Never Rarely Sometimes Always Movie Review (2020)
A quiet and pained film about a teenager who discovers that she is pregnant and has to travel out of state to receive an abortion, Never Rarely Sometimes Always shows the tumult involved in a trip like this.
Abortion has always been a big issue in the United States and it will always be a conversation. When Roe vs. Wade was overturned in 2020, each state took over the laws of how it would be handled within its borders. Regardless of your personal beliefs and what you have been exposed to in your life, it is important to hear other people’s stories.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always follows Autumn, a 17 year old who finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy. Without telling anyone, and after some failed attempts to lose the pregnancy of her own volition, she travels out of state with very limited funds and the support of her cousin, Skylar, to have the procedure in a state that doesn’t require parental consent at her age.
Autumn has a very difficult homelife and seemingly very few, if any, friends. Several scenes hint at this fact – like her difficult relationship with her mother’s significant other and her mother handing her a beer – but little is made clear. Autumn works at a grocery store with her cousin, has a boss that is inappropriate towards them both (and potentially all of the women who work there?), and lives in a world that is not designed with any support.
Neither Autumn nor Skylar say very much, but it is apparent that Skylar is there for her cousin as they make their way by bus to New York so that Autumn can get the help she desires. There is a lot of silence and a lot of feeling in most scenes, most of it being you feeling for these girls who you wish could have a better life – or at least trusted adults who might help in any or all of their situations.
There is one very long and intense scene where Autumn has to answer questions about her sexual history. The counselor is very gentle in her questioning, but as the camera trains on Sidney Flanigan’s Autumn for several full minutes, you learn what her life has been like through the questions that she can’t answer. It’s heartbreaking.
There is another section of the film in which Autumn visits a clinic for help in her hometown and gets suggestions around adoption and caring for the child herself. When she is asked if she is “abortion-minded,” she is shown a video in line with this clinic’s beliefs about murder in relation to abortion. It is really important to understand how exposure like this comes off to someone in this position because it doesn’t appear to yield the results the information provider may be hoping for. And for me, I just wanted someone to see Autumn and take care of her. This wasn’t that.
Overall, Never Rarely Sometimes Never is a poignant film about one teen’s difficult path to end a pregnancy that was never intended. It is incredibly well done and you’ll be thinking about her, the film, and all of the other young people in this situation long after it’s over.
Runtime: 101 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
Available: Free on Peacock, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
