Everything Everywhere All at Once 4K UHD Review

Bagel World

If asked what, exactly, Everything Everywhere All at Once is about, it’s a need to find solace in a chaotic existence. Or about doing taxes. Also love. And teenage angst. Familial bickering. Generational divides. Plus superheroes and multiverses and fate and philosophical concepts.

That almost covers it.

Eccentric and boundary-less in creativity, Michelle Yeoh carries this project as the story’s core center, although the multitude of centers means focus can waver. Maybe it’s her on-screen husband (Ke Huy Quan) or her daughter (Stephanie Hsu), each taking numerous parts in this visually stimulating melee.

Everything Everywhere isn’t chaotic bluster for short attention spans

Everything Everywhere isn’t chaotic bluster for short attention spans. If anything, the script needed rolled back a few pages to scale back the relentless deluge of exposition and character development. Instead, it’s purposeful, picturing Yeoh in a multi-faceted mid-life crisis that sees her daughter pushing away, her husband seeking a divorce, and the IRS attacking her failing business.

Yeoh’s discovered gift is an ability to see all existence – each of them, whether off the map or nearby parallels. Everything Everywhere finds absurdity in many, from spectacular kung-fu fights performed with rectal dildos to hot dog fingers. Each holds meaning though, a mental escape for Yeoh who sees the realities with her husband and without. With her daughter and without. It’s a new age Christmas Carol, sort of, unrelenting in idiosyncratic ideas, and with no fear as to how to approach them.

To be a hero in this barely controlled life is to realize things matter. Keeping morals, faith, and listening to one’s conscious matter more than refusing to accept this is all truth. Everything Everywhere’s allegorical might considers suicide in an overblown, grandiose way, Yeoh’s daughter feeling outcast in a family struggling to stay connected. It’s as powerful as it is goofy, meaningful as it is utterly stupid.

If this movie has a soul – or if movies can; maybe there’s a universe where they do – Everything Everywhere is just a peace and love, pot smoking hippy. The overwhelmed mind finds eventual solace in looking back at moments when it felt at peace, sharing in the happiness with others. Life consumes us in out multiverse sector. Little, dumb things keep us apart. Everything Everywhere’s flawless title speaks to this, how we can never slow down in a society that pushes us to do more and satisfy others. This script is mad genius, and among the most affecting pieces of American cinema in years.

Video

Digitally shot with a notable film grain filter, Lionsgate’s UHD transfers the material well. Encoding passes the grain cleanly, keeping Everything Everywhere’s simulated texture. The softer source upscales precisely. Facial texture is a constant, medium and close-ups satisfying. Definition looks great all around, even with a lower resolution source.

Managing a hefty balance between light and dark, highlights push brightness to a hefty peak. The Dolby Vision pass isn’t subtle. Black levels avoid hitting the deepest shadows, yet sustain dimensionality. Everything Everywhere sticks to a dry depth successfully without losing impact.

Shadows perform as such due to the color grading, on an orange/teal path that doesn’t deviate. Primaries stick out as possible, especially the warmed over flesh tones and other reds. Vibrancy stays contained though, the palette either warmed over or cooled.

Audio

Awesome low-end complements the action, better than some high-dollar blockbusters on this format. The rumble digs deep, flooding the room and shaking walls to showcase the available range – and it’s a lot of range. Music stings sink potently, then are bettered by the various fight scenes. Dipping into the multiverse, each transition brings a firm shake.

The soundstage isn’t as adventurous. Fronts split well, rears generally blending together, lacking precise separation. As Raymond slings a fanny pack around like nunchucks, everything stays forward-focused, surround use barely noted. However, small touches like doorbells ringing in specific rears are notable, adding space to Everything Everywhere.

Extras

Directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert come together for a main feature commentary, and continue chatting (optionally) over deleted scenes. An excellent, often hilarious 40-minute making of is a definite must see. A 10-minute EPK follows, then a random collection of set clips, VFX progress, and more runs 11-minutes. Outtakes run eight minutes and are a total blast. Everything Everywhere finishes up with a music video and trailers.

The following six screen shots serve as samples for our subscription-exclusive set of 48 full resolution uncompressed 4K screen shots grabbed directly from the UHD: