“From postmodernism to metamodernism: Asian American identities and representations in everything everywhere all at once”?

The Hollywood film Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) depicts the story of an Asian American immigrant family grappling with their identity crises. Rather than viewing the film as an example of metamodern cinema, I interpret the Asian American identities through the lenses of postmodernism and metamodernism. Integrating crucial postmodern and metamodern concepts into the discussions of Asian American identity, I argue that the film's portrayal of Asian American identities reflects a progression from differences, characterized by multiplicity and heterogeneity that cause tensions inside and outside their community, to utopian possibilities, marked by their reconciliation and constructing transcultural identities. The differences highlight the Asian American identity crises and allow the film to convey the multiplicity of voices within various subgroups from an internal vantage point. The utopian possibilities, in turn, suggest transcultural identities as a potential solution to these dilemmas, facilitating the reshaping of Asian American media representations. Through its experimental representations of Asian Americans and subsequent critical and commercial success, the film contributes to broader efforts to challenge the stereotyped media representations and advocate for social justice across intersections of ethnicity, race, gender, and sexuality.