Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Arts & Culture

Indie Film 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' Opts For Digital Release

Autumn (Sydney Flanigan, foreground) and her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) decide to take off from their rural Pennsylvania town and head for New York City in "Never Rarely Sometimes Always."
Focus Features
Autumn (Sydney Flanigan, foreground) and her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) decide to take off from their rural Pennsylvania town and head for New York City in "Never Rarely Sometimes Always."

A small gem to enjoy while quarantining at home

The coronavirus is forcing film, theater, and music to come up with innovative new ways to try and continue to conduct business as much of the world is on lockdown to try and slow the spread of the coronavirus. The independent film "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" is braving the streaming-only market to try and find an audience.

A small indie project "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" may not suffer as much from the streaming-only option as the big Hollywood blockbusters that people want to see on a big screen. The intimacy of a small screen and home theater may be just right for this intensely personal drama.

The film begins with a high school talent show. A montage reveals the usual silly, marginally talented acts but stops as one young girl sings an obviously personal song about a relationship in which she feels controlled by the boy she loves. She's heckled by a teen boy in the audience but manages to finish her song. The lingering gaze of the camera and the girl's willingness to stare it down signals that she is someone we want to invest time in.

Advertisement

The film then follows Autumn (Sydney Flanigan) as she deals with difficulties at home and with the discovery that she's pregnant. Autumn and her cousin, Skylar (Talia Ryder), decide to take off from their rural Pennsylvania town and head for New York City so Autumn can get an abortion.

Writer-director Eliza Hittman maintains a remarkably restrained and non-judgmental tone in tackling a potentially hot button issue. She gives us a pro-life health worker who gently tries to convince Autumn to consider seeing the pregnancy through and putting the child up for adoption. She's persistent but in a way that seems to convey genuine concern for both Autumn and her unborn child.

Then in New York, Autumn has to go through an interview process with a compassionate woman at the clinic before receiving the abortion. This is where we discover the meaning of the title, it is the multiple-choice options to the questions she is asked, questions like have your partner ever hit you... never, rarely, sometimes, always. As she answers questions about abuse, rape, and her sexual history we discover a bigger and more painful picture of her life and come to understand why she feels abortion is her only choice.

Hittman always keeps the film intimate and focused Autumn as a particular example of what a young woman growing up today can face. Her precise, naturalistic writing and directing avoids obvious politics and instead opts for something more quietly compelling. Flanigan recalls Saoirse Ronan in the openness of her performance and fierceness of its honesty.

"Never Rarely Sometimes Always" is one of the indie films forced to skip a theatrical release and attempt to generate income through streaming and digital screening options. I hope it finds an audience amongst all the stay at home filmgoers waiting to see how the coronavirus pandemic will develop.

Advertisement