"Everything, Everything" is an adaptation from a young adult novel by author Nicola Yoon explores the compelling question of what balances life, quality or quantity? The first two acts does a brilliant job of responding to this question, but then once we've reached the climax of the movie the realism takes an unfortunate nosedive that the contrivances becomes a bit overwhelming. This revealing twist may shock you in the end, but seems to be out of nowhere quite too soon which can be a bit misleading to some.
The movie like the novel centres on young teenager Madeline Whittier (Amandla Stenberg) who has become an involuntary recluse due to a rare disease called SCID which suspends her from even stepping outside her sterilized home and is under the care of her widowed physician mother, Pauline (Aninka Noni Rose) and her nurse Carla (Ana De La Reguera) and her friend who's Carla's daughter Rosa (Danube R. Hermosillo). Her pastimes including gazing out the window wondering what is out there that she is missing out, takes online courses in modeling architecture, watching movies with her overbearing mother and living in a pathogen free atmosphere.One day, a new family arrives and a kid roughly about her age named Olly Bright (Nick Robinson) who may be her ticket to escape from her reclusive lifestyle as she's very attractive to this boy and has always wanted to more than anything is to go to the beach.
Under the careful direction from Stella Meghie, "Everything, Everything" faithfully examines the world around our leading protagonist as she lives her life through the Internet, the window viewing and her imagination. I don't think the scenes with the astronaut was needed as it didn't provide much, but her texting to her new friend Olly is a symbolic cry for help as as each want out of their doldrums.
Sadly though, Olly's story which was prominent in Yoon's story is quite secondary almost as an afterthought as Maddy's story is the primary focus making Olly's character lacking dimension as his world is also hers as well. We know he's got family issues too as he lives with an abusive father but they're only touched upon very briefly. His character is rendered as just a prop for Maddy as she escapes to the outside world for the first time regardless of her illness as she sacrifices her well-being just to come out and enjoy life. Olly's views of life have little affect on the story as he's an underdeveloped love decoy and not a costar. It's a sigh of relief that the movie never emphasizes on the biracial aspect of their relationship which shouldn't matter because everyone's all the same regardless of their skin colour. I bring this up because society seems obsessed with race politics being the top issue in filming these days.
In the dying minutes of the movie, the scenes presented seem to fall under a revelation that's very last second, rushed and not entirely believable. I wasn't sure if it was due to the many rewrites of how they wanted the movie to end, but it just seems to not gel well to the narrative we've been fed to us in the opening acts of the movie.
When it came to the casting choices of the two main characters they were seeking for relative unknowns, however they ended up getting two known performers to play Maddy and Olly. Stenberg is known for her role as Rue from "The Hunger Games" and while Robinson is known for his role in the "Jurassic World" movies. And though they they both inject great spark into their interactions with one another, there are times when the film goes way too fast that we all can't catch up to what they'll be doing next and situations are handled way too quickly and are solved very easily it can be surreal at times.
Aside from the incoherent ending, "Everything, Everything" falls victim to the lack of patience in various scene that could have potential development to the characters. Sure I can understand that the movie is aimed towards a younger age demographic not adjusted to developing characters but scenes seem opted for quick solutions and the feelings Maddy and Olly have for each other are forced upon them as opposed to being organic. There needs to be a more effective element for a romantic relationship to blossom rather than just two youngsters gazing at each other from opposite sides of the window, but the crew just wanted the relationship covered without hesitation which feels at times unnatural. Sure there are other young adult films out there that might attract teenagers everywhere, "Everything Everything" is only average at best.
The movie like the novel centres on young teenager Madeline Whittier (Amandla Stenberg) who has become an involuntary recluse due to a rare disease called SCID which suspends her from even stepping outside her sterilized home and is under the care of her widowed physician mother, Pauline (Aninka Noni Rose) and her nurse Carla (Ana De La Reguera) and her friend who's Carla's daughter Rosa (Danube R. Hermosillo). Her pastimes including gazing out the window wondering what is out there that she is missing out, takes online courses in modeling architecture, watching movies with her overbearing mother and living in a pathogen free atmosphere.One day, a new family arrives and a kid roughly about her age named Olly Bright (Nick Robinson) who may be her ticket to escape from her reclusive lifestyle as she's very attractive to this boy and has always wanted to more than anything is to go to the beach.
Under the careful direction from Stella Meghie, "Everything, Everything" faithfully examines the world around our leading protagonist as she lives her life through the Internet, the window viewing and her imagination. I don't think the scenes with the astronaut was needed as it didn't provide much, but her texting to her new friend Olly is a symbolic cry for help as as each want out of their doldrums.
Sadly though, Olly's story which was prominent in Yoon's story is quite secondary almost as an afterthought as Maddy's story is the primary focus making Olly's character lacking dimension as his world is also hers as well. We know he's got family issues too as he lives with an abusive father but they're only touched upon very briefly. His character is rendered as just a prop for Maddy as she escapes to the outside world for the first time regardless of her illness as she sacrifices her well-being just to come out and enjoy life. Olly's views of life have little affect on the story as he's an underdeveloped love decoy and not a costar. It's a sigh of relief that the movie never emphasizes on the biracial aspect of their relationship which shouldn't matter because everyone's all the same regardless of their skin colour. I bring this up because society seems obsessed with race politics being the top issue in filming these days.
In the dying minutes of the movie, the scenes presented seem to fall under a revelation that's very last second, rushed and not entirely believable. I wasn't sure if it was due to the many rewrites of how they wanted the movie to end, but it just seems to not gel well to the narrative we've been fed to us in the opening acts of the movie.
When it came to the casting choices of the two main characters they were seeking for relative unknowns, however they ended up getting two known performers to play Maddy and Olly. Stenberg is known for her role as Rue from "The Hunger Games" and while Robinson is known for his role in the "Jurassic World" movies. And though they they both inject great spark into their interactions with one another, there are times when the film goes way too fast that we all can't catch up to what they'll be doing next and situations are handled way too quickly and are solved very easily it can be surreal at times.
Aside from the incoherent ending, "Everything, Everything" falls victim to the lack of patience in various scene that could have potential development to the characters. Sure I can understand that the movie is aimed towards a younger age demographic not adjusted to developing characters but scenes seem opted for quick solutions and the feelings Maddy and Olly have for each other are forced upon them as opposed to being organic. There needs to be a more effective element for a romantic relationship to blossom rather than just two youngsters gazing at each other from opposite sides of the window, but the crew just wanted the relationship covered without hesitation which feels at times unnatural. Sure there are other young adult films out there that might attract teenagers everywhere, "Everything Everything" is only average at best.