We're not even a third of the way through 2022 and two films have already come out that could garner serious consideration at next year's Academy Awards.
In January, HBO Max dropped "The Fallout," a powerful drama starring Jenna Ortega and Maddie Ziegler about the aftermath of a school shooting.
On Friday, cinephiles received one heck of a treat with the wide release of A24's "Everything Everywhere All at Once," a sci-fi dramedy that expertly uses the concept of the multiverse to unpack one family's generational trauma.
"Everything Everywhere" premiered at last month's SXSW Film Festival and instantly became the talk of the movie world for the raw emotional honesty of its storytelling; how directing duo Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert orchestrated some of the wildest action set pieces in years; and for Michelle Yeoh's powerhouse performance as laundromat owner turned multiverse savior Evelyn.
Friends, I am happy to report that "Everything Everywhere" more than lives up to the hype. If you're OK watching movies in the theater these days, run, don't walk, to your nearest multiplex to check this one out. It will break your brain, melt your heart, and leave you marveling at the imagination and technical wizardry on display.
This movie is such an achievement that we thought it would be fun to bring in Stephanie Hsu, who plays Evelyn's daughter Joy, to unpack the chaos of "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
"I promise people they will have an experience like they've never before had in a movie theater," she told the Post-Gazette.
You might recognize Hsu from her recent high-profile roles as Soo in Marvel's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" and Joel's love interest Mei Lin on "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." She's also a Broadway veteran who originated the role of Karen Plankton in the "SpongeBob SquarePants" musical.
Hsu found her way into the "SpongeBob" musical simply by being in the Viacom building when extras were needed for a script read-through. Similarly, she met "the Daniels" while shooting an episode of Awkwafina's Comedy Central series "Nora from Queens" and came to the conclusion the three of them were "artistic soulmates." When they pitched "Everything Everywhere" to her, she wasn't surprised by its ambitious and zany script.
"I really understood how weird they were and they really understood how weird I am," Hsu said. "When I read the script, I wasn't fazed by the hot dog fingers or the butt-plug fight scene. I was like, 'Yeah, of course, these are my boys.'"
Yes, both of the scenes Hsu just described made the final cut of "Everything Everywhere," which is full of delightful surprises that serve as complements to the heartfelt family narrative at the film's core. Hsu has always been a fan of films like 2004's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" that explore existentialist ideas. "Everything Everywhere" found the sweet spot in her cinematic sensibilities.
"In a weird way, this kind of hit a lot of genres that I personally love, which is really dumb humor and really soulful, sincere storytelling with big, conceptual philosophy," she said.
There's a lot more to Joy Wang than the character we meet early in the film: a sullen young woman desperate for her mother's approval. Hsu said that she, Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan (who plays her father, Waymond) "felt like a family right away." She has heard from quite a few women — especially those who grew up in an immigrant family — about how much the mother-daughter relationship between Evelyn and Joy has resonated with them.
Though Hsu couldn't relate much to the notion of experiencing the entire multiverse simultaneously like certain characters do, she does know what it's like "to feel a lot of things." She recalled sitting on the subway shortly after moving to New York City and noticing a stranger crying on the other side of the train. That moment haunted her for a week and still sometimes weighs on her.
"What's so special about this movie and this role is that you get to play a character who's super vulnerable and lost. ... Then you get to completely 360 that and start swinging sex toys around and channeling that into another form of release.
"It's just a very intimate portrayal of a kind of broken human."
The beauty of "Everything Everywhere" is that Hsu can talk about such deep character beats while also mentioning her character using sex toys as lethal weapons. She also gets to wear some truly wacky outfits that were curated by costume designer Shirley Kurata. Hsu loved Kurata's "maximalist aesthetic" and still is in awe that she even found certain items of clothing that Joy ends up wearing.
Considering that the 2022 Oscars were held just last month, it's way too early to talk about the 2023 awards season potential for "Everything Everywhere." Hsu said she has "complicated feelings about those forms of affirmation," but she would love to see Yeoh rewarded for her hard work and an indie film like this one recognized for the way it's "blowing people's brains."
"I certainly want to see more new stories and risk-taking in the world of film that is outside of large franchises," she said. "There's a part of me that's like, 'It would be so cool if the academy or whoever celebrates this very beautiful piece of art.' ... That form of validation is significant because it gives other people permission to finance projects like this and take risks on people."
Hsu hopes that people see "Everything Everywhere" in a movie theater if at all possible.
"I just think this has to be seen in movie theaters because you want to experience this cathartic roller coaster of laughter and tears with strangers," she said. "It's a community film and is meant to bring us closer together."
