SPOILER DISCUSSION

1.The method to verse shift is a fantastic encapsulation of the film’s themes. There’s a minimal difference between what someone is and what they can be, that difference being a choice, an investment in some skill or opportunity or lack thereof which can have rapid effects on some skillset or asset.

The film eases us into how much of a butterfly effect a small decision can have on one’s trajectory with Evelyn swapping her shoes to get into the janitor’s closet, but Waymond eating the lipstick to become a fighting warrior cements that anything is within the realm of possibility.

2.The Ratatouille joke is great because Evelyn initially mentions the racoon and it feels like a gag on her misremembering the actual film, but then it’s revealed that she’s perceived another universe where a raccoon does control a chef. The experience of the multiverse has been seeping into her the whole time so it makes sense that her synapses would give priority to the racoon variant.

3.Evelyn and Jobu Tupaki/Joy put their hands together multiple times in order to create a point-of-view capable of gazing on the black doughnut with everything on it. Joy wants to hold hands with her mother and enter the abyss, succumbing to despair. But Evelyn “takes” the hand back for a loving embrace instead, gesturing towards reconciliation and compassion instead of despair. Perspective gives birth to understanding which fosters connections capable of overcoming the overwhelming feeling of darkness; the hands which create visions of despair come together in embrace towards a loving future.

4. The three chapters of the film do a great job leading the audience into the mechanics of the mutiverse. The first section “Everything” takes place primarily in the IRS building and has Evelyn jumping from one skillset to another. The second section “Everywhere” has Evelyn traversing multiple arenas and environments with Joy. The third section “All at Once” puts it all together and has Evelyn navigate both skillset and environment to become capable of dealing with everything everywhere all at once. The ending is a perfect reminder of just how much she’s grown over the course of the film; she may be temporarily distracted but in the grand scheme of things, she’s handling the situation.