A24's Oscar darling for the year of 2023, Everything Everywhere All At Once took the whole world by surprise with its inventive storytelling, impressive CGI, and all-around great efforts. A spirituous, funny, and exciting sci-fi adventure, the movie was both critically acclaimed and a roaring box office success, and went on to become incredibly popular.

However, due to the metaphysical nature of the story and its themes, some viewers have found it difficult to unveil the meaning behind the movie's ending and message. Here's a breakdown of the film's ending, and what it means within the context of the larger story.

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Who Is Evelyn, and Why Is She Important?

Evelyn stands in front of Waymond and Joy in Everything Everywhere All at Once

In the beginning of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) is a US-based, overworked, middle-aged Asian mom facing difficulties both financially and family-wise. The adjective that best describes her is "overwhelmed." She cannot focus on the simplest of actions, worrying about the myriad of problems that keep coming up at her. Firstly, it seems there is nothing she can do to regain the trust of her gay teenage daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu). Secondly, she gets distraught by the looming presence of her father, Gong Gong (James Hong), a judgmental and traditional Chinese man. Thirdly, she receives bad news from an IRS employee Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis) about her laundromat. Then, Evelyn discovers that her darling husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), is considering divorce. When it seems nothing else can shake her up, she discovers that she is a key piece in a plot to save the universe from destruction.

However, when one is at the bottom, the only direction is up. By the end of the movie, Evelyn is finally at one with everything happening to her and around her. By tapping into her other selves' identities, skills, and memories, she has learned to accept the consequences of the choices she has made, and to live life to the full, appreciating all the good things that come to her, and by choosing to help people. So, how did that happen?

The Main Message of Everything Everywhere All At Once

A scene featuring characters in Everything Everywhere All At Once

To understand the end, one must first look at the beginning. In classic narrative structure, First Act and Third Act often mirror one another to demonstrate the development of the film's premise and the main characters. It is essential to understand the relationship between Evelyn and Joy, as it is the main thematic vessel for the movie. Evelyn begins the film not recognizing the ever-growing emotional distance between her and Joy, and tries to dismiss her daughter's issues as pointless teenage bickering. But, the sci-fi shenanigans arrive to shake things up monumentally.

Evelyn has a weird encounter with Alpha-Waymond, the version of her husband from another parallel universe, the "Alphaverse." He then tells her of a dangerous entity, Jobu Tupaki, that poses a grave threat to all existence across the multiverse. Evelyn, then, comes to learn that the Alpha-Evelyn, the version of her from the Alphaverse, was the person who invented the technology of "verse-jumping," which allowed people to travel to other parallel dimensions and learn of their other lives, while also acquiring their memories and skills. Evelyn begins to verse-jump and, in the process, learns of all the other things she could have been had she not eloped with Waymond and birthed Joy, from a martial arts expert movie star to a famous chef.

Then, she finds out that Jobu Tupaki is actually the Alpha-Joy, who was extensively subjected to verse-jump by Alpha-Evelyn. Jobu is the most powerful being in the multiverse. She can manipulate matter to her will, and is extremely disillusioned with life, having been over-exposed to many different versions of her life and of the world. Jobu remains adamant that there is no worthwhile purpose for existence and, as such, she is intent on undoing all the multiverse, a task she intends to carry on by creating a giant black hole, an "Everything Bagel." As the last line of defense against Jobu in the multiverse, Alpha-Gong Gong reaches out to Evelyn and tries to convince her to kill Joy, as it would be the only way to stop Jobu.

Everything in the story is about family, both in the small picture and in the big picture. If the "regular" Gong Gong is a stressing factor for Evelyn, given how she feels a need to live up to his expectations, the Alpha-Gong Gong asks something of her that she would never possibly do.

How Is Evelyn The Key To Stopping Jobu?

A scene featuring characters in Everything Everywhere All At Once

After Evelyn denies the possibility of hurting Joy, Jobu calls a truce with Evelyn, in the hopes of seeing if she agrees with Jobu's nihilistic point of view. Seeing the multiverse as a complex place brimming with conflict, Evelyn falls into hopelessness, and so does every parallel version of her. She acts in complete disregard of the people around her, even her loved ones, acting in impulsive and imprudent manner.

Up until this point, Evelyn secretly sees Waymond as a spineless pushover, as he is always trying to avert confrontations. However, it is Waymond who makes Evelyn realize how much she is missing. It turns out that Waymond is not a weak man, but someone who gathers all the necessary strength to have hope. When Evelyn sees that Waymond manages to save their laundromat by simply being nice to Deirdre, Evelyn decides to give it a shot. She begins helping everyone around her, even Jobu's and Alpha-Gong Gong's goons, by giving them some awkward (and funny) comfort instead of fighting.

At the very last moment, Evelyn stops Jobu from killing herself by declaring her unconditional love for Joy. There is nothing she would choose over being with her daughter. And that resonates with Jobu. Jobu's destructive feelings are not so different from the ones that Joy secretly has. Closing the emotional gap between Evelyn and Joy is what saves their relationship, and closing the emotional gap between Evelyn and Jobu is what saves the universe.

The ending of Everything Everywhere All At Once refers exactly to the title of the movie. Even though Evelyn is aware of everything happening in every single one of her other lives across the multiverse, she finds herself present. After her life-changing encounter with Jobu Tupaki, her mind can focus on the present despite the chaotic pandemonium she is now always aware of. It's a meaningful transformation for a powerful character arc.

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