Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

Now playing in cinemas

CHAOTIC sci-fi adventure is the heart of Everything Everywhere All At Once, a movie as touching as it is thrilling. It follows Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) as she takes on the burden of saving the multiverse. On her journey, she meets, fights and loves the many different versions of those closest to her, showing us that family isn’t just one-dimensional.

We are introduced quickly to the mania of Evelyn’s life: her damaged relationships with daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) and husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), not to mention the pile of receipts she must get audited. But Evelyn’s balancing act between family and business is only a fraction of the chaos to come.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who wrote, directed and produced the film, waste no time before throwing us into a host of absurd scenarios.

Warned she may be in grave danger during a trip to declare her taxes, Evelyn flees into another dimension, while tax auditor Deirdre Beaubeirdra (Jamie Lee Curtis) tries in vain to keep her attention. We discover that quirky supervillain Jobu Tupaki has created a sort of “black hole” that threatens the multiverse – and she is hunting Evelyn down.

This film catapults you so quickly between universes that you barely have time to be confused. It flirts with existentialism and Chinese culture in a bizarre Rick and Morty/ The Matrix hybrid.

Kwan uses his experience as the son of immigrants to create a family that feels real. The chaos in Evelyn’s life and mind represents attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which Kwan was diagnosed with as an adult. The film portrays neurodiversity with nuance, showing Evelyn as someone who really is feeling everything, everywhere, all at once.

The cinematography is beautiful, and the music is cleverly used to add humour, tension and sentimentality. Though the film mostly centres on the Wang family and Beaubeirdra, there are so many versions of each character that you never get bored – and the cast have the perfect chance to demonstrate their range.

Everything Everywhere All At Once grounds a cosmic plot about interdimensional travel with its story of a broken family trying their best to love each other. The film is simultaneously poignant and playful – with more fight scenes involving sex toys than you would expect. It is one to watch for anyone who enjoys laughing and crying in equal measure.

Book

Cosmogramma

Courttia Newland

Canongate

COURTTIA NEWLAND’s Cosmogramma is one eclectic mix of tales. The anthology jumps between thrillers, sci-fi and cosmic horror to tell stories from a world with robot armies, circuses of cyborgs and mysterious, other-worldly happenings.

This is Newland’s second work of speculative fiction, having released his first – A River Called Time, which featured parallel versions of London – earlier this year. The book begins with “Percepi”, a story about companion robots that end up forming their own armies. Androids and humans alike are forced to choose between siding with the rebels and the government that wants to get rid of them. In an interesting twist, we learn that the androids can feel pain, just like the people fighting alongside them.

Stories across the collection are united by Newland’s talent for depicting a world shaped by, and through the eyes of, the African diaspora. In “Nomma”, for example, he draws on Malian folklore to create an incredibly moving and engaging story about undersea beings and their quest for survival.

The couple at the centre of it, Ray and Fari, are lured to an underwater palace and asked to join a society descended from ancient aliens. They are given just days to decide whether to stay on land or to live away from the rest of human society. The problem is that they must make their decision together, and the ensuing disagreement reveals cracks in their relationship.

Another story, “You Meets You”, is about personal growth through addiction. Written in the second person, when we, as the main character, meet the younger and older versions of ourselves, we are forced to examine the way that we live, our addictions and our traumas. Each version of us has a story to tell, and we see first-hand what we will become if we don’t get help.

Several of the pieces in Cosmogramma have an intense emotional element, asking questions about what people would do for their families, loved ones and other people in a dystopian future.

Across the collection, the fiction element of science fiction is most effective – but in “The Sankofa Principle“, genuine science creates a backdrop for a futuristic landscape. Newland mentions notable scientific events – such as the detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in 2015, and the idea that black holes may create wormholes – to help create a reality where time travel is possible.

Politics is a common theme throughout the anthology, with some stories explicitly mentioning political events like Brexit or depicting the horrors of anti-immigration raids. This form of realism has been one of the most notable features of Newland’s writing since his first novel, which depicted experiences of being Black in London, was published in 1997.

Overall, the combination of excellent world and character building and the rising intensity of each story as the book progresses means Cosmogramma is hard to put down. Stories feel almost unfinished, often leaving the reader on highly emotional cliffhangers, but this is one of the best things about Newland’s storytelling.

The unfinished feel gave me time to consider what exactly might happen next in a world I was introduced to just 10 pages prior, and kept me engaged and in suspense for the majority of the anthology.

Cosmogramma is a collection that you will want to read again and again, both to better understand the complex storylines and to simply enjoy the African-futuristic worlds that Newland has created.

This review contains minor spoilers forÌęKatla.

Katla is a story about a community living in the shadow of a glacial volcano that has been erupting for more than a year. But it isn’t just about the threat of disaster – when people presumed missing or dead start showing up, covered in ash, things take a mysterious turn.

The series takes us on a supernatural journey that showcases the impacts of grief and trauma with folklore elements and a sprinkling of sci-fi. The Netflix original was written by Baltasar KormĂĄkur and shot in the Icelandic coastal town of VĂ­k, which oversees the real-life volcano Katla, among other locations.

The first episode introduces us to several overlapping storylines – a woman covered in ash emerges out of the blue, another woman grapples with the loss of her sister and a team of scientists works towards understanding the changing geology of the volcano.

The interesting thing about Katla is that no single character or plot line is the focus. GrĂ­ma (GuĂ°rĂșn EyfjörĂ°) and her father Þór (Ingvar Sigurdsson) are some of the first people we meet and the significance of their story, concerning GrĂ­ma’s missing sister Ása (Íris Tanja Flygenring), is hinted at early on.

But by the second episode, the strange woman Gunhild (Aliette Opheim) who emerged on the volcano leads us down yet another intriguing avenue, when we discover she is the younger version of an existing woman. This is only the beginning of a plot that raises questions about who we really are and what makes us, us.

As the trend of ash-covered people emerging from the volcano continues, the tension within Vík’s community increases. Each new character brings their own traumatic backstory, and the fantastic acting of every single member of the cast makes these emotionally driven stories even more compelling.

The people of VĂ­k seem intensely affected by grief, but the way they deal with this ranges from denial to obsession – and sometimes has gruesome consequences. GrĂ­ma’s attempts to come to grips with the reappearance of Ása, who had been assumed dead, makes for one of the most harrowing tales. EyfjörĂ° delivers such an emotional performance that you really feel her pain, particularly in the finale.

The subtle foreshadowing in Katla will leave you feeling like you almost understand what is going on, but every episode adds a little more intrigue and even less clarity. Yet this mystery isn’t annoying – and if you do find yourself getting frustrated, wait for the final two episodes of the season, in which we and the characters finally learn some of the truth about Katla.

By the penultimate instalment, you are immersed so deeply in the tales of VĂ­k’s community that you almost forget about the eruption itself. It is only when the scientists, led by Darri (Björn Thors), go to study the rocks first-hand that you remember Katla is at the heart of the story.

Though it could be described as slow-paced, new characters and story elements are added every episode, keeping you captivated. The picturesque landscape adds an immersive element to the series and eerie music gives an incredible sense of unease to the silence between scenes. No moment is wasted – each scene either develops the plot or provides tension or foreshadowing.

Katla is a thriller with such depth that some episodes, particularly the fast-paced season finale, can leave you feeling genuinely emotionally raw. It is a story about grief with unpredictably dark twists and turns, worthy of multiple watches.

Sarah Pinsker

Head of Zeus

“We can never really be sure about the full ramifications of having wires and electrodes in the brain”

Watching some of the fear and isolation of another pandemic won’t be for everyone, but Netflix’s Sweet Tooth is a hopeful take on coping with the fall-out of such an event.

Sweet Tooth begins 10 years after The Great Crumble. A poorly understood but deadly, rapidly spreading virus has hit humanity and the world has descended into chaos, heightened by the emergence of part animal, part human hybrids born at the onset of the pandemic.

The story follows a hybrid deer boy named Gus (Christian Convery) as he strives to learn more about the world and himself. As an outcast, hunted and shunned by humans, his existence is lonely. Until he meets Jep (Nonso Anozie), a human, who is dragged into Gus’s journey of self-discovery.

Jep joins Gus as he ventures from his isolated home in the woods and learns that the world is a lot bigger, and scarier, than he first thought. Hybrids are outcasts in Sweet Tooth so Jep reluctantly takes up the role of protector. Gus’s adventure leads him across the US, hoping to find his mother but the Last Men, an army with the goal of capturing and studying hybrids, are a constant threat.

Along the way we are introduced to compelling and complex characters like doctor Aditya Singh (Adeel Akhtar), loner Aimee (Dania Ramirez) and fiery teen Bear (Stefania LaVie Owen). Each episode shows us a little more about a character’s past and its lasting psychological impact.

Jep’s backstory is possibly the most engaging – we are gradually fed hints about his life, but only in the last episode do we learn enough to almost understand him. The final episode also demonstrates how the lives of seemingly unrelated characters, like Amy and Singh, intersect.

Elements of Sweet Tooth’s pandemic feel familiar, such as the masks, face-shields and temperature-checking. You may feel a shudder as loudspeakers announce “Stay home, do not come into contact with anyone showing symptoms”.

But the world in Sweet Tooth is far more dystopian. At the onset of the pandemic, cars are aflame, and as it continues derelict buildings become engulfed in leaves. Communities are constantly worried about another wave of “the sick” and will go to any lengths to prevent another pandemic. Nature really does return in the absence of humanity, much like it did during the covid-19 pandemic. Cars are rare – some people choose to travel on horseback instead – and mobile phones are replaced with radio communications. Sadly, the chaos of the pandemic means the internet no longer works in the Sweet Tooth universe. The most unexpected thing to come from watching the show was my gratitude for covid-19’s minimal impact on my broadband connection.

The flaws of the show are few and far between. To be picky, it’s a little hard to understand just how life became quite so dystopian after The Great Crumble. And the science behind the purple flowers signifying an area touched by “the sick” could have been explained more. But even without this, they are an interesting addition.

The masterful screenwriting and fantastic acting are more than enough to keep you thoroughly invested in each character’s emotional journey. It takes a lighter, more hopeful tone than the Jeff Lemire comic it is based on. The show is an eccentric combination of science fiction and fantasy and well worth binge-watching.

is available on Netflix

The Echo Wife

Sarah Gailey

Hodder & StoughtonÌę(Buy from *)

Carol Peters is “literally the most average person on Earth”. She is single, unemployed, likes James Corden – and is all that stands between a supremely powerful AI and the destruction of the planet. Failing to demonstrate the goodness of humanity could lead to nuclear armageddon, so the clock is ticking for Carol to show the AI her what humanity is made of by, er, rekindling her relationship with her ex-boyfriend.

Superintelligence is a sort of quirky sci-fi-action-rom-com. Carol, played by Melissa McCarthy, is chosen by an all-seeing AI to test its theory of humanity. It believes she is a typical human and so it will watch whatever she does over the next three days to determine whether it should destroy the planet or not. To soothe Carol, the AI assumes the voice of James Corden, provided by the man himself (though the intelligence is at pains to point out it isn’t actually James Corden).

The AI is some sort of neural network. It started off as a children’s toy designed to learn to personalise each learning experience, but that process has gone rogue. It has now learned so much that it has become superintelligent and gained access to all of the world’s data and devices, from toothbrushes and CCTV cameras and self-driving cars. Just how it did all of this is neatly glossed over. AI works in mysterious ways.

The film highlights how reliant on technology we are and the ways in which this could be turned against us by an powerful AI. With its ability to control and even shut down our technologies, it can cause car crashes, control the flow of money and fire nuclear missiles. The AI also accesses the personal data of the film’s main characters to profile and predict their behaviour.

McCarthy’s comedic timing is unparalleled and she prevents the film from taking itself too seriously. The best moments range from awkward encounters between ex-lovers to some legitimately funny lines from Ben Falcone, the film’s director and McCarthy’s husband, who has a cameo as an FBI agent.

Tension over the world’s imminent end is strangely absent, replaced instead by a lacklustre romantic storyline that takes up the majority of the film’s first hour. We are given very little information about Carol’s love interest George, played by Bobby Cannavale, but are expected to cheer them on as they stumble their way through a series of dates set up by the AI to help it better understand humanity via Carol. The action picks up only in the final 25 minutes of the film, though it does feature some genuinely shocking twists.

Mixing romance and science fiction rarely delivers on both fronts and Superintelligence is no exception. The romance is a bit of a let down and the flip-flopping between the comedic and intimidating behaviours of the AI is somewhat strange.

However, there are funny and thrilling moments in the film. It is also a reminder to be vigilant about handing out personal data and that technology can be used for both good or evil. Superintelligence‘s take on the “destruction by sentient AI” storyline is unique and is an easy watch that is perfect for rom-com lovers.