Evelyn Is Everything (We Need)

Evelyn Wang is the modern hero we need.

Evelyn Wang is the human repository of contemporary problems,dreams, hope and fears.

Evelyn Wang is the epitome of overwhelm.

Everything Everywhere All At Once, directed by Daniels, really does deserve all of its plaudits.If ever a film addressed contemporary society, it’s this.

Michelle Yeoh, who deservedly won the Oscar for best leading lady, jumps into multiverses and learns how to navigate trauma, stress and family issues: there’s enough dysfunction here to fuel Douglas Coupland’s entire ouevre.

Her simmering frustration at holding it all together makes her a 21at century Everywoman (It’s all in her) – her marriage is moribund; work is unsatisfying and Jamie Lee Curtis’ grotesque IRS woman is coming for her. She’s struggling with filling in her tax forms.Yup, been there.

In short, she’s a reminder that we’re all fallible, vulnerable little creatures, muddling through to the best of our ability. I’ve got a theory too about the hotdog fingers and ‘everything’ black bagel- I think these are references to cinema snacks, reminding us of the meta-narrative.

Quite apart from the fact that it’s brilliant seeing an Asian film lead getting props (about time, Yeoh has long been excellent) it’s also wonderful witnessing a lead who’s heroic more by accident than design, a bad-ass by necessity, given her survival strategy, and never once a strutting cliche. She’s flawed but likeable, prone to mistakes, getting flustered and drifting off at inopportune moments. She’s also hilarious. All hail Evelyn – everything we want in a feminine icon.