everything everywhere all at once
2022 Original Film Score (A24)
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a 2022 American absurdist action comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as "Daniels"), who produced it with the Russo brothers. It premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2022, and began a limited theatrical release in the United States on March 25, before a wide release by A24 on April 8. It has grossed over $100 million worldwide, becoming A24's first film to do so and surpassing Hereditary as its highest-grossing film.
The plot centers on Evelyn Quan Wang (played by Michelle Yeoh), a Chinese-American woman being audited by the IRS who discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from causing the destruction of the multiverse. Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, and Jamie Lee Curtis appear in supporting roles. The film is praised by The New York Times as a "swirl of genre anarchy" and features elements of black comedy, science fiction, fantasy, martial arts, and animation.
Son Lux took began work on the score in early 2020, which includes more than 100 musical cues. The soundtrack album has 49 tracks and runs for more than two hours. It features Mitski, David Byrne, Randy Newman, Moses Sumney, and yMusic. The end credits feature “This Is A Life,” a new original collaboration between Son Lux, Mitski, and David Byrne.
In 2023, Son Lux’s score was nominated for Best Original Score at the BAFTAs and the Academy Awards®, and “This Is A Life” was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards.
Listen to Son Lux’s Song Exploder interview about the process of making the end credits theme “This Is A Life,” alongside David Byrne and Mitski:
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a maximalist movie met its match with a maximalist score.
– Indiewire
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Son Lux, who composed the eclectic score, deserve credit for keeping pace with the film’s unstinting commitment to visceral over-stimulation and its shapeshifting approach to genre.
– The Hollywood Reporter
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Amid what can feel like the complete space-time anarchy of a million micro-cuts, Son Lux has considered every sound.
– Composer Magazine