One of the most talked about movies of 2022 has been Everything Everywhere All at Once. Starring Michelle Yeoh, the sci-fi movie is a multiverse adventure that doesn’t hold back its weirdness and just about everyone who sees it is glad that’s the case.
But, with everything that the movie throws out at viewers, it’s a lot to keep track of. If you found yourself scratching your head a bit and wondering exactly what happened with all the different multiverses, then we’ve got you covered right here with this Everything Everywhere All at Once ending explainer.
We're going to go into SPOILERS for Everything Everywhere All at Once, so if you want to avoid those find out how you can watch the movie right now.
What is the Everything Everywhere All at Once plot?
Before we get into the specifics of the ending, let’s go over the major plot points that build to the final act of Everything Everywhere All at Once.
The movie centers on Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a Chinese American who owns a laundromat with her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan). Evelyn is stressed out with running the business, trying to organize a Chinese New Year party, the arrival of her father (James Hong) and finishing her taxes that she is ignoring what is going on with Waymond, who is preparing to ask Evelyn for a divorce, and their daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu), whose relationship is fraying with her mother.
When Evelyn goes to the IRS office to go over the taxes with a demanding auditor (Jamie Lee Curtis), she gets her first brush with the multiverse as her Waymond is taken over by a Waymond from another universe, who explains to her that she is the only hope of stopping the threat of Jobu Tupaki. With the other Waymond’s help, Evelyn is instructed on how to connect with other versions of herself across the multiverse, which gives her skills to hopefully save day, while also allowing her to peek into these alternate versions of herself.
Who is Jobu Tupaki?
As Evelyn is still learning to control multiverse jumping, she comes face to face with Jobu Tupaki, who was previously a Joy from another universe.
Waymond explains that the Evelyn in his universe was exploring the mysteries of the multiverse, which included doing experiments on her universe's Joy. These experiments gave Joy the ability to see, feel and even manipulate everything that was going on throughout the multiverse. This new, completely overwhelming ability ultimately leads her to believe that nothing matters. As a result of her existential crisis, Joy becomes Jobu Tupaki and decides to try and destroy the multiverse.
What is the bagel in Everything Everywhere All at Once?
Jobu Tupaki’s weapon of choice for destroying the universe is what she calls the "Everything Bagel," a cosmic bagel that when unleashed will collapse the multiverse into nothingness.
Jobu Tupaki has been searching for an Evelyn who will realize the multiverse is not worth saving. She tries to convince the main Evelyn of this by showing her that no matter what she does in any universe, she always ends up alone and without her family.
Everything Everywhere All at Once ending unpacked
Ready to destroy the multiverse, Jobu Tupaki goes to unleash the Everything Bagel while other multiverse travelers, including a mech-suit version of Evelyn’s father Gong Gong and his men, try to stop her.
As this all begins, Evelyn sees into another universe where she is a movie star and runs into Waymond, who she had left years ago. As they have a conversation about the cruel nature of the universe, he tells her that while he can see how people feel that way, he chooses to be optimistic to help him survive through all of the mess. The main Evelyn’s Waymond has a similar moment, where he says the only way to make it through the tough times is to be kind to each other.
These hopeful messages from Waymond convince Evelyn that the multiverse is worth saving. She goes to stop Jobu Tupaki — first making her way through Gong Gong’s forces, defeating them by giving them something that makes them happy. Evelyn then grabs Jobu Tupaki and tries to pull her away from the void being created by the Everything Bagel. She ultimately convinces Jobu Tupaki by telling her that she loves her and that even if they are nothing but little specks of time, there is nowhere else she would rather be than together.
Things end back in the main Evelyn’s universe. She and Waymond are recommitted to their marriage, her relationship with Joy is strong and she is even able to finish her taxes.
Essentially, Everything Everywhere All at Once appears to have the message that even when the world looks bleak and we are feeling isolated, we can find meaning and happiness in those we love and by choosing kindness and optimism, as Waymond does, as a way to fight back.
