Every Day: a Movie Review

March 15, 2018

By SHEA RANGI
Staff Writer
The film Every Day, based on a novel by David Levithan, is a love story between a teenager, Rhiannon and a person who wakes up in a different body every day. This person of a gender-fluid personality goes by the name “A,” and every 24 hours they occupy a new teenager’s body. The new identity is always someone of the same age, and “A” lacks any control of the switch. The spirit and Rhiannon work to try and find a way to make their relationship work, even though the spirit, “A”, cannot leave any indefinite marks on the body the spirit is hosting. “A” simply tries to live the life of the person.
The movie had a compelling portrayal of empathy, confusion and heartache. The two lovestruck characters’ effort to meet every day, dealing with the limitation of “A” and the introduction of a new teenage host, was an interaction of the greatest difficulty. The connection Rhiannon and “A”, however, made their love isolated from the purely physical appearance or wealth, but solely on the emotional bond and the spiritual essence of their love. Their commitment peels away from the materialistic nature of humans, and the film depicts that love can be found anywhere and in anyone.
The diversity portrayed in the film gave insight to the audience on the wide spectrum of personalities there are in this world. Although “A” works to live a normal day for the person “A” is inhabiting, there are some moments that make this difficult. At one point “A” falls into the body of a girl who is suicidal and works to get her help before she commits to an elaborate plan to take her own life. At another moment “A” must run away from home before leaving for a vacation in Hawaii, as leaving to Hawaii would mean leaving behind Rhiannon in Maryland. Through displaying a variety of lives that exist in one single world, the film provides insight into the many types of people that exist outside of my sphere.
I specifically enjoyed the scenes where Rhiannon spent days getting to know “A” without knowing that it is “A” she is talking to. I felt that those scenes strongly portrayed the pureness in their relationship and how regardless of materialistic characteristics she got to know “A” as a person. In contrast to the days she first met “A”, I felt that the moments when they said goodbye were the most heartfelt. When “A” questioned Rhiannon “what will happen in 10 years? what about our kids?” it provoked not only Rhiannon to see that the relationship was doomed, but the audience was also able to recognize the impermanence of the couple. The unfortunate ending was initially annoying, however, seeing that “A” made a decision that kept Rhiannon’s life in her best interest showed the true love that the two held. One of my favorite lines was when “A” said, “I have to believe that we will see each other again and you have to believe that we won’t.”
The actors who played “A” accomplished maintaining the spirit’s personality, and it truly felt as if the same actor was inhabiting different bodies. This illusion enhanced the connection between Rhiannon and “A.” What I loved best was that the plot of the movie was playful, but at the same time had depth; it displayed a romance that went beyond materialistic values while showing that love can be found in anyone.

Donate to Sword & Shield

$180

$1000

Contributed

Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of University High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.