Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)

IMDb plot summary: A pair of teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania travel to New York City to seek out medical help after an unintended pregnancy.

Directed by Eliza Hittman. Starring Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, and Kelly Chapman.

I'm impressed by how much story and depth we get to this character with so little dialogue. Autumn's refusal to speak more than one or two words at a time, and even those reluctantly, portrays so much about how guarded she is and how terrified she is to have to be in this situation and ask someone else for help. The movie doesn't provide any easy answers either. The title comes from a questionnaire one clinic's nurse gives Autumn to check for domestic violence or sexual assault, and it's clear that whatever caused Autumn's current situation, it's one where she feels very unsafe, and the film doesn't resolve that. We end with one crisis down, the next one just around the corner. It's a powerful but often deeply sad film.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Never Rarely Sometimes Always > Something to Sing About

Never Rarely Sometimes Always > The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Never Rarely Sometimes Always < Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Never Rarely Sometimes Always < Knights of Badassdom

Never Rarely Sometimes Always < Beetlejuice

Never Rarely Sometimes Always > The African Queen

Never Rarely Sometimes Always > The Fault in Our Stars

Never Rarely Sometimes Always > The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Never Rarely Sometimes Always < Little Children

Never Rarely Sometimes Always > City Lights

Never Rarely Sometimes Always > Kismet

Final spot: #743 out of 3364, or 78%.