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Reviews
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
An ode to Chinese migrant mothers
This movie was a fantastic telling of a Chinese migrant's story in an English speaking country. It's the story of my mother, and many others like her.
These women left all that was familiar and known for a country where they did not speak much of the language, or understand much of the culture. They left when most people are in their prime, when their potential was just about to blossom, and went to run a small business and live frugally so that their children could have a brighter future. But that future is a sea of unknown possibility, one that cannot be controlled, or even necessarily understood.
Michelle Yeoh does an incredible job (as she always does) of portraying a woman who is coming to terms with the internal conflicts of her past sacrifices, emotional trauma, cultural expectations, the love for her daughter, her relationship with her husband, and the harsh, unforgiving realities of running a small business in the US. Ke Huy Quan similarly amazes with his acting ability, becoming switching between different versions of the same man at the drop of the hat and portraying the typically misunderstood and underestimated, quietly spoken Asian man to perfection.
The story is about how our internal conflicts can both hinder and help us on our path to reconciliation and becoming the best versions of ourselves through choice and acknowledgement.
As a first generation migrant to an English speaking country from Hong Kong, I want to thank the entire movie team for their kind, nuanced, entertaining and heartfelt telling of our mothers' migrant stories. For telling this story in its messy entirety, and not just settling for a hygienic, polite version reiteration of migrants achieving the American dream, you have done us all an enormous service.
Burning Questions: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
An ode to our mothers' migrant experiences
This movie was a fantastic telling of a Chinese migrant's story to an English speaking country. It's the story of my mother, and many others like her.
These women left all that was familiar and known for a country where they did not speak much of the language, or understand much of the culture. They left when most people are in their prime, when their potential was just about to blossom, and went to run a small business and live frugally so that their children could have a brighter future. But that future is a sea of unknown possibility, one that cannot be controlled, or even necessarily understood.
Michelle Yeoh does an incredible job (as she always does) of portraying a woman who is coming to terms with the internal conflicts of her past sacrifices, emotional trauma, cultural expectations, the love for her daughter, her relationship with her husband, and the harsh, unforgiving realities of running a small business in the US.
The story is about how all of these internal conflicts can both hinder and help us on our path to reconciliation and becoming the best versions of ourselves through choice and acknowledgement.
As a first generation migrant to an English speaking country from Hong Kong, I want to thank the entire movie team for their kind, nuanced, entertaining and heartfelt telling of our mothers' migrant stories. You have done us all an enormous service.