Film review: Everything Everywhere All at Once
The multiverse is back in this divisive cult hit
“If you are the sort of filmgoer who only ventures into arthouse territory a couple of times a year”, make this Irish “gem” one of the films you see, said Matthew Bond in The Mail on Sunday. Based on a novella by Claire Keegan, the film follows Cáit (Catherine Clinch), a girl growing up on an impoverished smallholding in rural Ireland in the 1980s. Barely ten, with a careworn mother and a perpetually hungover father, Cáit is bullied and miserable, until she’s sent to live with her mother’s cousin (Carrie Crowley) and her husband (Andrew Bennett). Under their care, her life is “transformed” – but it’s unclear how long she will be able to stay with her new family. Clinch is brilliant, as is Crowley as her surrogate mother, who soon becomes closer to her than her own mother has ever been. In all, it’s a “deeply moving” film about “innocence and loneliness”, which has a power that lingers long after the credits have rolled.
It seems initially to be a modest little story, said Wendy Ide in The Observer, but it “plays on the heartstrings like a harp”. First-time feature director Colm Bairéad has a knack for “telling us everything we need to know without words”: a stand-off over some sticks of rhubarb, for example, “is more eloquent than pages of dialogue could ever be”.
The film arrives in cinemas “on unprecedented waves” of acclaim, said Donald Clarke in The Irish Times, but there’s no danger that the “weight of expectation will crush this delicately beautiful gossamer construction”: it deserves the hype. Although there is “a pervasive sense of unspoken menace lurking just outside the frame”, the film is also a “celebration of uncomplicated human kindness”. The result is an “unqualified success”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Red Speedo: a 'darkly comic' doping drama
The Week Recommends Lucas Hnath's play stars Finn Cole as a 'reptilian' swimmer determined to win at all costs
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
One Aldwych: where London's creative spirit takes centre stage
The Week Recommends This five-star Covent Garden hotel is the epitome of elegant independence
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Charlotte Dujardin and equestrianism's dark side
In the Spotlight Olympic gold medallist and dressage star's suspension over horse whipping brings abuse in horse sports back into the spotlight
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
6 coastal homes in Cape Cod
Feature Featuring a wall of glass in Mashpee and an undulating roofline in Wellfleet
By The Week Staff Published
-
Peng Shepherd's 6 favorite works with themes of magical realism
Feature The author recommends works by Susanna Clarke, George Saunders, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Francis Alÿs: Ricochets – a 'heart-stopping' exhibition at London's Barbican
The Week Recommends 'Mesmerising' films of children at play around the world from Kharkiv to Mosul
By The Week UK Published
-
Mishal Husain: BBC journalist shares her six favourite books
The Week Recommends Newsreader and Radio 4 presenter picks works by Louisa May Alcott, Jamil Ahmad and more
By The Week UK Published
-
Eno: 'stimulating and cerebral' documentary that's never the same twice
The Week Recommends A 'fascinating' look at the mercurial British musician and activist Brian Eno
By The Week UK Published
-
Longlegs: 'nerve-jangling and devilishly bleak' horror film
The Week Recommends Nicolas Cage gives perhaps the most 'terrifying' performance of his career as the titular serial killer
By The Week UK Published
-
The CIA by Hugh Wilford: 'lively and original' history of America's spy agency
The Week Recommends The book has been dubbed a 'must-read' for those interested in intelligence and national-security affairs
By The Week UK Published
-
Laura van den Berg's 6 favorite books with hidden secrets
Feature The author recommends works by Patricia Lockwood, Gillian Flynn, and more
By The Week US Published