I’m going to focus on what I think is the central theme of the story: Time. At the beginning of the story, Evelyn is trapped between bitterness she feels about her Past, frustrations about her Present, and hopelessness about her Future. This is where Fate steps in.

The journey she takes – comprised of her many mini-journeys involving jumping from one universe to another – is the journey she needs to take.

Experiencing all the different universes including each of the different “Evelyns” forces her to break out of her trap and enables her to get back in touch with essential truths she knows in her gut and feelings she has somehow lost due to the vicissitudes of her ordinary life.

Time is not set, just like the way Evelyn processes the Past, the Present, and the Future. Time is fluid. So is Evelyn’s view of the world. Her psychological and emotional transformation is so profound that when mother and daughter have that profoundly truthful and personal exchange (119-121):

JOY

So... what? You're just going to

ignore everything else? You could

be anything, anywhere. Why not go

somewhere where your daughter is

more than just... this. Here, all

we’ll get are a few specks of time

where any of this actually makes

sense.

Evelyn looks at the mess around her. We hear the SOUNDS OF THE OTHER UNIVERSES SWIRLING IN.

She grabs Joy's hands and the sounds stop.

EVELYN

Then I will cherish these few

specks of time.

Time. By reconnecting with her authentic nature, which had been buried within her psyche, Evelyn has gained time. Time to connect with Gong Gong. Time to rekindle the romance with Wamond. Time to be a supportive mother to Joy.

For all the spectacle and humor of the movie – and it’s all great – it’s that scene between Evelyn and Joy, those deeply human moments … that’s what I’ll remember and cherish most in Everything Everywhere All At Once.