Tag: Eliza Hittman

AHFW’s Top 20 Films of 2020: #14 ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’

Jeff Mitchell

14. “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” – Director/writer Eliza Hittman places Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) and Skylar (Talia Ryder) on an uneasy journey from rural Pennsylvania to New York City.  For these teenagers, they embark on this impromptu trip with no chaperones, and they attempt to navigate The Big Apple’s urban minefield of subway logistics, heavy foot traffic, and cold concrete so that Autumn can have an abortion.  Hittman explains during a March 2020 interview, “I was just thinking about a way to create an atmosphere of hostility towards these young women…

The troubling drama ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ always hits the mark

Jeff Mitchell

“Never Rarely Sometimes Always” –  Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) is in trouble. She’s the oldest, 17, in a working-class family with younger siblings, her mother (Sharon Van Etten) and an aloof, frosty stepfather (Ryan Eggold), and this troubled teen often feels overlooked.  Ignored.  Her mom’s semi-disregard for Autumn is not out of malice, but with other kids to tend to, her eldest – in a pinch, when such time-squeezes may appear in bunches – can fend for herself. So, this reserved, unsure-of-herself teenager tolerates her way through her small town in…