User reviews

This film brings us into Autumn's world as she deals with an unintended pregnancy. It it slow paced...the action is subtle, and this is just what makes is so encapsulating and believable. There aren't wild plots twists or sensationalized drama.

The power is in the nuance. Sidney Flanigan gives a strong understated performance that has you feeling to your core for her. I say this as a 32 year old male who has no idea what it is like to be this character.

It was so painful to see how she(and presumably other young woman) get treated by men in this society. It made me question my own actions. I left with a bit more empathy and understanding of a world I was unknowingly oblivious to.

I loved it. Indie Cinema at its very best. The film is raw and real. The characters are raw and real. It doesnt try to make anything spectacular or romantisice its Topic and characters. Almost felt like a documentary. It is also the birth of two very talented Young actresses who will go a Long way. Sidney Flanagan and Talia Ryder, who already is set up in Steven Spielbergs West Side Story Remake. Flanagan has the lead and the more complicated role. She really put a lot of effort into it and you never see this as a Performance but a real human being. Ryder might not have had the more complicated role but this makes her Performance more complicated as she isnt as Showy as Flanagan. But she still puts so much heart and Soul into it. I also loved the dynamic between the two Girls. There is actually not much dialogue exhange between both. Often you think they are strangers but still they stick together and stand by each other. Eliza Hittman nailed it again and invites us into the Soul of two teenage Girls of the new millenium. A strong film.

I was really impressed by this film. The film making and script worked together so flawlessly to create a story that is so real and interesting and terrifying all at the same time.

The movie is slow but not in a bad way. It takes you along with these characters and makes you almost feel like you are the third person with them on this journey.

I like the stance that the film took with the subject. It didn't give any room for people to have opinions, it just happened. It almost served as an information film about the the struggles and impact that a woman can go though for this procedure in a way that was so 'fly on the wall'. It was like watching 3 days of someone's life.

I think it also shown how difficult it can be to just be a woman in the world and how scary it can be. It didn't do it with big scenes that caused an uproar, it did it with quiet scenes that were just accepted and that makes it even scarier.

I think this film was really well done and really well crafted, the acting was great too. It was one of the indie films that makes you really excited for the world of indie movies.

Abortion is an under-addressed topic in cinema; hell, the very mention of it will make a movie unmarketable in certain places. That makes it all the more refreshing to see Eliza Hittman's "Never Rarely Sometimes Always", about a small-town teenager whose unplanned pregnancy necessitates a trip to New York.

The movie deliberately has the action move slowly so as to let the characters develop, and does a masterful job at it. The audience is invested in the protagonist, caring deeply what happens to her. I hope that Hittman keeps making this sort of movie, and I hope to see Sidney Flanagan in more movies. Excellent.

About as far from a feel good movie as you're likely to find, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is not a film made to cheer its audience up or provide entertainment in the typical sense of the word but Eliza Hittman's career defining feature is a powerful and quietly spoken drama that deserves plaudits for its raw and uncompromising look at both teen pregnancy and abortion, in what is often considered a taboo subject matter for features.

Starring relatively unknown actresses Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder as cousins and friends Autumn and Skylar, Pennsylvanian natives who must venture to New York City when Autumn becomes pregnant and decides she is not ready to have a child of her own, Always is a road trip movie without any of the laughs or follies that are usually associated with such a narrative and Hittman and her actresses keep the film imbedded in an almost documentary like realism that may sap your energy but keeps you gripped throughout as Autumn's life changing decision draws closer.

Both Autumn and Skylar don't make for the most enjoyable of travel companions, both are clearly victims of their not ideal situations and harsh realities of a world in which they are seen as game to the men preying on them at all angles whether it be at school, work or general public and both of the girls have bypassed much in the way of personality but people like these two lost souls exist in the world and Hittman is determined to ensure her film is a warts and all experience for both her characters and her audience members.

Devoid mostly of color or flair, the world of Autumn and Skylar is bleak like their future prospects seem to be but Always finds a heart and soul in allowing these two struggling teenagers to be that, versions of real life people going through real life decisions and situations that we may not always care to think about but are there ever present regardless.

This type of true to life tale is the type of film that should find a place in schools and grown families lounge rooms, its not a film to watch for the pure delight of it but its one that should be talked about and discussed if for nothing more than to consider what life on the other side of the tracks may be like and how people and their situations shape and mold their decisions as they go through this great big world and their individual lives.

Final Say -

A tough film and one that refuses to shy away from its intense subject matter, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is an important little film that tackles some weighty and often unspoken about tales.

3 1/2 luggage bags out of 5.

The name Eliza Hittman meant nothing to me when I saw it in the credits for this movie, but then the Internet reminded me that she also directed "Beach Rats," one of the undiscovered gems of 2017. Now with "Never Rarely Sometimes Always," Hittman has once again proven herself to be one of the most adept filmmakers at tackling the perilous transition from teenager to adult, whether in boys or girls.

"Never Rarely Sometimes Always" resembles another exceptional abortion film, "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days," though this film doesn't exist in the same menacing environment as that other one. Still, the prospects for the young girl in Hittman's film are no less bleak. For a long time, the film seems to be about the logistics of obtaining an abortion and the desperate lengths a young pregnant woman will go to to have one. But a scene, or should I say THE scene, set in an abortion clinic that gives the film its title, reveals that this film isn't really about abortion as much as it's about sexual abuse and predation. Pregnant or not, abortion or not, this young woman has already been damaged many times before the movie even starts, and it's likely, the film implies, that she'll be damaged again.

Hittman is able to get the most amazing performances out of young and inexperienced actors. In "Beach Rats," she directed Harris Dickinson to an award worthy performance, and she does the same here for Sidney Flanigan, playing an inarticulate and frequently silent young woman whose silence nevertheless speaks volumes.

Grade: A

Torn on this. On one hand it's superbly directed and I respect how its shot in such a non-judgemental way, with a real empathy for its characters and the situation they're dealing with. There's a real honesty to it.

But on the other hand it's also.... a bit of a snoozefest at times and kinnnda underwritten. The protagonist is very quiet and reserved, in a role that's super challenging because you have to convey so much with so little. The film lives and dies by how you connect to that character and in this case it just didn't quite work for me.

When trying to understand why, I thought of Manchester by the Sea for some reason and think the lead performance in that film really captured the energy this was going for, albeit much more successfully. The exception to this possibly being the scene this film derives its name from, which is honestly heartbreaking and one of the more moving moments in cinema this year.

A simple but raw story with a realistic friendship at its core. No embellishments, no climax. Both comfortable and uncomfortable. Honest.

Pro-lifers mad.

Autumn Callahan (Sidney Flanigan) is an outsider at school. She's also pregnant. Abortions are restricted in her small town Pennsylvania home and she faces many hurdles. She tells her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder). They steal money from their work and head off to New York City.

This is a sincere pro-choice indie presenting a realistic portrait of a teen girl on her abortion journey. It's not the most dramatic story. The acting is quiet. The drama is muted. I thought the movie may do something with the boy, but it ends up being understated. I certainly understand the simplicity of the story to highlight this issue-centered story. The girls are doing nice work. This is effective for an audience of a certain leaning.

"Never Rarely Sometimes Always," a title taken from the multiple-choice options of a medical questionnaire performed at a Planned Parenthood facility, is probably wisely mostly clinical in its quest narrative of a teenager traveling from a backwater Pennsylvanian town to New York abortion clinics. Regardless of one's opinions on abortion, I know I don't want to see the pro-choice version of the manipulative emotionalism and propaganda that critics have accused (and which I haven't seen) of the pro-life diatribe "Unplanned" (2019). I think such quiet straightforwardness as displayed here makes for a stronger polemic anyways.

Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder, who play the cousins making the trip, are appreciably naturalistic, which is also aided by the intimate, hand-held camerawork. The picture does well to demonstrate their close bond despite the relative lack of dialogue, and the movie's reservedness makes its couple of more-emotional scenes, the titular questionnaire and a sequence where the cousins are momentarily split apart, stronger by contrast.

A more questionable element of the picture, written and directed by Eliza Hittman, is that every man in it who isn't merely doing his job--usually behind protective glass--is a creep or pervert. A boy from school is rudely juvenile, the mother's boyfriend makes a sexual comment while petting a dog and comes across as a schmuck otherwise, the manager where the cousins work disgustingly force kisses their hands at the end of each shift, a young man's intentions towards the cousin become ominous, and there's the guy masturbating on the subway. Plus, there's the, as based on the answers to the questionnaire, violence of a man or men against the girl. To be fair, the women who aren't the leads or who don't work for Planned Parenthood, also come across poorly--the mother and the local supposed-doctor. The result is that "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" isn't only a bleak outlook on the abortion situation in the United States, but also a bleak view in general of humanity.

A little too flat for my liking. I think it went overboard on the non drama. I think the topic deserves a little more conversation a little more emotion than was portrayed here. What also bothered me was the questioning in the clinic, having been in this situation, I can say that that is not the way the conversation or questioning goes. I think it went a little too far with the dullness of it all.

A touching, heartbreaking & bracingly relevant indie that beats at its loudest during the quieter moments in between, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a small-scale but powerfully resonant drama that tackles its difficult subject matter with prudence & without prejudice, and is wonderfully manoeuvred by the poignant performances from its young ladies.

Written & directed by Eliza Hittman, the premise is a simple one but the emotions it elicits are raw & evocative. The plot is lean, focused & constantly on the move, and Hittman places complete trust in her actors to guide her story to its destination. The characters are sketched with care & compassion, their predicament is firmly rooted in reality, and they are beautifully rendered by the cast.

Sidney Flanigan plays the teenage protagonist seeking medical help in the wake of an unintended pregnancy and the subtleness with which she brings her character's inner turmoil to surface is simply astounding, even more so on realising that it's her acting debut. Talia Ryder deserves a mention too, chipping in with a strong support that's just as impressive if not more as her character is challenged in her own ways.

Overall, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a sincere, heartfelt & genuinely moving indie drama that benefits from Hittman's composed direction & sensible writing, and is further elevated by emotionally engrossing inputs from both Flanigan & Ryder. The documentary-like approach, silent camerawork & relaxed pace serve as necessities to this performance-driven story while quality work from its cast makes it all the more effective & worthwhile.

First of all, this movie strives to be realistic and truly put you in the shoes of a 17 year old pregnant girl. The characters are never entirely bad or entirely good which is exactly the right move for these types of movies,because if they were exaggerated in any way the film would end up feeling irrelevant and distant and it would defeat the entire purpose of it.

The mistake the writer makes is the distribution of good and evil !

When you look at the characters individually they're actually very well written they're never exaggeratedly good or evil and all feel like they could exist in the world we know, but when you zoom out and look at the whole picture you notice how every single male character with more than one line of dialogue was kind of a douche (to different degrees of course, as I said the writer never exaggerates) and every single woman with more than one line of dialogue was a nurturing angel (again to different degrees)?

The movie should be realistic and it is, until it isn't, until you realize you didn't see ONE decent man or ONE mean woman for an hour and forty minutes.

...of libertarian film makers and storytellers; they Rarely misjudge the mood; Sometimes they affect the future choices, some of their audience will make; they Always strive for a fairer and better world.

The challenges faced by a young woman and how she faces up to those challenges, overcoming the impediments placed before her, in a system that predominantly fights against her and denies her basic human rights.

Informative enough for any young women finding themselves in a similar predicament to know they have choices that they, and only they, need to make.

An outstanding performance from Sidney Flanigan.

I have no issue with the message or politics of this movie at all, in fact they largely align with my own and it is an important topic. However this movie is just too slow in places and as some others have mentioned should have been shorter. As one example - I am not interested in the boring journey from the home town to New York which must have taken up 5 mins or more of screen time - this part is too much likely boring reality TV. We all know what boring train journeys are like. The other aspect that made me uneasy was the poor light in which pretty much all male characters were shown. I am aware that there are a lot of misogynistic guys who are all to happy to hassle girls and treat them with a lack of respect, but equally there are a lot of decent well meaning ones as well. The danger of this last point is that you may lose a lot of the male viewers who will feel they are all being unfairly tarred with the same brush.

Not the type to recommend to everyone due to its controversial subject. The decision to get an abortion is a complicated one. Standout performance by both the girls. It feels almost too real at times. Authentic movie from start to end despite the controversial subject. Well done.

I came to this movie pretty hyped up due to it's great critical acclaim but it doesn't go all that impressing as critics are claiming. The acting is great, the dialogues are pretty raw and well written too. Directing-wise it pretty much works like any generic Indie film in 2020 (the style reminded me a lot of Eighth Grade). This is another movie that intends to talk about an important matter and portrays it in a super realistic way, but at the end you realize it doesn't really say anything about that subject that actually stands out. I do think it brings up some really interesting questions about abortion and misogyny, but nothing that hasn't been done before. Needed to be way way shorter, then I guess it could've worked better for me (and that's coming from someone who likes slow-paced movies!). Probably won't be re-watching it, but I wouldn't discourage you not to see it though; if you're curious go for it, you might enjoy this more than I did.

This surprised me. It shows how many things you can say with just a camera and some actors. The two ladies were great and had a great chemistry between them and the music and songs was mesmerizing. Finally an American film that looks like made in Europe.

Sidney Flanigan gives a wonderfully believable performance as Autumn.

While there's nothing particularly novel about this film -- a young woman gets pregnant and then faces the challenges of getting unpregnant -- I really warmed to it. You might expect a film like this to simply try to make you feel angry: either angry that Autumn should want to become unpregnant or angry at the obstacles put in her way by those opposed to her course of action. But this film has a stoicism and a gentleness to it; however challenging things become, Autumn and her friend Skylar stick together and see things through.

As well as a wonderful performance from Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder (Skylar) and Mia Dillon (Women's Centre Director) also gave remarkably nuanced and restrained performances.

BTW, Sidney Flanigan looks remarkably like the French musician Jehnny Beth (Camille Berthomier).

This movie gives the illusion that the two sides of a complex situation are taken into account, with Autumn, the main character, taking a firm, reasoned decision about her life and her body, while the rest of the world is just there to support her, whatever the decision is. Did I say the rest of the world? Well for a start we never know who the father is, we just have some clues that he is probably a selfish, abusive boy that forced her into pregnancy and then discarded her. We also have some hints that her father doesn't care about her too. But what about her mother? We don't understand why Autumn never talks to her about her problem. As far as the movie tells, the mother is understanding, caring and supportive. Was she just portrayed this way so that no female character is demonized (and all the blame can fall into the men involved)? We never know. Then we have this boy they met on the bus who leads the cousin into (shame!) illegal drinking (she's 20) and then "forces" her to kissing and possibly something else if not for Autumn who was there to rescue her. What was the purpose of this? Was this to show how selfish the cousin was in taking Autumn out while she was in considerate pain and discomfort? Or was this to support the narrative that "men only want one thing and it's disgusting"? After kissing the cousin, the boy gets some cash from the ATM and pays for their train, suggesting that he was "used" for the money. Everyone in the abortion clinic seem very nice and empathetic, but i still struggled to understand why the family was never brought into discussion. Even the questionnaire from which the movie borrows its name doesn't ask questions about the family.

I think this movie is not bad, hence the 4 stars. It is emotionally engaging, the acting is allright and the cinematography is good. However, it fails in its claim of addressing a complicate issue in a fair way.