Everything But the Bagel: The Film that Swept the Oscars
Callie Watson ’24 muses on the absurdist film that took 2023 by storm: Everything Everywhere All at Once.
On March 12, the film Everything Everywhere All At Once took the Academy Awards by storm, finishing the night with seven Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Lead Actress, Supporting Actress, and Supporting Actor. The night was not only a huge victory for the A24 film—it was a win for Asian and Asian American artists everywhere.
In my opinion, Everything Everywhere All at Once was the most original and mind-boggling piece I’ve seen Hollywood produce in years. Though I have seen this movie around five times now, I still find it challenging to describe the plot. I guess it’s difficult to explain a movie where essentially everything happens….everywhere………. all at once. In short, eventually the protagonist Evelyn Wang will have to save the multiverse from an evil bagel by kung-fu fighting IRS agents, and on the way she will discover alternate versions of herself. Then, the audience will end up crying over a picture of two rocks doing nothing and a hot-dog-finger montage.
I wish that I could have been there when directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert were pitching this movie to A24. I’d like to think it went something like this:
Daniels: “So we have an idea for a film about a Chinese immigrant woman and her husband being audited by the IRS.”
A24: “That sounds boring. Who wants to watch a film about a family struggling with taxes?”
Daniels: “Well, eventually the protagonist Evelyn Wang will have to save the multiverse from an evil bagel by kung-fu fighting IRS agents, and on the way she will discover alternate versions of herself. Then, the audience will end up crying over a picture of two rocks doing nothing and a hot-dog-finger montage.”
A24: “…………”
What a glorious day that must have been. Anyway, I am a firm believer that this movie is the greatest of the century, and here’s why.
On the surface, this movie seems like a simple good vs. evil race to save the multiverse, but embedded in the wackiness of this film are several deeper meanings. Let’s begin with Evelyn Wang and Joy. Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) and her lesbian daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) have a complicated relationship where Evelyn can’t accept Joy for who she is. Their relationship explores themes of acceptance and the pressures of living up to family expectations. The pressure Evelyn puts on Joy reflects her own generational trauma from her childhood after being disowned by her father for marrying her husband Waymond. Between Evelyn and Waymond, played by Ke Huy Quan, we follow a dysfunctional married couple learning to accept and love each other for their differences.
By the end, we see Joy and Evelyn confronted with the choice of her normal life or surrendering to nihilism, meaninglessness, and despair in the shape of a menacing black bagel called “The Everything Bagel,” but they ultimately choose to go back to the simple life they led before. This defining point in the plot alludes to the idea that the meaning of life is the search for genuine love and acceptance. This film doesn’t miss the opportunity to leave audiences with more than one existential crisis. Amidst all this insanity, we are forced to analyze our own life choices: Did I choose the right life path? Does anything I do matter? Am I the daughter/son/mother/father/wife/husband I want to be?
This all-encompassing film teaches us that we must accept the people around us, the life we have built, and most importantly, ourselves. WOW. I’m craving a bagel.