Take the legacy character out of the equation, and this is virtually indistinguishable from any garden-variety horror/thriller released in the post-Oscars dumping ground. 

Per the internal logic of ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ every decision a person makes prompts the universe to splinter. The resulting parallel universes represent the paths not chosen.

Writer-director Mr. Linklater again employs rotoscoping — drawing over live-action footage — to illustrate alternate realities, as with his ‘Waking Life’ (2001) and ‘A Scanner Darkly’ (2006). 

Andrew comes of age upon his realization that believing ‘love conquers all’ is utterly naive.

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

MARTIN TSAI