Drama
Every Day
'Every Day' Film Review: Not Your Typical Teen Romance
February 22, 2018Britany Murphy
|
It must be strange to wake up in a different body every day, and weirder still to be the person in love with an entity you know nothing about, who is constantly in a new body every time you meet them. Such is the story of Every Day, a coming-of-age film wrapped in an unconventional love story that is likely to speak to many young people of this generation. The movie begins with the entity, who refers to itself as "A," waking up in the body of a teenager named Justin (Justice Smith), a popular high school athlete who also happens to be the current crush and pseudo-boyfriend of Rhiannon (Angourie Rice). Justin is not exactly the best example of what a boyfriend should be, but when A inhabits his body, things are different. He's much more attentive than he's been as of late and is not the same boy that Rhiannon's friend, Rebecca (Amanda Arcuri), says is not good enough for her. Rhiannon certainly takes notice of the change, especially when she and Justin skip out on classes to head to the beach, but she attributes it to how she and Justin were when they first met. However, the change is short-lived, because when Justin returns to school the next day he has no recollection of the events that transpired the day before, throwing Rhiannon for a loop. She doesn't exactly know what happened or what to do about it, and when she tells Justin about their day, he wonders if they'd been drinking. Meanwhile, A is now in the body of the next individual and, unbeknownst to her, keeps finding ways to come back into Rhiannon's life, such as when she meets Nathan (Lucas Jade Zumann), who also ends up suffering a similar memory loss. When she meets a complete stranger who can perfectly recall the date with Justin, the meeting with Nathan, and other aspects of her personal life, however, Rhiannon is suddenly faced with a realization that she believes to be impossible. The revelation sends both her life and A's in a direction neither of them expected, leaving the pair to navigate their newfound love and the challenges that come along with it. The film also depicts an added layer that speaks to the idea that love is a feeling that transcends physical attraction, as A is within the body of a different person each new day, and yet Rhiannon still cares about A regardless of said changes. It's an effective way of not only showing the meaning of acceptance, but it's also markedly different from the way other movies within the same genre have approached similar themes. Directed by Michael Sucsy and based on the book of the same name by David Levithan, Every Day is a bold new take on the typical coming-of-age love story. Not only does it showcase various relationships between friends and family, it showcases the struggle many experience with their first love, which is usually not perfect, even if we'd like it to be. Still, that is okay, because as Rhiannon and A's coupledom shows us, all relationships have their fair share of complications, and it's both the good and the bad that make up what a relationship is. Every Day releases February 23rd, 2018 from Elevation Pictures. The film has an MPAA rating of PG-13 for thematic content, language, teen drinking, and suggestive material. Its runtime is 1 hr. 35 min. |
0 comments