In the Russian and world box office, as well as in the ratings of viewers and critics, the new film by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (in 2016 they filmed the Swiss Army Knife Man) is breaking records. Someone sees in this absurdist fantasy action movie the triumph of postmodernism, and the editors of Psychologies see it as a metaphor for separation. Read more in our psychological review.
“I am proud of you” — what people do to hear this phrase from their father or mother. The irony is that usually those who put in so much effort to live up to expectations are left disappointed. Relinquishing parental expectations and separating not only physically but also emotionally is like taking a red pill over a blue one.
In this sense, one of the most high-profile films of early 2022, “Everything, Everywhere” (directed by Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert) is a kind of “Matrix” about the process of separation. Not even a month has passed since the release of this picture, as she got into the lists of the best — both for the current year and for the entire history of cinema.
Many dimensions
Exhausted by endless bills, tax returns, and pointless laundry work, Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) has no idea that, despite stress and constant monitoring, her relationship with her daughter is irreversibly deteriorating, her husband is considering a divorce, and her elderly father is disappointed with her mediocre achievements.
A woman exists at the limit of her abilities and cannot even imagine that such a life is only one of the possible scenarios realized in this particular Universe. Everything changes when she gains access to the experience and skills of other variations of Evelyn from an infinite number of alternative worlds: who could she become if she made a different decision at a certain moment in her life?
See also: Modern classics: what is the secret of the popularity of «The Matrix»
A virtuoso chef, a martial artist or an opera diva — the heroine comes face to face with her missed opportunities and unrealized potential. She missed opportunities time after time, trying to cope with her guilt towards her father, who disowned her because of an unapproved marriage. After such a tragic breakup, she no longer seemed to have the right to real dreams and high hopes.
Evelyn lives a small «correct» life, trying to win back her father’s favor, to get his approval. Gaining access to the experience of other Evelyns, Evelyn from parallel realities, it is as if she reassembles all parts of her personality together, she regains all the opportunities that she gave up for the sake of an unattainable approval.
To be alive
Truly, films for adults should not be called porn, but films about income statements, mortgages and filing a tax return. Tension and seriousness, purity and dictatorship. Breaking out of the vicious circle and feeling alive, according to the mythology «Everything is everywhere and at once», is possible only by performing the most absurd action. Eating lipstick, putting your left shoe on your right foot, using the Manager of the Year award as a butt plug — all means are good to overcome a mindless and relentless routine.
In the film by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, we see the triumph of the absurd as a direct opposition to the systemic and enslaved «adult life». The back of a washing machine, an all-consuming donut/black hole — images of a vicious circle as a symbol of limitations, automatic repetition and the monotony of life, are repeated in this picture from episode to episode.
Like it or not, the family is a system that seeks to maintain the usual balance, homeostasis. Relatives impose on us the burden of familiar roles and ways of responding. To be freed from these expectations and obligations is like breaking out of the matrix. To do this, you need to dare to choose yourself and accept the right to your truth. What does — albeit not immediately, albeit stepping somewhere through her own comfort — the heroine Michelle Yeoh.
Nothing matters
To be truly close is not to merge with each other or absorb your neighbor, but to remain separate individuals, to be close, to experience joyful and sad moments together. Refuse stereotypes, social approval, see another person, meet him.
Nothing is so important that you lose intimacy and true intimacy with your loved ones. This formula is almost equivalent to the famous «Spoon does not exist» from the «Matrix» by the Wachowski brothers.
Joy, the daughter of the main character (Stephanie Xu), falls into apathy and impotence: no matter what she is and no matter how hard she tries, she does not find unconditional love and acceptance of her mother in any of the infinite number of universes. All the power of her desperation is embodied in the strong and destructive Jobu Tupac.
Separation for Evelyn unfolds on two levels at once: she separates, and from her. Only by arrogating to herself the right to be herself (even the worst version of herself) can she finally accept and let go of Joy.
Superpower good
Struggling with social conventions in the midst of trash and intoxication, the main character also sees Waymond, her husband (Ke Hui Kuan), differently. She had long dismissed him, considering him weak, infantile and lack of initiative, and their marriage was a fatal mistake. But in vain.
Waymond’s superpower is benevolence and conflict avoidance for the sake of dialogue. What Evelyn did not notice for years, reproaching her husband for lack of will. This different, previously inaccessible strategy overwhelms Evelyn and changes her perception of peace, strength and true maturity.
Attention, acceptance and the ability to see the other person as an equal is a new skill. It allows you not to fight with others, but to cooperate with them. Non-violent communication is the answer to aggression, which is able to stop bullets on the fly.