Script Analysis: “Everything Everywhere All At Once” — Part 4: Themes

A week-long analysis of the movie which won 7 Oscars including Best Original Screenplay. Download. Read. Discuss.

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:

Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways

Today: Themes.

I have this theory about theme. In two parts. First, a principle: Theme = Meaning. What does the story mean? Second, while there is almost always a Central Theme, there are multiple other Sub-Themes at play in a story. Therefore the question: What does a story mean takes on several layers of meaning?

Time to ponder themes in Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022). You may read the script here.

Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert.

Plot summary: A universe-jumping laundromat manager takes on the mission of ridding all possible universes of the ultimate evil, which has taken possession of her twenty-something daughter. Along the way she finishes her taxes and saves her marriage.

Writing Exercise: Reflect on the story’s central theme and sub-themes.

Major kudos to Judith Sears for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown. Many thanks, Judith!

To download a PDF of the breakdown , go here.

For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown discussion, go here.

For Part 2, to read the Plot discussion, go here.

For Part 3, to read the Character discussion, go here.

To access over 100 analyses of previous movie scripts we have read and discussed at Go Into The Story, go here.

I hope to see you in the RESPONSE section about this week’s script: Everything Everywhere All At Once.