After canceling in 2020 and moving online in 2021 due to the pandemic, SXSW is making its exciting in-person return in 2022, and the festival will open with Everything Everywhere All at Once on March 11th, 2022. The film is the second feature-length collaboration of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as "Daniels," who brought audiences Swiss Army Man in 2016. Swiss Army Man starred Daniel Radcliff and Paul Dano and received much critical acclaim, including SXSW's Directing Award. The cast for Everything Everywhere All at Once is led by the iconic Michelle Yeoh, and also stars Stephanie Shu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., and Jamie Lee Curtis.
While not much about the plot for this film has been revealed, SXSW describes Everything Everywhere All at Once as "a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action-adventure about an exhausted Chinese American woman who can't seem to finish her taxes," which sounds nothing short of delightful. Yeoh's filmography is filled with fantastic science fiction and thrilling action-adventure projects including Star Trek: Discovery, Gunpowder Milkshake, and most recently Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings.
SXSW's director of film, Janet Pierson says that the latest project from Daniels is "fantastically inventive, entertaining, emotionally grounded, and crammed with the exceptional creativity that makes their projects so satisfying." Pierson describes Everything Everywhere All at Once as an "extraordinary feat of filmmaking." Daniels' other past credits include music videos for DJ Snake and Lil Jon's "Turn Down for What" and Battles' "My Machines." In the five-year gap since Swiss Army Man, they've separately worked on multiple film and television projects, only having collaborated on an episode of Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens until now.
While this marks the return of SXSW taking place in person in Austin, Texas, the 29th year of the festival will also feature online content, making the event more accessible for those who still may not be able to travel yet. SXSW will run from March 11 to March 20 and the rest of the 2022 lineup will be announced on January 12.