“Everything Everywhere All at Once” takes a bold and unconventional approach to genre, utilizing a chaotic and backward narrative structure that deliberately oscillates between tones, genres, and realities. Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the film challenges conventional storytelling by blending various genres, creating an unpredictable and disorienting viewing experience for the audience.

The movie’s narrative strategy is marked by extreme shifts in tone, from moments of seriousness to bursts of absurdity, without providing clear demarcations between genres. This intentional lack of adherence to a single genre or tone disorients viewers, prompting them to question the film’s credibility and the depth of its message. The story’s nonlinear and varied approach, featuring emotional scenes intertwined with exaggerated genre elements and absurd scenarios, aims to evoke varied emotional responses and interpretations from the audience.

By incorporating external pop culture references and blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” emphasizes its self-awareness as a work of fiction within the context of the real world. The inclusion of real-life footage, such as scenes from the premiere of “Crazy Rich Asians,” serves to remind viewers of the separation between the film’s universe and actual reality. This tactic encourages viewers to independently assess the film’s level of seriousness and authenticity, offering them the illusion of choice in embracing its messages rather than imposing a predetermined viewpoint.

This film’s genre-mixing approach makes it challenging for audiences to discern its seriousness and thematic depth. The deliberate blend of Western themes, emotional scenes, action sequences, and absurd situations without clear delineation amplifies the discomfort and intensity of the film’s more serious moments. These tonal shifts in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” might be perceived as an attempt to provoke genuine, unfiltered reactions from the audience by disrupting their expectations and engaging them in a constantly shifting narrative.

The movie takes the idea of genre-mixing further than “Nope” which employs a more structured genre mashup, blending science fiction with elements of the Western genre to explore societal issues and cinematic representation. While “Nope” focuses on the intersection of history, cinema, and the experiences of Black Americans, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” disrupts genre conventions to challenge viewer perceptions and evoke nuanced emotional responses.

Both films exhibit unique approaches to genre manipulation, but whereas “Nope” utilizes genre blending to explore specific thematic elements deeply, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” uses genre distortion as a means to disorient and engage viewers in an unconventional storytelling experience. Despite their different methods, both films push the boundaries of genre to encourage active audience participation and interpretation.