Pandemic Productions: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always
Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) Holding Skyler’s (Talia Ryder) Hand While She Endures Sexual Harassment
After a year of bleakness, confusion, and outright fear escaping from reality is sought after more than ever. Whether that be diving into a book, TV show, or movie they all have that quality of escapism that we crave. And the media that came out during the pandemic? They are truly a sight to see and experience. Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always (2020) directed by Eliza Hittman is a deeply moving film that depicts the tumultuous journey of two teens on their way to get an abortion. While this film isn’t as uplifting as other escapism pieces, it is a film worth attention for the performances alone.
Seventeen-year-old Autumn Callahan (Sidney Flanigan) finds out she’s pregnant from a local women’s health clinic. After receiving information on adoption and anti-abortion videos she confides in her cousin Skyler (Talia Ryder). The environment that Hittman creates in the girls’ hometown is stifling: from boys at school making obscene gestures to the manager at their work forcefully taking their hand and kissing it repeatedly. It all sets up Hittman’s message of how difficult it is for girls to navigate through the land of hostile and toxic masculinity. Even Autumn’s father plays into this. He disregards his daughter as moody and when she mentions that she doesn’t feel well he says “it’s in her head. She needs to get her head checked.” Not to mention he even objectifies the family dog. While petting the dog he says “you like that. You little slut...look how easy she is.” By doing this Hittman makes commentary on how men see even non-human females as objects to control and do anything they want with.
Then we have the manager of the grocery store where Autumn and Skyler work. When they submit their cash from the drawers each night they hand them through a small opening in a window. Once their hands are through that opening and the cash is taken, the manager holds their hand there to kiss. By putting a physical barrier between them, the hand becomes disjointed from the body, showing how men view women and girls in parts rather than as a whole. Even the most innocent parts of a body are sexual to them.
Autumn Breaking Down While Answering Questions About Past Partners
But this film isn’t just about telling the audience things already known about sexual assaulters / abusers. Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always shows compassion in a situation considered taboo. It doesn’t rely on cheap tactics to pull at your heartstrings, but rather it confronts reality genuinely and softly. This can be seen in the scene that gives the film its name. Autumn has finally made it to her appointment, but before she can proceed she has to meet with a counselor and answer a few questions. These questions force Autumn to realize how harmful her past sexual partners have been towards her. Flanigan gives a breathtaking performance that is framed so claustrophobically that you can feel the weight that presses against her chest. It’s a slow build of emotion, but when it hits the effect is stunning.
Hittman’s organic writing style allows the actors to behave authentically which in turn gives believability to the characters in all of their actions. Everything that Autumn and Skyler do is reasonable and even rational in the situation they have found themselves in. This wouldn’t have been possible without Hittman’s delicate handling of the topic. On the surface Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always is a film about the dangers of living as a woman, the objectification, or how they are seen as prey. But the film is truly about finding control in a world that politicizes your body. From piercing her nose after finding out she’s pregnant to going through with her abortion, Autumn displays her control over her life unapologetically. She steels herself against the world but is still given the room to break down or joke around with her cousin.
Autumn and Skyler Playing a Game Before Autumn’s Appointment
These spaces are rarely shown in coming-of-age films because writers / directors see teenagers as one-dimensional. They don’t allow them to fully express themselves, unlike Hittman. This is what sets Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always apart from other films about teens. So when faced with the question of “do you want to watch this film?” reply “always.”