Movie " Everything Everywhere All At Once" asks : What drives us to keep living ?

 

"Everything Everywhere All At Once" delves into the very essence of existence and poses a profound question: what drives us to keep living in the face of the ultimate full stop that is death, the end to all of life's miseries?

This movies is genius, brilliant as it poses the question visualistically at the end where Joy (daughter) who willingly jumps into the sucking black hole (which she creates to destroy herself) gets out that  black hole to hug Evelyn( her mother) tightly in spite of knowing life is not going to happier always. Evelyn is so in deep misery of life, that she doesn't appreciate sacrifices, kindness, unconditional love shown by her waymond(her husband).

Going into the deeper level of movie, Joy (daughter) represent Nihilism, Evelyn(mother) represent Existentialism, Waymond(husband) represent absurdism. The movie starts with existentialism, tilts towards nihilism, and then arrives at absurdism.

[Nihilism is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that life is ultimately meaningless, and any attempts to find meaning or purpose are futile. Existentialism, unlike nihilism and absurdism, is a philosophical movement that holds individuals must create their own values and meanings in life, rather than relying on external sources such as religion or societal norms. It emphasizes the importance of individual responsibility and the realization that individuals are ultimately responsible for their own choices and actions. Absurdism, on the other hand, is a philosophical response to the human search for meaning in an inherently meaningless universe. It acknowledges the fundamental irrationality and absurdity of existence and the human search for meaning. Absurdism holds that individuals must accept this absurdity and embrace it, without attempting to find any inherent meaning or purpose in life. It suggests that individuals can find a sense of freedom and liberation in embracing the absurdity of existence. In summary, nihilism denies or rejects the existence of objective meaning, absurdism acknowledges the inherent irrationality and absurdity of existence, and existentialism affirms the importance of individual freedom and choice in the search for meaning.]

This post is solely dedicated to the awe-inspiring film "Everything Everywhere All At Once" how it fearlessly confronts the existential question that I introduced at the start. My mind was left reeling, my heart pierced, as I witnessed this cinematic masterpiece achieve what no other film has dared to do before: provide a deeply convincing and human understanding of this question at hand. Through the use of mind-bending multiverse concepts and daring, absurd methods of transportation between one universe to other, the film expertly illustrates how an absurdist husband's love drives an existentialist wife to save her nihilistic daughter, who willingly ventures into a black hole.

In the gripping opening scene of the film, Evelyn, her husband Waymond, and their daughter Joy find themselves grappling with the complexities of existence. Evelyn is plagued by the notion that she has made all the wrong choices in life and that her existence is a meaningless mess. Her days are spent managing her laundromat business, dealing with tax woes, and trying to reconcile with her father, who suffers from Parkinson's and resents her for past decisions. Meanwhile, Waymond's carefree approach to life only exacerbates the tension in their relationship, and Evelyn grows increasingly resentful of him. As a result, Waymond comes to the difficult realization that their marriage is no longer viable and decides to divorce Evelyn. As if this weren't enough, Joy yearns for her mother's acceptance of her queerness and proposes that her girlfriend meet Gong Gong, Evelyn's father, at a party being held later that evening. However, Evelyn fails to make this happen, further straining her relationship with Joy.

From one of the multi-verse known as prime-verse comes Alpha waymond where he starts messing with the brain of Evelyn. He makes Evelyn conscious about herself, what she is making out of life? she is breaking her marriage, her relationship with her daughter is getting worse etc etc. Initially Evelyn thinks Waymond (symbol of absurdism) is being alive at the mercy of her, she hates herself in marrying him and due to all this her messing up starts and is reflected on her daughter who is slipping into suicidal tendencies. Alpha waymond makes Evelyn to travel her through all the choices in life she has not taken and slowly makes her realise she eventually end in the same misery as now. Now slowly her psychological bubbles bursts, ripples get silenced and she will eventually start seeing her life with fully awareness. She then realises it her absurdism representing husband is saving her, caring her, sharing misery with her. She  then realises the waymond is pure kind, he is raining kindness on her.

"Being loved is just a minimum, find someone who respects you, prioritizes you, supports you, understands you". Waymond out with kindness gives all this to Evelyn besides loving her, but Evelyn eventually forgets loving waymond anymore. She slowly realises this and makes peace with her husband and daughter.

But, Joy who already slipped into nihilism, created a black hole i.e. void and  jumps inside it in spite of witnessing changed mother (Evelyn).While, on her way into black hole Evelyn utters very loving, empathetic, wonderful words which makes Joy to re-check her dissolution into unknown i.e coming back to order from chaos and brings Joy out of black hole and hugs her mother tightly. Now this most powerful scene ever shot in the history of cinema, Joy who gave up and jumped coming back has given me sleepless nights. I started exploring on that. Does humans have inherent urge to live ? and what we all just want is to stick perfect meaning to that urge, just like Joy after getting validated from her mother, she instantly comes out of black hole? I thought and researched from this point of view and choose the path of anthropology, psychology, philosophy, and English literature.

Anthropology: From an anthropological perspective, the urge to live life despite knowing we will eventually die is a fundamental aspect of human nature that is rooted in our evolutionary history. Humans have evolved to be acutely aware of our own mortality, which has led to the development of complex belief systems, cultural practices, and social structures that help us cope with the existential anxiety that comes with the knowledge of our own impermanence. Anthropologists have identified a wide range of death-related rituals and practices across cultures, which serve to honor the dead, provide comfort to the living, and reinforce the social bonds that connect us to one another.

Psychology: In psychology, the urge to live life despite knowing we will eventually die can be seen as a manifestation of our fundamental drive to survive and thrive. Psychologists have identified various theories of motivation, including Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Self-Determination Theory, which posit that human beings are driven by a deep-seated desire for safety, security, and fulfilment. This drive is often unconscious and automatic, and it can manifest in many different ways, including the pursuit of personal goals, the formation of social relationships, and the engagement in creative and meaningful activities.

Philosophy: From a philosophical perspective, the urge to live life despite knowing we will eventually die is closely tied to the concept of existentialism, which emphasizes the importance of individual freedom, choice, and responsibility in the face of the absurdity and meaninglessness of life. Philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus argued that the human condition is characterized by a fundamental tension between the desire for meaning and purpose and the inevitability of our mortality. According to them, the unconscious urge to live life in the face of death arises from our need to find meaning and purpose in our lives, even in the absence of any inherent or objective meaning.

Sartre famously argued that human beings are condemned to freedom, meaning that we are fundamentally responsible for our own existence and must create our own values and meaning in life. Similarly, Camus argued that the only meaningful response to the absurdity of life is to embrace it fully, to rebel against the inevitability of death, and to live with passion and intensity.

In conclusion, whether viewed through the lens of anthropology, psychology, philosophy, or literature, the desire to live is a fundamental aspect of the human experience, and it is what motivates us to seek out meaning, purpose, and fulfilment in our lives. The movie "Every thing every where all at once" addresses this so aptly in the conversation between Evelyn and Joy in the climax . Evelyn says "May be something out there, some new discovery that will make us feel we are piece of shit, something that will explain why you still went looking for me through all of this noise" , this lines makes us understand that, till now we don't have any theory to explain why we search for meaning of life to live but in future we shall surely find an answer for it. For putting this never explored point in front of us is what makes this movie to be remembered until life and our search for meaning as fulfillment of life exists.