Villain Therapy: JOBU TUPAKI from Everything Everywhere All at Once

What happens when you’re overburdened by expectations? Why is perspective taking so hard?

Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright revisit a favorite, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and take a closer look at the villain, Jobu Tupaki. They discuss how Jobu is a collection of the many versions of Joy in the multiverse, born from Joy’s fractured relationship with her mother. Evelyn crushes Joy with expectations and leads her to spiral into depression and create a life-sucking bagel. They discuss why perspective taking is so hard but so necessary in our relationships. Alan explains why the crazy sci-fi and grounded world blending works, and Jono struggles to pronounce some words.

Support us!

Cinema Therapy is:
Written by: Megan Seawright, Jonathan Decker, and Alan Seawright
Produced by: Jonathan Decker, Megan Seawright, Alan Seawright, and Corinne Demyanovich
Edited by: Sophie Téllez
Director of Photography: Bradley Olsen
English Transcription by: Anna Preis

Connect with us!

[trinaq]

Despite her villainy, you can't help but pity Jobu, since at her core, she's merely a scared, depressed young woman who desperately wants someone to connect with, and to convince her that life isn't as void and meaningless as she thinks it is.

[nolitimeremessorem]

This reminds me of one of my favourite lines of poetry: "How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we did not become?"

[curtishammond]

I remember sitting in the cinema crying my ass off as a rock started moving over towards another rock and I was like yeah OK this deserves every award.

[deborahw]

I saw this film two days after starting antidepressants after years of spiraling. The emotional gut punch of Jobu's speech, "nothing matters", hit so hard. Then later when Evelyn says that nothing matters, so we can do whatever we want, it felt so healing. And Waymond's pleas to just be kind... This film means so much to me.

[sierralovat]

The best part, in my opinion, is when Evelyn finally stands up to her father

"It's okay if you can't be proud of me, because I finally am."

As someone who is not living up to my parents' standard, I NEEDED to hear that.
How many children, both young and adult, need to hear that too?

[jckung]

Another detail most people, incl. me, missed: When Evelyn confronted her father in the laundromat and re-introduced Becky to him, she spoke in 3 different languages. She first asked her father why he let her go so easily in Cantonese. She switched to English when she grabbed Joy and pulled her in front of him. THEN she switched to Mandarin when she said just like herself, Joy had found someone who's loving and caring.

In the film, Gong Gong spoke Cantonese. Waymond spoke Mandarin. Evelyn switched to Mandarin because she wanted Waymond to hear her acknowledgement that he's the loving/caring partner for her.

This film handles the language details so well.

[dannietea]

Absolutely off topic, but Jobu has some of the best costumes I’ve ever seen.

[thelastdictator]

As much as I love Jamie Lee Curtis and am happy she got an Oscar, it's practically a crime Stephanie Hsu didn't win. Her performance WAS the movie. I'd even contend that, of the main four, Jamie Lee's was the role that could have been played as well by someone else, while Stephanie, Michelle, and Ke just wouldn't have worked nearly as well.

[GreyWithAnE]

The most romantic line I’ve ever heard in my life has to be “In another life, I would have loved just doing laundry and taxes with you.”

[ericaoiticica]

The way you describe Evelyn not being able to accept that she screwed up. “It can’t be ME that drove my daughter to insanity” is probably what goes inside my mother’s head every single day. Even she shows SOME compassion, it NEVER comes with recognition of what she did / does. Man this one hits hard

[AlienToppedPancakes]

The Everything Bagel makes total sense. You can put as much toppings on it as you like . Absolutely cover it with potensial, the chance to succeed, the possibility to become whatever you like. But if that bagel doesn't feel like it can live up to that expectation then there will always be a massive, gaping hole of nothingness in the middle of it.

[samanthawilliams]

When I first saw this in theaters all I could think of was how this is literally the only thing I’ve ever wanted to hear my mother tell me and I started crying. I felt embarrassed until I looked over at my husband and realized he was crying. And so was the couple behind us. And the group next to us. And then realized everyone in the theater was crying.
This movie will never not make me cry.

[stressedandunimpressed]

The difference between positive nihilism and negative nihilism in this movie is *exquisite*. Sometimes we're too bagel and we need to be more googly eye

[rockinraven]

If you see Stephanie's audititon, she came in with such strong decisions and they asked her to sing that "sucked into a bagel" line and she did it so perfectly that they kept it exactly like that in the final version

[trinaq]

Stephanie was brilliant, and her Oscar nomination was thoroughly well deserved. Her elaborate costumes are also very well crafted, as is her teardrop make-up, making her seem like she's perpetually crying.

[jackservans]

I love to believe there’s an alternate universe where Alan is the Licensed Therapist Who Loves Movies and Johnathan is the Professional Filmaker Who Needs Therapy

[Blitzo]

Who knew one of the most emotional movie moments of 2022 was a conversation between two rocks?

[spheal]

I think the most profound thing in the movie was towards the end when Joy screams “Can you please just STOP” and the music stops, the cuts stop, and it’s her outside the laundromat letting all her frustrations out. Idk why but that one line hits so hard it’s impossible to quantify

[graceyu]

To carry the name, the weight and pressure of it. The never ending feeling of not good enough to bring joy and honor to self and the whole family.
I feel for Jobu.

[julievoiceover]

"How did you let me go? How on earth did you do it so easily?" As someone who grew up fatherless, these are the questions that stuck with me. I lost it in the theatre. How does one not feel unworthy of love when their own parent can so easily throw it away? This movie was so incredibly real, it's beautiful but it also hurts to watch it.