Everything Everywhere All at Once
A middle-aged Chinese immigrant is swept up into an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led.
Despite a moderate budget of $25.0M, Everything Everywhere All at Once became a solid performer, earning $139.2M worldwide—a 457% return.
7 Oscars. 397 wins & 379 nominations
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) exemplifies precise dramatic framework, characteristic of The Daniels's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 2 hours and 19 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.2, the film takes an unconventional approach to traditional narrative frameworks.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Evelyn Wang
Waymond Wang
Joy Wang / Jobu Tupaki
Deirdre Beaubeirdra
Gong Gong
Main Cast & Characters
Evelyn Wang
Played by Michelle Yeoh
A Chinese-American laundromat owner overwhelmed by life who discovers she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to save all of reality.
Waymond Wang
Played by Ke Huy Quan
Evelyn's optimistic, kind-hearted husband who seems weak but holds the key to unlocking her potential across the multiverse.
Joy Wang / Jobu Tupaki
Played by Stephanie Hsu
Evelyn's daughter who feels misunderstood and disconnected from her mother, also the nihilistic multiverse villain created by Evelyn in another universe.
Deirdre Beaubeirdra
Played by Jamie Lee Curtis
The stern, by-the-book IRS inspector auditing the Wang's laundromat business, representing bureaucratic obstacles.
Gong Gong
Played by James Hong
Evelyn's traditional, judgmental father visiting from China who represents old-world expectations and disappointment.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Evelyn sits overwhelmed at her cluttered desk, surrounded by receipts and tax documents, while her family moves around her disconnected. She is scattered across a hundred tasks, unable to be present for anyone—a visual metaphor for her fragmented attention and strained relationships.. Structural examination shows that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 16 minutes when In the IRS elevator, Waymond's body is suddenly possessed by Alpha Waymond from the Alphaverse. He frantically explains that Evelyn is the key to stopping a great evil across the multiverse, shattering her mundane reality with impossible information about verse-jumping.. At 11% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 31 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 22% of the runtime. This reveals the protagonist's commitment to Evelyn makes her first intentional verse-jump by doing something absurd (giving herself paper cuts), accessing the skills of a martial arts movie star version of herself. She actively chooses to engage with the multiverse rather than flee, committing to the fight against Jobu Tupaki., moving from reaction to action.
At 63 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 45% of the runtime—arriving early, accelerating into Act IIb complications. Significantly, this crucial beat Evelyn finally confronts Jobu Tupaki and discovers the horrifying truth: Jobu is Joy—her daughter from the Alphaverse, whose mind was shattered by Alpha Evelyn's relentless pushing. The villain is a version of her own child, broken by a version of herself. The stakes become devastatingly personal., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 94 minutes (67% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Alpha Waymond is killed by Jobu. Evelyn, fully consumed by nihilism, verbally destroys her family—telling Joy she should never have been born. Joy walks toward the everything bagel to be annihilated. Evelyn has become the very thing that broke her daughter: a mother whose disappointment kills., indicates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 100 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 72% of the runtime. Waymond's voice breaks through: "When I choose to see the good side of things, I'm not being naive. It is strategic and necessary." Evelyn realizes that kindness—Waymond's way—is not weakness but strength. She chooses to fight with love instead of violence, synthesizing all she's learned., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Everything Everywhere All at Once's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs structural analysis methodology used to understand storytelling architecture. By mapping Everything Everywhere All at Once against these established plot points, we can identify how The Daniels utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Everything Everywhere All at Once within the action genre.
The Daniels's Structural Approach
Among the 2 The Daniels films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 5.5, showcasing experimental approaches to narrative form. Everything Everywhere All at Once represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete The Daniels filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional action films include The Bad Guys, Puss in Boots and Venom: The Last Dance. For more The Daniels analyses, see Swiss Army Man.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Evelyn sits overwhelmed at her cluttered desk, surrounded by receipts and tax documents, while her family moves around her disconnected. She is scattered across a hundred tasks, unable to be present for anyone—a visual metaphor for her fragmented attention and strained relationships.
Theme
Waymond tells Evelyn, "I know you're busy, but I'm asking you to be here with me." This encapsulates the film's central theme: in a universe of infinite distractions and possibilities, what matters is being present with the people you love.
Worldbuilding
The Wang family's chaotic ordinary world is established: the struggling laundromat, the strained marriage, Evelyn's critical father Gong Gong visiting, Joy's girlfriend Becky whom Evelyn refuses to acknowledge, and the looming IRS audit. Evelyn dismisses everyone's needs while drowning in logistics.
Disruption
In the IRS elevator, Waymond's body is suddenly possessed by Alpha Waymond from the Alphaverse. He frantically explains that Evelyn is the key to stopping a great evil across the multiverse, shattering her mundane reality with impossible information about verse-jumping.
Resistance
Alpha Waymond guides Evelyn through her first verse-jumps while hiding from IRS agent Deirdre. He explains the technology, the threat of Jobu Tupaki, and why Evelyn—the greatest failure in the multiverse—is paradoxically their only hope. Evelyn resists, overwhelmed and disbelieving.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Evelyn makes her first intentional verse-jump by doing something absurd (giving herself paper cuts), accessing the skills of a martial arts movie star version of herself. She actively chooses to engage with the multiverse rather than flee, committing to the fight against Jobu Tupaki.
Mirror World
Evelyn glimpses the movie star universe where she never married Waymond—glamorous but lonely. This begins her B-story of reconsidering her life choices and her relationship with Waymond, who represents the path of kindness she dismissed as weakness.
Premise
The "promise of the premise" delivers wild multiverse action: Evelyn verse-jumps through increasingly absurd realities (hot dog fingers, raccoon chef, rocks), battles Jobu's minions with borrowed skills, and begins to understand the scope of infinite possibility—all while the IRS audit continues in the background.
Midpoint
Evelyn finally confronts Jobu Tupaki and discovers the horrifying truth: Jobu is Joy—her daughter from the Alphaverse, whose mind was shattered by Alpha Evelyn's relentless pushing. The villain is a version of her own child, broken by a version of herself. The stakes become devastatingly personal.
Opposition
Jobu shows Evelyn the everything bagel—a black hole of infinite knowledge leading to nihilism. Evelyn begins to fracture under the weight of infinite possibility, seeing how every choice leads to suffering. She starts adopting Jobu's nihilistic worldview, becoming cruel to those around her as nothing seems to matter.
Collapse
Alpha Waymond is killed by Jobu. Evelyn, fully consumed by nihilism, verbally destroys her family—telling Joy she should never have been born. Joy walks toward the everything bagel to be annihilated. Evelyn has become the very thing that broke her daughter: a mother whose disappointment kills.
Crisis
In the rocks universe—where life never evolved—Evelyn and Joy sit as stones in silence. Evelyn contemplates the void, the appeal of nothingness. Her daughter is about to cease to exist and she has pushed her there. The dark night of the soul is rendered as literal cosmic emptiness.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Waymond's voice breaks through: "When I choose to see the good side of things, I'm not being naive. It is strategic and necessary." Evelyn realizes that kindness—Waymond's way—is not weakness but strength. She chooses to fight with love instead of violence, synthesizing all she's learned.
Synthesis
Evelyn verse-jumps through every reality, but instead of fighting, she heals—giving each enemy what they truly need. She pursues Joy to the bagel's edge, finally telling her daughter: "I know you're tired... but I will always want you here." She chooses connection over everything, in every universe.
Transformation
Back in the ordinary world, Evelyn sits at her desk doing taxes—the same image as the opening. But now she is present: she acknowledges Becky as Joy's girlfriend to Gong Gong, she looks at Waymond with love, she sees Joy. The mundane becomes miraculous through the choice to be fully there.