Everything Everywhere All at Once * * * ½

If it had been any less chaotic I would have become impatient with this film. But it is so insistently and proudly itself I found myself surrendering to its bombastic unrelenting craziness.  

For close to an hour I had little idea of what was really going on.  It made no sense.  Why is her husband behaving this way?  And how can they be in two places at the same time? The things they were discussing didn't help much. At one stage I though I was dealing with aliens pretending to be humans.  

But as it progresses things become a little clearer - and if it doesn't the action will certainly amuse you: it's got Karate chopping and Kung Fu moves aplenty.

The Wangs: Looking surprised I sat to the end.

It centers around an Asian-American family who run a laundromat.  They've got troubles with Internal Revenue Office.  They also have to organize a birthday for the old man of the family.  They also have a rebellious daughter who has come out as a lesbian. 

In a way the real thrust of the story is the Mother wanting to reach over the cultural, intellectual, emotional and value based borders so that she can re-connect with her daughter. And I suppose these differences can seem as large as they universe itself - and maybe that's the point it is trying to make.

The rest of the story where they connect with their other being in another universe and become martial arts experts, have loving relationships with unlikely people, push themselves through zones by anal insertion or live with fingers turning into sausages all makes perfect sense..... sort of.

Craziest film I've seen for ages.   Brilliantly done as it becomes what it wants to be. Scene changes every ten seconds and each scene visually potent. It went on for two hours and twenty minutes.  An hour less might have served it well.