‘I want to make sure that you’re safe...’
I try to avoid movies that have any kind of overt political agenda. I don’t go to the movies for that. Not unless it is a film about politics, of course. Never Rarely Sometimes Always could be said to have a pro-choice agenda, but this is one of the rare cultural issues about which I do have a strong opinion. And as I fully believe it is a woman’s right to choose what she wants to do with her body, Eliza Hittman’s abortion fable does at least have an agenda that I can get on board with…
Reserved 17-year-old Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) has to travel from rural Pennsylvania to New York City in order to have an abortion. Joining her on this fateful journey is her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder).
Hittman, directing from her own script, presents the heartache and pain an unwanted pregnancy can bring in unflinching and authentic style. Both Ryder, and particularly Flanigan, are excellent – delivering a pair of understated yet emotive performances with what amounts to heart-wrenching source material.
Shot in a mixture of cinéma vérité and more straightforward narrative, Never Rarely Sometimes Always takes its name from an invasive and humiliating questionnaire that Autumn is forced to engage with prior to her procedure. This agonising scene is typical of a film that is unafraid to portray just how difficult the entire abortion process can be in America – a process recently rendered even more difficult during the Trump presidency.
In the end, this is an emotive piece of work that has something important to say. But most of all it is a human story, wonderfully acted and professionally shot.