Never Rarely Sometimes Always .

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#NeverRarelySometimesAlways

Absolutely devastating. Directed with complete mastery of tone by young Hittman, subtly letting everything build without any of the usual emotional pyrotechnics or exposition, until that beautiful, if melancholy ending(talk about sticking the landing, I had my heart in my throat that the usual streaming autoplay would start shouting at me before the emotional dust had settled - thank g*d for small miracles!).

Huge kudos to the production designer for doing such a great job without the inbuilt advantages of budget and obviousness. And kudos, too, to the casting director, going with almost all unknowns, so you can just surrender yourself to the journey without having your brain perk up with that hey-I-know-him/her-from-somewhere alerts.

And speaking of unknowns, nice work by Chapman in that *crucial* "titular" scene, by co-lead Ryder, her quiet confidence masking the teenage fumbling, and, of course, Flanigan, who, in her very first film, gives one of the performances of the year. Just that above-referenced scene alone, my goodness, seriously, that'll be on a best-of loop from here on out. Usually, this is the kind of under-resourced indie film that gets relegated to the Indie Spirts during the high-spending Awards Season, but maybe this year, of all years, they have a shot at the #Oscars?

And speaking of Oscars, how about one for the great Louvart, actually shooting this tiny-budgeted film on…film?! She's done stunning work in the past: Beach Rats, Invisible Life, The Beaches of Agnes, Dark Night, Happy as Lazzaro, to name but a few, and her clear-eyed, unfussy, soulful lensing(🙂) is a *key* component of the emotional high-wire act of the film.

A great little film that will stay with you for a long, long while.

[Spoiler Alert!] TBH had great insight about the metaphorical(?/allegorical🤷‍♀️?) weight of the suitcase…but I'll let *her* explain it!

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#ElizaHittman #HeleneLouvart(🎞🎥👏) #MeredithLippincott #BarryJenkins(yes, *that* Barry Jenkins!)
#SidneyFlanigan #TaliaRyder #KellyChapman #SharonVanEtten(yes, *that* Sharon Van Etten ) #TheodorePellerin(so great in On Becoming a God in Central Florida…but that's a TBT story for another day) #RyanEggold
@neverrarelyfilm @focusfeatures @hittman

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