Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a 2020 drama film written and directed by Eliza Hittman. It stars Sidney Flanigan (in her acting debut), Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, Ryan Eggold, and Sharon Van Etten. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020. It was also selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. The film was released in the United States on March 13, 2020, by Focus Features. It received widespread acclaim from critics, with praise for Flanigan's performance and Hittman's direction and screenplay. Many consider it to be among the best films of the 2020s and of the 21st century. Plot Seventeen-year-old Autumn Callahan suspects she is pregnant and goes to a crisis pregnancy center. At the center, she takes a drugstore test that confirms she is pregnant. She is told she is 10 weeks along, given literature on adoption, and shown an anti-abortion video. After learning that she cannot get an abortion in Pennsylvania without parental consent, she tries to induce a miscarriage by swallowing pills and punching herself in the stomach. When those methods fail, she tells her cousin, Skylar, that she is pregnant. Skylar steals cash from the grocery store where they work, and the two buy bus tickets to New York City. On the bus they meet Jasper, a young man persistently interested in Skylar even though she tries to blow him off. At a Planned Parenthood clinic in Brooklyn, Autumn learns that the crisis pregnancy center lied to her about how far along she was and that she is actually 18 weeks pregnant. Though she is still able to get an abortion, she must go to a Manhattan clinic the next morning to have it performed. Autumn and Skylar spend an uncomfortable night riding the subway and playing games at an arcade. The next morning at the clinic, Autumn learns that a second-trimester abortion is a two-day procedure and that paying for it will take most of her funds. The counselor also asks her a series of questions about her sexual partners that reveal that Autumn's partners have been physically and sexually abusive. Out of money, Skylar realizes the two have no way of going home. As Autumn asks Skylar not to call either of their mothers, Skylar reaches out to Jasper, who takes them bowling and to karaoke. At the end of the night, Skylar asks Jasper to lend them money for their bus tickets, and he agrees.