Never Rarely Sometimes Always: Assured Indie Film Quietly Ponders Hard Choices

By Karen Gordon

Rating: A-

Never Rarely Sometimes Always is yet another movie originally scheduled for theatrical release making the COVID-19 jump to video on demand.

This quiet gem, by American indie writer/director Eliza Hittman (Beach Rats) has picked up a number of awards on the film festival circuit, including the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Neorealism at Sundance, and the Truly Moving Picture Award at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis.

Seventeen-year-old high school student Autumn, played by newcomer Sidney Flanigan, discovers she’s pregnant. She’s gone alone to the local pregnancy centre, where the only information offered is about motherhood or adoption. She lives in rural Pennsylvania, where her other options are limited. If she stays put, any choice she makes will mean bringing her parents in on the situation, and the little glimpse of family life we’re given shows us that the situation is fraught.

Autumn is an introvert, not given to bursts of emotion. Without her saying much we’re aware that Autumn wants to have an abortion, and online research tells her the only option is to go to New York. But that has its own complications, starting with cash.

After school, Autumn works as a cashier at a local grocery store with her cousin Skylar, played by Talia Ryder. As soon as Skylar understands her cousin’s dilemma, she’s on board to do what she can to help. Together, the two hop on a bus and head for Brooklyn.

Director Hittman takes a featherlight approach here with both story and tone.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a quiet movie, not overburdened by dialogue or a lot of exposition. It’s not crammed full of scenes that aim to get you closer to understanding everything you want or need to know. Neither Autumn nor Skylar are big talkers. Skylar’s a bit older and more street-smart than her cousin. She’s protective and respectful of her cousin’s privacy, not demanding any explanation or justification. And we’re not offered one, either.

Pointedly, the issue of who the father might be is not really broached. The closest we get is watching Autumn respond to questions in a New York clinic related to her relationships and sexual history in the area of abuse and coercion. The four choices are never, rarely, sometimes, always.

It’s a moment of such sudden depth that the entire film seems to hang there for longer than its actual moment on screen.

Because the film is so natural with such little dialogue, the performances speak volumes. Flanigan — whose background is as a singer/songwriter — makes a strong debut in a performance that is all the more powerful for its restraint. And she’s nicely matched in this by Ryder, whose character is slightly older and savvier.

There are other things going on in the movie as well. The cousins make their way through Brooklyn and Manhattan on a mission that also reveals much more about what young women face in daily life, and also how deeply unquestioning love and loyalty can go.

Of course, this is a story about a young woman making her own choice, but by going gently here, Hittman really offers us the story of two small-town girls dealing with the unexpected. By not hammering on a hot-button issue, by avoiding turning this into a lecture, she has given us a movie about how some things in life come down to choices that are so intimate and personal that sometimes words won’t help you understand.

And in that way, Hittman’s quiet little movie packs a serious wallop.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Written and directed by Eliza Hittman. Starring Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Ryan Eggold, Sharon Van Etten, and Théodore Pellerin. Available on VOD April 3.