“Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” is an exciting movie about Evelyn’s jumping of universes in order to fight against the archfiend who plans to destroy the multiverse. In addition to its thrilling plot, the fascinating Chinese martial arts, the outlandish fashion designs, and the funny hotdog-finger imagination all appeal to viewers. However, beneath the loud and noisy façade lies a mother’s arduous journey to reach her daughter’s sealed heart.

The movie consists of three well-designed sections. In part one (“Everything”), life is restraining Evelyn more and more, squeezing her into the smothering space of an overburdened laundromat. Everything in her world is pressing upon her and sucks the last struggle for resilience out of her. The frequent malfunctions of the washing machines, the complaints of customers, and worst of all, the disaster of her tax audit, are pushing her business to the edge of collapse. Moreover, her husband’s intention to divorce is another emotional earthquake for her. On top of all of this, is her irreconcilable relationship with her daughter, Joy, who metamorphoses into the omnipotent archfiend and rampages across infinite multiverses.

If everything in the world of Evelyn is compressed into the tiniest ball in the first part, then the ball expands infinitely into the multiverse in the second section. Every failure of Evelyn branches off into another successful version of herself in parallel realities. In the multiverse, she becomes a celebrated film star, a renowned opera singer, and an accomplished master of martial arts, to name just a few identities she assumes. These changing personae enable her to look at the world from multiple perspectives. Evelyn becomes the person her daughter has been looking for: “Someone who could see what I see, feel what I feel.” Joy is not good at anything, and becomes completely drowned by frustration and despair.

In understanding her daughter, Evelyn comes to understand herself. Now she sees herself objectively through the lens of her husband: “I’ve seen thousands of Evelyns, but never an Evelyn like you, you have so many goals you never finished, dreams you never followed. You’re living your worst you.” The mother and daughter are strikingly similar: Both are downright losers and complete failures. The only difference is that Joy the daughter sees the situation soberly, and becomes defeated and disheartened. Evelyn is busy keeping the laundromat functioning and becomes numb to her husband who is demanding a divorce, and to her daughter who grows bitter about the world.

Evelyn has traveled multiple universes to reach her daughter and herself.

The film director achieves the climax in a completely unique way. In one parallel universe, the mother and daughter become rocks. Two big stones are sitting silently on a vast landscape. No language, no gesture, no facial expression. Just being together.    

In silence, they have the most profound communication.

If “Everything” has compressed Evelyn’s world into the tiniest space, then “Everywhere” has expanded her world into infinite multiverses. If the first two parts are paired with each other to outline space from two polarized perspectives, the final section, “All at Once,” highlights the temporal dimension of the story. After the vicissitudes in the multiverse, Evelyn changes her attitude toward Joy’s lesbian marriage, and, all at once, family members become supportive of each other.