I consulted a lot with Planned Parenthood on the film, and I met with people at Planned Parenthood Keystone. I think the movie is very much for a young audience and it’s for men like that –– really pigheaded, conservative men that don’t believe or see the ways in which women are powerless. Those two elements come together in the scene that gives the film its title, a questionnaire that a Planned Parenthood professional reads aloud to Autumn in one long, unbroken shot. When she learns that she can’t get an abortion in the state of Pennsylvania without parental permission, she and her cousin Skylar pack a suitcase and head to New York. Here, there’s so much fluorescent lighting between Port Authority and the Planned Parenthood office. Never Rarely Sometimes Always Dir. Autumn doesn’t go through this alone. Instead, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is best viewed not as a movie about changing hearts and minds as much as making it as experiential as possible. She first answers promptly, then mumbles quietly, then begins to break down—and Hittman’s static camera takes it all in, equally compassionate and direct. I wanted to give a feeling for her world, more than making a family drama. Though Never Rarely Sometimes Always has the structure of a road-trip movie, it lacks the witty banter or high-concept high jinks that usually come along with the genre; Autumn is devoting almost all of her energy to silently keeping herself together. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is such a small, wonderful film that might have found its audience had it had a normal theatrical run last year, but Focus purchased it out of Sundance and sent it to streaming after three days in theaters right at the start of the pandemic, so it seems to have escaped a lot of notice. I’ve not seen that movie, and that’s why I wanted to tell that story. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is the second feature film written and directe by Eliza Hitmann. March 16, 2020 Something surprising happens in Never Rarely Sometimes Always, and it’s not a pregnant trenager's decision to have an abortion. Really, my passion was for telling a character-driven story in the vein of everything that I’ve made and touched upon — political issues through an intimate lens. I just started reading about it, and thinking about the journey that many women take from rural areas into urban areas for access to reproductive care. Within the last few years, there have been so many different crackdowns on abortion access. With Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, Eliazar Jimenez. “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” is a road-trip movie, but with the stakes high and the hi-jinks nonexistent. I think that there are films like Obvious Child that do a good job of normalizing and de-stigmatizing. I grew up in Brooklyn, and I went to Planned Parenthood with friends all the time, not just for abortions, but because someone thought they were pregnant or somebody who’s worried they might have a yeast infection or a million reasons. The one that struck me the most was parental consent because your options are either to tell your parents, which is generally not an option, or you can go talk to a judge, and a judge would determine your maturity. But her newest feature, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, masters the coming-of-age narrative, turning the political into the heartbreaking personal journey of a … Initial scans have to be redone, preparatory procedures that require an overnight stay are ordered, and she and Skylar have to spend the night riding the subway. I think mine has a very unique premise about the legal barriers. Eliza Hittman is no stranger to coming-of-age films, having also written and directed It Felt Like Love (2014) and Beach Rats (2017), the latter of which won her the Sundance ‘Directing’ award. I just started reading about Ireland, abortion laws in Ireland and the Eighth Amendment. The sequence perfectly illustrates why Never Rarely Sometimes Always is an empathetic wonder, a personal story that demonstrates the experience of thousands by tying the viewer to one girl. Was that intentional? After exploring teenagers’ journeys through young love and trauma in films like It Felt Like Love and Beach Rats, Hittman’s third film follows Autumn (Sidney Flanigan), a Pennsylvania girl with boy problems, a tense relationship with her stepfather, and a lecherous boss at her job at a grocery store. When Abortion Is Illegal, Women Rarely Die. Then there are films that explore the back-alley coathanger abortions like Dirty Dancing. At no point does Autumn (played by Sidney Flanigan), the 17-year-old protagonist of Never Rarely Sometimes Always, ever say the words “I’m pregnant” aloud. “Are you abortion-minded?” That’s the question posed to Autumn at her local crisis pregnancy center, one of many such institutions across the country that exist to counsel women against getting an abortion. never rarely sometimes always who got her pregnant by | Sep 16, 2020 | Uncategorised Whether it’s Autumn piercing her nose after finding out she’s pregnant—maybe to take a form of control again—or how the women scramble to get what they need in New York, decisions feel organic and in-the-moment, adding to an incredible realism that’s embedded throughout the film. Not to … After I saw the movie at this year’s Sundance, I heard a man say how this movie was impossible and that things like this don’t happen. I became captivated by this town in Pennsylvania, and I just started reading about Pennsylvania, specifically its long list of restrictions on abortion access. The girl is Autumn, the 17-year-old protagonist of “Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always,” director Eliza Hittman’s latest feature. There was something about the idea of this journey that I found very compelling, and a little light bulb went on and I said, there’s a movie in there worth exploring. Barely articulating their plans, Autumn and Skylar get on a … She’s making it up. Director Eliza Hittman on unmasking the abortion experience Never Rarely Sometimes Always, woman in Ireland who passed away after being denied a life-saving abortion. “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Hittman’s acclaimed abortion drama that won major prizes at Sundance, stars newcomer Sidney Flanigan as a Pennsylvania teenager who discovers she is pregnant. I didn’t think I could find the resources necessary to make it, but I also felt that the same journey exists all over our country. Yes, that was the intention, but I also didn’t want to make something that was overly political and overly didactic, and make something that felt like spinach, something that everybody needed to consume in order to understand the world. Yeah, in thinking about the types of fights throughout the film, and the types of color, there’s definitely a shift. Eliza Hittman, U.S., Focus Features During the formal audition process for Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Eliza Hittman kept thinking of a “quiet tension” she found in Sidney Flanigan, a Buffalo-based teenage musician whom she met at a wedding a few years earlier. At no point does Autumn (played by Sidney Flanigan), the 17-year-old protagonist of Never Rarely Sometimes Always, ever say the words “I’m pregnant” aloud. Autumn can’t afford lodging in New York, but her hopes that her visit will be brief are dashed by labyrinthine rules. Did you want the movie to get people thinking about the way that women and girls are not believed about their bodies? This is particularly true in her central Pennsylvania hometown, where—as in many other places in the U.S. today—terminating a pregnancy safely and privately is against the law for someone her age. She shouldn’t have to make life-altering decisions. That was a progression that we charted early on. Without money and support, nothing is easy about her journey. My heart breaks for Autumn throughout this film. It has more natural light. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is her clearest and most focused work yet—a movie that delivers a message about the cruel barriers pregnant people face when managing their own health without losing sight of the humanity of its central character. The movie revolves around a 17-year-old Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) who is close to 18 weeks pregnant when she decides to get tested and get an abortion. I n July, Eliza Hittman’s abortion drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always was released, tracing the journey of two underage girls as they make their … That’s interesting that he felt like it wasn’t plausible because it happens every day. NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS - Official Trailer [HD] - At Home On Demand April 3 The story is about a 17-year-old called Autumn, played by newcomer Sidney Flanigan, who is … Though Never Rarely Sometimes Always film made its way to theaters just as screens across the country were going dark, the film arrives to VOD starting April 3. Was there something you wanted to change in its depiction with your movie? We see Autumn rail against her dad, we see her deal with her creepy boss, and then there’s a jerky boy she throws water at, but there’s no clear indication of who puts her in this position. Polygon: What moved you to tell a story about abortion? Her … Since your inspiration was a woman’s story, at what point did you decide to make the main character a teenager? It’s the first time that Autumn is speaking some of these truths aloud. Even if she could find a doctor willing to help, Pennsylvania law prohibits girls under 18 from ending a pregnancy without a parent’s permission. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a difficult film to watch. Eliza Hittman: The inspiration came in 2012. I started reading about how women would travel from Ireland to London for an abortion and back, usually in a day. I didn’t see that movie. I was editing my first movie, It Felt Like Love, and I stopped to read a newspaper. I read a headline that really struck me about a woman in Ireland who passed away after being denied a life-saving abortion. Never Rarely Sometimes Always centers on a 17-year-old girl named Autumn who finds out she’s pregnant and has to overcome an infuriating number of obstacles to obtain an abortion. as in many other places in the U.S. today, a case that could shape the future of abortion in America. A 17-year-old girl (Sidney Flanigan) discovers that she is pregnant and she realizes that she will need to leave her small Pennsylvania town to travel to NYC for an abortion. It has a much more faded palette in Pennsylvania with pops of neon in the wardrobe and stuff, and that was specific. Autumn has enough on her plate, already rebuffing the slut-shaming of her male peers, the snarky remarks from her beer-swilling father, and the sexual harassment of her manager at her … With the state’s laws restricting abortion for a girl her age and a false pregnancy center that lies to her about the status of her condition, Autumn and her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) must travel to New York City for medical attention. And, as the Supreme Court considers a case that could shape the future of abortion in America, it’s a crucial viewing experience. Hittman’s screenplay is light on unnecessary exposition, and the bond between the two characters is perfectly understated. Once you watch Eliza Hittman’s raw portrait of a teen in a pregnancy crisis, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, the lengthy title choice will make absolute sense. I just remember taking the train over the Manhattan Bridge, for these unspoken journeys to Planned Parenthood with friends. Then as we come into the city, the lighting becomes more harsh, fluorescent and institutional. Her cousin comes along with her. The acclaimed drama arrives early to VOD this week. How have other movies treated abortions in the past?