond serving her divorce papers, her estranged father visiting for Chinese New Year and a tense relationship with her daughter, Joy.

During a tense meeting with the IRS, Waymond is taken over by “Alpha Waymond,” who introduces Evelyn to the concept of the multiverse. In this reality, Alpha Evelyn developed verse-jumping technology, which allows people to access skills, memories, and bodies from their alternate-universe selves. Alpha Waymond explains that he needs Evelyn’s help as the multiverse is currently being threatened by Jobu Tupaki, the alpha version of Joy. Jobu Tupaki experiences all universes and can manipulate matter at once due to an experiment by Alpha Evelyn. As a result of this, she develops a nihilistic perspective on the world and creates a black hole (represented by an everything bagel) to destroy the multiverse. The film takes us on this journey of Evelyn’s attempt to save the multiverse from destruction.

The Concept of Potential

One of the most fascinating themes in this film is potential. Evelyn is presented as someone who has dabbled in many things but never fully succeeded at any of them - something that has drawn scrutiny from the IRS. There’s a dialogue in the movie where the IRS Inspector Deirdre questions Evelyn, asking, “ Based on what youre trying to deduct you’re also a novelist? A chef? A teacher? A singing coach?” This idea of “failed hobbies” creates a tension between what she could have been versus what she is now. If she had made different choices, she might have become a famous movie star or a kung fu master like she was in the other universes we see. Instead, in this one, she runs a struggling laundromat.

For anyone who is indecisive, who has a vast range of interests, or who feels like they haven’t lived up to their potential, this film hits hard. It highlights how every decision branches into a different version of our lives and how overwhelming it can be to think about all the paths we didn’t take. But it goes even deeper than that, it forces us to confront the weight of unrealised potential, the dreams we left behind, the roads we never traveled, and the uncomfortable thought that in some other life, we might have done it all. It’s not just about mourning lost possibilities; it’s about feeling the crushing weight of infinite possibilities.

This, to me is where the brilliance of the film shines through! While it presents the paralysis of limitless choice, it also offers a kind of relief. The film suggests that meaning is not something we stumble upon, it’s something we carve out in the messiness of life, in the choices we make now. At the same time, the movie embraces the mundane. One of the most beautiful lines is, “In another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.” It acknowledges that even in a universe of infinite possibilities, the small, everyday moments matter. That maybe the life we have, the life we often diminish as ordinary is already extraordinary in ways we aren’t fully appreciating.

The Burden of Knowledge

A central conflict in Everything Everywhere All at Once is how Evelyn and Joy experience the multiverse in radically different ways. Evelyn, though overwhelmed, can find moments of clarity. She sees glimpses of her alternate lives - the many paths she could have taken, the many selves she could have become. Ultimately, she chooses to remain grounded in her present reality. It’s an admirable act of commitment and acceptance. She doesn’t collapse under the weight of infinite possibilities but learns to navigate the chaos with presence and purpose. She acknowledges the absurdity of it all but still finds meaning in what she has: her family, her laundromat, her life as it is.

Joy, on the other hand, is completely consumed by the multiverse. She experiences everything everywhere all at once, and it's too much to bear. As a 25-year-old, I have a lot of empathy for her on that. Being constantly aware of every version of yourself, every choice you've ever made, and the endless alternative realities where things turned out differently is overwhelming. For Joy, this awareness doesn’t feel liberating; it’s paralysing. Constantly being bombarded with thoughts of infinite outcomes leads her to a nihilistic conclusion: nothing truly matters. She becomes convinced that if nothing holds inherent meaning, then the entire universe is pointless. In an attempt to erase it all, she creates the black hole to destroy it.

Now! Let’s get philosophical. This movie is pretty steeped in existentialism. Both Joy and Evelyn’s journeys explore the central questions and ideas found in existentialist philosophy, specifically that of Albert Camus. Camus argues that the universe is fundamentally irrational and meaningless and that the greatest philosophical dilemma is whether life is worth living at all. In The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus presents the story of Sisyphus, a man condemned to roll a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down every time, an endless and futile task. This metaphor captures the essence of absurdism: humans are always striving for meaning, but there is no ultimate answer to be found. Camus’ resolution to this dilemma, however, is not suffering; he instead argues, “We must imagine Sisyphus happy,” he says, suggesting that meaning and joy must and can be created.

How does this link to Joy and Evelyn? Joy, upon realising the fundamental meaninglessness of the multiverse, spirals into despair. She concludes that if nothing matters, then nothing is worth doing, which leads to her desire to erase it all. But Evelyn arrives at a different conclusion, inspired by a conversation with Waymond who reminds her of the importance of perspective and kindness, explaining that he does not “fight” like her but instead fights through kindness and optimism. Through this conversation, she acknowledges that nothing in the grand multiverse has to matter, but she can choose to define her own meaning and she can choose kindness. She chooses love, connection, and kindness because they are the things that give her life significance. This is where Evelyn finds liberation.

The film beautifully visualises this shift through a striking scene: Evelyn, as a rock in an alternate universe, places googly eyes on the rock laughing at the absurdity of existence. "Nothing matters!" she exclaims, but rather than finding pain in that, she discovers freedom. The power lies in the ability to choose joy despite the absurdity of life.

The Endurance of Love

Ultimately, one of the most touching parts of this film for me is its depiction of love as steadfast, as enduring. There’s something so beautiful about its exploration of love, not just romantic love but familial love. More specifically, the love between a mother and daughter - that connection that comes from the fact that they brought you into this world and so you seek their answers to these difficult questions of this world they brought you into.

Evelyn says:

“Maybe there is something out there, some new discovery that will make us feel like even smaller pieces of shit. Something that explains why you still went looking for me through all of this mess. And why no matter what I still want to be here with you.”

This is reminiscent of this quote from Megan Nolan’s Act of Desperation:

“Even if my mother had never uttered a word about her body or mine, I think I would still feel this way when I come home, the same claustrophobic fury under that shared roof, the two of us so close together. I came from her she made this body-thing I hate and love so much. I resent her for producing it. I’m mortified I have made such poor use of it. How dare you? I want to scream at her, on the other hand: I love you so much! I’m sorry, on the other.”

Across universes, across realities, Evelyn’s love for Joy endures! One of the film’s most heartbreaking moments is when Joy asks, “You could be anything anywhere, why not go somewhere where your daughter is more than just this?” It’s a devastating question. As a twenty-something, it cuts deep because it truly encapsulates the pain of wondering if you made the wrong choices in life. But Evelyn’s response is just as powerful, she chooses Joy. Not because the universe determined it, not because of fate, and not because it makes any sense but because she wants to.

This is what makes the film so special. It acknowledges that life is chaotic, painful, and confusing. It acknowledges that, yes, there are infinite paths we could have taken. But at the end of the day, what matters is what we choose to hold onto! In my universe? I choose love!