It is common for people to find themselves dissatisfied with the course of their lives. Surely you, too, have had moments when you wonder what it’s all about and where you are going.

At the beginning of “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, this is the situation the protagonists find themselves in.

This film, starring Malaysia’s very own Michelle Yeoh, seems to have fallen below the radar here, with scarce advertising.

In the United States, however, it has been a resounding success, scoring 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and receiving much praise from critics and audiences.

Like the recent blockbuster “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”, “Everything Everywhere” delves into the idea of travelling between parallel universes in search of answers.

Yeoh plays Evelyn Wang, a laundry operator who has seen better days and has lost much of her zest for life.

Her marriage to her husband lacks the warmth it once had, and she struggles with accepting the relationship of her estranged daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) with another girl.

To make things worse, Wang’s father, Gong Gong (James Hong), is visiting and has high expectations of her. As tax agent Deirdre Beaubierdra (Jamie Lee Curtis in a wig and turtleneck) puts it: “From a stack of receipts, I can trace the ups and downs of your life. And it does not look good.”

While dealing with the soul-crushing tax audit, things suddenly take a strange turn when a version of her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) from an alternate universe pays her a visit.

Telling her that the folks in his world have learnt to travel through the multiverse, he reveals that everyone is endangered by an entity known as the Jobu Tupaki.

With this insane knowledge thrust upon her, it is up to Wang to embark on a life-changing quest that has her navigating through different lives in different universes.

Remarkably, despite this film having a much smaller budget than Marvel’s take on the multiverse, it is far more creative with how it depicts parallel realities.

Each universe is distinct with its own identity – plus plenty of references to other universes and, indeed, films, including “Ratatouille” and “2001: A Space Odyssey”.

Throughout the movie, the audience is treated to all the possible Evelyns there could ever be, including a martial artist, a Chinese opera singer, a woman with hot-dog fingers, and a pinata. Yes, you read right.

As she moves from one universe to the next, the film descends into pure chaos – yet, at the same time, you can actually understand what’s going on.

If you have ever questioned your life’s purpose, the themes explored in “Everything Everywhere” will resonate strongly with you: what is the perfect life for you, and how will you know it?

Brilliant philosophical moments will prompt viewers to think about their own life choices. And yet, by no means is this movie boring – in fact, there are plenty of action and comedic sequences.

Yeoh is the perfect choice for the role of Wang and carries the film effortlessly, demonstrating a vast array of emotions and physical prowess as events unfold.

It takes two hands to clap, though, and Quan – aka Short Round from “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” – is the timid but beating heart of the film.

Despite the lack of affection Wang has for Waymond, he loves her unconditionally, and you can see the pain written on his face whenever she unwittingly hurts him.

He is a good, kind man through and through, and this kindness turns out to be key to one of the storyline’s biggest mysteries.

“Everything Everywhere” also touches on the effect of generational trauma and the damage parental expectations can wreak upon the young, as evidenced by the turmoil their daughter Joy is put through.

Aimless in life like her mother, the weight of Evelyn’s expectations pulls her down to the point that she starts giving in to hopelessness.

However, the film asserts that, instead of judging and rejecting one’s children, one should instead love and try to understand them over everything else.

After all, life has the meaning one gives it – hopefully without having to traverse through various parallel universes – and that makes it worth living.

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ is playing in cinemas nationwide.