I found myself wanting something to latch onto with the characters of Never Rarely Sometimes Always, and it wasn’t there. We get very few glimpses into Autumn’s family dynamic as she doesn’t speak to her parents. The story’s most harrowing elements focus on the two teens figuring out how to get to New York. They have to figure out where to stay when they have no money and then come home while keeping what they’ve done a secret. Watching Autumn deal with every obstacle that extends their time in the city when she realizes she can’t get an abortion overnight is heartbreaking.
Sidney Flanigan gives a good performance as Autumn. I felt her character’s disappointment, fear, and frustration, but the narrative doesn’t dig deep enough into Autumn or Skylar’s characters. Sure I felt general sympathy for her plight, but not much more and not enough for me to be able to put myself in her shoes.
“…very little dialogue but gives a fantastic performance…”
The movie’s best moment is near the end of the second act and involves the film’s title – Never Rarely Sometimes Always. This scene is profound in many ways and addresses many facets of being a woman that I could never comprehend. It’s the moment of the film that you’ll remember, though, it takes a great deal of patience to get to this sequence. Flanigan has little dialogue but gives a fantastic performance in this one scene that implies the backstory I wanted to get from the start.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a good-looking movie and cinematic in its storytelling. If I’m honest, I’ve seen my fair share of pro-choice and pro-life films, and quality-wise it’s excellent. As an issues film, most have some axe to grind about the subject and tend to demonize the other side. Hittman doesn’t make the pro-life character come off as overly villainous and fairly represents this segment of society… for a pro-choice story.
In the end, my question is whether Never Rarely Sometimes Always is meant to be just a story or offer something political to say in the great abortion debate. I’m certain the film exists to highlight the stories of young women forced to travel across state lines for abortions. Either way, there’s not enough of either to make it a compelling movie in the end.
"…highlight the stories of young women forced to travel across state lines for abortions."
